<jo£5  ^       -A  O 


'*    1   \ 


PREFACE 


BY    T.nE    EDITOR, 


The  great  work  of  Gibbon  is  indispensable  to  the 
student  of  history.  The  hterature  of  Europe  offers 
no  substitute  for  "  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Koivian 
Empire."  It  has  obtained  undisputed  possession,  as 
rightful  occupant,  of  the  vast  period  which  it  compre- 
hends. However  some  subjects,  which  it  embraces, 
may  have  undergone  more  complete  investigation,  on 
the  general  view  of  the  whole  period,  this  history  is 
the  sole  undisputed  authority  to  which  all  defer,  and 
from  which  few  appeal  to  the  original  writers,  or  to 
more  modern  compilers.'/  The  inherent  interest  of  the 
subject,  the_[nex.haustible  labor  employed  upon  it ;  the 
immense  condensation  of  matter ;  the  luminous  arr 
rangement ;  the  general  accuracy ;  the  style,  which, 
hovvcver  monotonous  from  its  uniform  stateliness,  and 
sometimes  wearisome  from  its  elaborate  ar^,  is  through- 
out vigorous,  animated,  often  picturesque,  always  com- 
mands attention,  always  conveys  its  meaning  with 
emphatic  energy,  describes  with  singular  breadth  and 
fidelity,  and  generalizes  with  unrivalled  felicity  of 
expression ;  all  these  high  qualifications  have  secured, 


IV  PREFACE    BY    THE    EDfTOR 

and  seem  likely  to  secure,  its  permanent,  place  in  hjs- 
toric  literature. 

This  vast  design  of  Gibbon,  the  magnificent  whole 
yinto  which  he  has  cast  the  decay  and  ruin  of  the 
ancient  civilization,  the  formation  and  birth  of  the 
new  order  of  things,  will  of  itself,  independent  of  the 
laborious  execution  of  his  immense  plan,  render  "  The 
Decline  and  Fall  of  t!ie  Roman  Empire"  an  unap- 
proachable subject  to  the  future  historian  :*  in  the 
eloquent  language  of  his  recent  French  editor,  M. 
Guizot : — 

"  The  gradual  decline  of  the  most  extraordinary 
dominion  which  has  ever  invaded  and  oppressed  the 
world  ;  the  fall  of  that  immense  empire,  erected  on  the 
ruins  of  so  many  kingdoms,  republics,  and  states  both 
barbarous  and  civilized;  and  forming  in  its  turn,  by 
"ts  dismemberment,  a  multitude  of  states,  republics, 
and  kino;doms ;  the  annihilation  of  the  reliiiion  of 
Greece  and  Rome  ;  the  birth  and  the  progress  of  the 
two  new  religions  which  have  shared  the  most  beauti- 
ful regions  of  the  earth  ;  the  decrepitude  of  the  ancient 
world,  the  spectacle  of  its  expiring  glory  and  degen- 
rtrate  manners  ;  the  infancy  of  the  modern  world,  the 
picture  of  its  first  progress,  of  the  new  direction  given 
to  the  mind  and  character  of  man — such  a  subject 
must  necessarily  fix  the  attention  and  excite  the  inter- 
est of  men,  who  cannot  behold  with  indifference  those 
memorable  epochs,  during  which,  in  the  fine  language 
of  Corneille — 

'  Un  grand  destiu  coniraeuce,  un  grand  destin  s'acbeve.'  " 
This  extent  and  harmony  of  design  is  unquestion- 

*  A  ccusidcrable  ijortlon  of  this  pi*efaco  has  already  appeared  before  tsa 
public  in  the  Cluartcrlj-  Review 


PREFAUK    BY    THE    EDITOR. 


ably  that  which  distinguishes  the  work  of  Gibbon 
from  all  other  great  historical  compositions.  He  has 
first  bridged  the  abyss  between  ancient  and  modern 
times,  and  connected  together  the  two  great  worlds 
of  history.  The  great  adv^antage  which  the  classical 
historians  possess  over  those  of  modern  times  is  in 
unify  of  plan,  of  course  greatly  facilitated  by  the  nar- 
rower sphere  to  which  their  researches  were  confined. 
I'jxcept  Herodotus,  the  great  historians  of  Greece — 
we  exclude  the  more  modern  compilers,  like  Diodorus 
Siculus — limited  themselves  to  a  single  period,  or  at 
'east  to  the  contracted  sphere  of  Grecian  affairs.  As 
far  as  the  Barbarians  trespassed  within  the  Grecian 
boundary,  or  were  necessarily  mingled  up  with  Grecian 
politics,  they  were  admitted  into  the  pale  of  Grecian 
history ;  but  to  Thucydides  and  to  Xenophon,  except- 
ing in  the  Persian  inroad  of  the  latter,  Greece  was  the 
world.  Natural  unity  confined  their  narrative  almost 
to  chronological  order,  the  episodes  were  of  rare  occur- 
rence and  extremely  brief.  To  the  Roman  historians 
the  course  was  equally  clear  and  defined.  Rome  was 
their  centre  of  unity ;  and  the  uniformity  with  which 
the  circle  of  the  Roman  dominion  spread  around,  the 
egularity  with  which  their  civil  polity  expanded, 
orced,  as  it  were,  upon  the  Roman  historian  that  plan 
which  Polybius  announces  as  the  subject  of  his  his- 
tory, the  means  and  the  manner  by  which  the  whole 
world  became  subject  to  the  Roman  sway.  How  dif- 
ferent the  complicated  politics  of  tiie  European  king- 
doms! Every  national  history,  to  be  complete,  must, 
in  a  certain  sense,  be  the  history  of  Europe ;  there  is 
Qo  knowing  to  how  remote  a  quarter  il  may  be  noces- 


71  PREFACE    BY    THE    EDirOR. 

sary  to  trace  our  most  domestic  events  ;  from  a  coun 
try,  how  apparently  disconnected,  may  originate  the 
impulse  which  chives  its  direction  to  the  whole  course 
cf  afilurs. 

In  imitation  of  his  classical  models,  Gibbon  places 
^{ome  as  the  cardinal  point  from  \vhich  his  inquiiies 
iliverge,  and  to  which  they  bear  constant  reference; 
yet  how  immeasurable  the  space  over  which  those 
inquiries  range  !  how  complicated,  how  confused,  how 
apparently  inexti'icable  the  causes  which  tend  to  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  empire!  how  countless  the 
nations  which  swarm  forth,  in  mingling  and  indistinct 
hordes,  constantly  changing  the  geographical  limits— 
mcessantly  confounding  the  natural  boundaries!  Ai 
first  sight,  the  whole  period,  the  whole  state  of  the 
world,  seems  to  offer  no  more  secure  footing  to  an 
historical  adventurer  than  the  chaos  of  Milton — to  be 
in  a  state  of  irreclaimable  disorder,  best  described  in 
the  language  of  the  poet : — 

"  A  dark 


Illimitable  ocean,  without  bound, 

Without  dimension,  -where  length,  breadth,  and  height, 

And  time,  and  place,  are  lost :  where  eldest  Night 

And  Chaos,  ancestors  of  Nature,  hold 

Eternal  anarchy,  amidst  the  noise 

Of  endless  warf?,  and  by  confusion  stand." 

/  We  feel  that  the  uiiity  and_Jharmony  of  narrative, 
which  shall  comprehend  this  period  of  social  disor- 
gaiiizationj  must  be  ascribed  entirely  to^  the  skill  and 
luminous  disposition  of  the  historian.  It  is  in  this 
■ublime  Gothic  architecture  of  his  work,  in  which  thf 


PREFACE    BY    THE    KDiTOR.  Vt 

boundless  range,  the  infinite  variety,  the,  at  first  sJL'ht, 
jnconCTruous  gorgeousness  of  the  separate  parts,  nevjer- 
theless  are  all  subordinate  to  one  main  ap^predorni- 


iiant  i_dea,  that  Gibbon  is  vinrivalledl/We_cajnnot  but 
aflniire  the  manner  in  which  he  masses  his  materiaisX^ 
iiia  arranges  his  facts  in  successive  groups,  not  acc(jr(l-  y' 
mg  to  chronological  order,  but  to  their  moral  or  politi- 
cal connection  ;  the  distinctness,  with  which  he  marks 
his  periods  of  gradually  increasing  decay ;  and  the 
skill  with  which,  though  advancing  on  separate  paral- 
lels of  history,  he  shows  the  common  tendency  of  the 
slower  or  more  rapid  religious  or  civil  innovations. 
However  these  principles  of  composition  may  demand 
more  than  ordinary  attention  on  the  part  of  the  reader, 
they  can  alone  impress  upon  the  memory  the  real 
course,  and  the  relative  importance  of  the  events. 
Whoever  would  justly  appreciate  the  superiority  of 
Gibbon's  lucid  arrangement,  should  attempt  to  make 
his  way  through  the  regular  but  w^earisome  annals  of 
Tiliemont,  or  even  the  less  ponderous  volumes  of  Le 
Beau.  Both  these  writers  adhere,  almost  entirely,  to 
chronological  order ;  the  consequence  is,  that  we  are 
twenty  times  called  upon  to  break  off,  and  resume  the 
thread  of  six  or  eight  wars  in  different  parts  of  the 
empire ;  to  suspend  the  operations  of  a  military  expe« 
dition  for  a  court  intrigue;  to  hurry  away  from  a 
siege  to  a  council ;  and  the  same  page  places  us  in  the 
middle  of  a  campaign  against  the  barbarians,  an^  in 
the  depths  of  the  Monophysite  controversy .(^In  Gib- 
uon  it  is  not  always  easy  to  bear  in  mind  the  exao). 
dates  but  the  course  of  events  is  ever  clear  and 
distinct ;    like    a    skilful    general,    tjough    his    troop* 


Vlil  PREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR. 

advance  from  the  most  remote  and  opposite  quarterSi 
tney  are  constantly  bearing  down  and  concentrating 
themselves  on  one  point — that  which  is  still  occupied 
by  the  name,  and  by  the  waning  power  of  Rome 
Whether  he  traces  the  progress  of  hostile  religions,  oi 
leads  fi'om  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  or  the  verge  of  the 
Chinese  empire,  the  successive  hosts  of  barbarians— 
:hough  one  wave  ha.-^  hardly  burst  and  discharged 
itself,  before  another  swells  up  and  approaches— all  is 
made  to  flow  in  the  same  direction,  and  the  impression 
which  each  makes  upon  the  tottering  fabric  of  the 
Roman  greatness,  connects  their  distant  movements, 
and  measures  the  relative  importance  assigned  to  them 
in^  the  jpanoramic  history.  The  more  peaceful  and 
didactic  episodes  on  the  development  of  the  Roman 
law,  or  even  on  the  details  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
interpose  themselves  as  resting-places  or  divisions 
between  the  periods  of  barbaric  invasion.  In  short, 
though  distracted  first  by  the  two  capitals,  and  aftei 
wards  by  the  formal  partition  of  the  empire,  the  ex- 
traordinary felicity  of  arrangement  maintains  an  order 
and  a  regular  progression.  As  our  horizon  expands  to 
t  eveal  to  us  the  gathering  tempests  which  are  forming 
lar  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  civilized  world — as 
we  follow  their  successive  approach  to  the  trembling 
frontier — the  compressed  and  receding  line  is  still 
distinctly  visible ;  though  gradually  dismembered  and 
the  broken  fragments  assuming  the  form  of  regular 
slates  and  kingdoms,  the  real  relation  of  those  king- 
doms to  the  empire  is  maintained  and  defined ;  and 
even  when  the  Roman  dominion  has  shrunk  into  little 
more  than  the  province  of  Thrace — when  the  name 


FREFACE    BY    TJIE    EDIIUR  IS 

1/  Komtf  •  vOiifined,  in  Italy,  to  the  walls  of  the  cilj 
— yet  il  i.s  si  il  the  memory,  the  shade  of  the  Roman 
gieatness,  which  extends  over  the  wide  sphere  into 
which  the  historian  expands  his  later  narrative  ;  the 
svliole  blends  into  the  unity,  and  is  manifestly  essenliai 
In  the  double  catastrophe  of  his  tragic  drama. 

But  the  amplitude,  the  magnificence,  o^_the  hai*- 
mony  of  design,  are,  though  imposing,  yet  unwortjiy 
claims  on  our  admiration,  unless  '  the  details  are  filled 
^ip  with  correctness  and  accuracy.  No  writer  has 
been  more  severely  tried  on  this  point  than  Gibbon. 
He  has  undergone  the  triple  scrutiny  of  theological 
zeal  quickened  by  just  resentment,  of  literary  emula- 
tion, and  of  that  mean  and  invidious  vanity  which 
delights  in  detecting;  errors  in  writers  of  established 
fame.  On  the  result  of  the  trial,  we  may  be  permitted 
to  summon  competent  witnesses  before  we  deliver  our 
own  judgment. 

M.  Guizot,  in  his  preface,  after  stating  that  in 
France  and  Germany,  as  well  as  in  England,  in  the 
most  enlightened  countries  of  Europe,  Gibbon  is  con- 
stantly cited  as  an  authority,  thus  proceeds  : — 

"I  have  had  occasion,  during  my  labors,  to  consult 
the  writings  of  philosophers,  who  have  treated  on  the 
finances  of  the  Roman  empire ;  of  scholars,  who  have 
investigated  the  chronology  ;  of  theologians,  who  have 
searched  the  depths  of  ecclesiastical  history ;  of 
writers  on  law,  who  have  studied  with  care  the  Roman 
jurisprudence ;  of  Orientalists,  who  have  occu])icd 
themselves  with  the  Arabians  and  the  Koran ;  of 
modern  historians,  who  have  entered  upon  extensive 
researches  touching  the  crusades  and  their  influence  ; 


X  PREFACE    3Y    THE    EDITOR. 

each  of  these  writers  has  remarked  and  pointed  oul, 
in  tiie  '  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,'  some  negligences,  some  false  or  imperfect 
views  some  omissions,  which  it  is  impossible  not  to 
sui)})0se  voluntary  ;  they  have  rectified  some  facts, 
20jnbated  with  advantage  some  assertions ;  but  in 
jieiieral  they  have  taken  the  researches  and  the  ideas 
of  Gibbon,  as  points  of  departm'e,  or  as  proofs  of  the 
researches  or  of  the  new  opinions  v/hich  they  have 
advanced." 

M.  Guizot  goes  on  to  state  his  own  impressions  on 
reading  Gibbon's  history,  and  no  authority  will  have 
greater  weight  with  those  to  whom  the  extent  and  ac- 
curacy of  his  historical  researches  are  known  : — 

"  After  a  first  rapid  perusal,  which  allowed  me  to 
feel  nothing  but  the  interest  of  a  narrative,  a'vvays 
animated,  and,  notwithstanding  its  extent  and  the 
variety  of  objects  which  it  makes  to  pass  before  the 
view,  always  perspicuous,  I  entered  upon  a  minute 
examination  of  the  details  of  which  it  was  composed ; 
and  the  opinion  which  I  then  formed  was,  I  confess, 
singularly  severe.  I  discovered,  in  certain  chapters, 
errors  which  appeared  to  me  sufficiently  important 
and  numerous  to  make  me  believe  that  they  had  been 
written  with  extreme  negligence ;  in  others,  I  was 
struck  with  a  certain  tinge  of  partiality  and  prejudice, 
which  imparted  to  the  exposition  of  the  facts  that 
want  of  truth  and  justice,  which  the  English  express 
by  their  happy  term  misrepresentation.  Some  imper- 
fect {tronquces)  quotations ;  some  passages,  omitted 
unintentionally  or  designedly  cast  a  suspicion  on  IK'S 
honesty  (bonne  foi)  of  the  author ;  and  his  violatioD 


PREFACE    BY    ThE    EDITOR.  C 

of  the  first  law  of  history — increased  to  my  eye  by 
the  prolonged  attention  with  wiiich  I  occupied  m  jclf 
with  every  phrase,  every  note,  every  reflection — 
caused  me  to  form  upon  the  whole  work,  a  judgment 
far  too  rigorous.  After  having  finished  my  labors,  I 
allowed  some  time  to  elapse  before  I  reviewed  the 
♦vhole.  A  second  attentive  and  regular  perusal  ol 
the  entire  work,  of  the  notes  of  the  author,  and  of 
those  which  I  had  thought  it  right  to  subjoin,  showed 
me  how  much  I  bad  exaggerated  the  importance  of 
the  reproaches  which  Gibbon  really  deserved  ;  ^  waa 
struck  with  the  same  errors,  the  same  partiality  on 
certain  subjects ;  but  I  had  been  far  from  doing  ad- 
equate justice  to  the  immensity  of  his  researches,  the 
variety  of  his  knowledge,  and  above  all,  to  that  truly 
philosophical  discrimination  (Justesse  d'espi-ii)  which 
judges  the  past  as  it  would  judge  the  present ;  which 
does  not  permit  itself  to  be  blinded  by  the  clouds 
which  time  gathers  around  the  dead,  and  which  pre- 
vent us  from  seeing  that,  under  the  toga,  as  under  the 
modern  dress,  in  the  senate  as  in  our  councils,  men. 
were  what  they  still  are,  and  that  events  took  place 
tughteen  centuries  ago,  as  they  take  place  in  our  days. 
A  then  felt  that  his  book,  in  spite  of  its  faults,  will 
'always  be  a  noble  work — and  that  we  may  correct  his 
errors  and  combat  his  prejudices,  without  ceasing  to 
admit  that  few  men  have  combined,  if  we  are  not  to 
say  in  so_  high  a  degreCj  at  least  in  a  manner  so  com- 
plete, and  so  _well  regulated,  the  necessary  qualificfL. 
lions  for  a  writer  of  history.v 

The  present  editor  has  followed  the  track  of  Gibbou 
through   many    parts  of  his   work  ;    he   has  read   hit 


KU  PREFACE    B V    THE    EDITOR 

authorities  vvili^  constant  reference  to  his  pages,  and 
must  pron  .unce  his  deliberate  judgment,  in  terms  of 
the  highest  admiration  as  to  his  general  accuracy. 
Many  of  his  seeming  errors  are  almost  inevitable  from 
the  close  condensation  of  his  matter.  t„^rom  the  im^ 
niense  range  of  his  history,  it  was  sometimes  necessary 
U")  compress  into  a  single  sentence,  a  whole  ^^ague  and 
JitTuse  page  of  a  Byzantine  chronicler.  Perhaps  some 
thing  of  importance  may  have  thus  escaped,  and  his 
expressions  may  not  quite  contain  the  whole  sdbstance 
of  the  passage  from  which  they  are  taken. >s/His  limits, 
at  times,  compel  him  to  sketch  ;  where  that  is  the  case, 
it  is  not  fair  to  expect  the  full  details  of  the  finisiied 
picture.  At  times  he  can  only  deal  with  important 
results ;  and  in  his  account  of  a  war,  it  sometimes  re- 
quires great  attention  to  discover  that  the  events 
which  seem  to  be  comi^rehended  in  a  single  campaign, 
occupy  several  years^  But  this  admirable  skill  in  se- 
lecting and  giving  prominence  to  the  points  which  are 
of  real  weight  and  importance — this  distribution  of 
light  and  shade — though  perhaps  it  may  occasionally 
betray  him  into  vague  and  imperfect  statements,  is 
ime  of  the  highest  excellencies  of  Gibbon's  historic 
manner.  It  is  the  more  striking,  when  we  pass  from 
Ihe  works  of  his  chief  authorities,  where,  after  labor- 
ing through  long,  minute,  and  wearisome  descriptions 
of  the  accessary  and  subordinate  circumstances,  a  sin« 
gle  unmarked  and  undistinguished  sentence,  which  we 
may  overlook  from  the  inattention  of  fatigue,  contains 
the  great  moral  and  political  result. 

Gibbon's    method  of  arrangement,  though   or.    the 
whole  most  favorable  to  the  clear  compieheisioL  of 


PREFACE    BY    THE    EUllOR.  XII 

tlie  events,  leads_Iikewise .to  apparent  inaccuracy 
That  which  we  expect  to  find  in  one  part  is  leserved 
for  another  The  estimate  which  we  aie  to  form, 
depends  on  the  accurate  bahince  of  statements  in 
remote  parts  of  the  work  ;  and  we  iiave  sometimes  to 
correct  and  modify  opinions,  formed  from  one  chapter 
cy  those  of  another.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
astonishing  how  rarely  we  detect  contradiction ;  the 
mind  of  the  author  has  ah'eady  harmonized  the  whole 
result  to  truth  and  probability ;  the  general  impression 
is  almost  invariably  the  same.  The  quotations  of 
Gibbon  have  likewise  been  called  in  question  ; — 1 
have,  171  general,  been  more  inclined  to  admire  their 
exactitude,  than  to^cofhplain  of  their  indistinctness,  or 
■'ncompleteness.  i/Where  they  are  imperfect,  it  is  com- 
monly from  the  study  of  brevity,  and  rather  from  the 
desire  of  compressing  the  substance  of  liis  notes  into 
pointed  and  emphatic  sentences,  than  from  dishonesty, 
or  uncandid  suppression  of  truthJS 

These  observations  apply  more  particularly  to  the 
accuracy  and  fidelity  of  the  historian  as  to  his  facts ; 
his  inferences,  of  course,  are  more  liable  to  exception. 
't  is  almost  impossible  to  trace  the  '"aie  between 
unfairness  and  unfaithfulness ;  between  intentional 
misrepresentation  and  undesigned  false  coloring.  The 
relative  magnitude  and  importance  of  events  must,  in 
some  respect,  depend  upon  the  mind  before  which 
tliey  are  presented ;  the  estimate  of  character,  on  the 
habits  and  feelings  of  the  reader.  Christians,  like 
M.  Guizot  and  ourselves,  will  see  some  things,  and 
some  persons,  in  a  ditTerent  light  from  the  historian  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall.     We  may  deplore  the  bias  of 


nV  PREFACE    I!li     THE    EDITOR. 

his  mind  ;  we  ^nay  ourselves  be  on  our  guard  againsl 
the  danger  of  bvMig  misled,  and  be  anxious  to  warn 
less  wary  readers  against  the  same  perils ;  but  we 
must  not  confound  this  secret  and  unconscious  de- 
panure  from  truth,  with  the  deliberate  violation  of 
that  veracity  which  is  the  only  title  of  an  historian  t(^ 
'jur  confidence.  Gibbon,  it  may  be  fearlessly  asserted 
is  rarely  chargeable  even  with  the  suppression  of  any 
inaterial  fact,  which  bears  upon  individual  character ; 
he  may,  with  apparently  invidious  hostility,  enhance 
the  errors  and  crim^,  and  disparage  the  virtues  of 
certain  persons  ;^^^t^_in  general,  he  leav^  us  the 
materials,  for  forming  a  fairer  judgment  ,CdTid  if  he  is 
not  exempt  from  his  own  prejudices,  perhaps  we  might 
write  passions,  yet  it  must  be  candidly  acknowledged, 
that  his  philosophical  bigotry  is  not  more  unjust  thiin 
the  theological  partialities  of  :hose  ecclesiastical  writers 
\\i\o  were  before  in  undisputed  possession  of  this  prov- 
mceyoi  history. 

yWe  are  thus  naturally  led  to  that  great  misrepre- 
sentation wdiich  pervades  his  history — his  false  esti- 
mate of  the  nature  and  intluence  of  Christianity. 

But  on  this  subject  some  preliminary  caution  is 
necessary,  lest  that  should  be  expected  from  a  new 
edition,  which  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  com 
pletely  accomplish.  We  must  first  be  prepared  with 
tlie  only  sound  preservative  against  the  false  impres- 
sion likely  to  be  produced  by  the  perusal  of  Gibbon , 
end  we  must  see  clearly  the  real  cause  of  that  false 
•  inpression.  The  former  of  these  cautions  will  be 
briefly  suggested  in  its  proper  place,  but  it  may  be  as 
w^W  to  state  it.  here,  somewhat  more  at  length.     Th* 


PREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR  HI 

fc  of  Gibbon,  or  at  least  the  unfair  impression  prO" 
duced  by  his  two  memorable  chapters,  consists  in  hig 
confounding  together,  in  one  indistinguishable  mass, 
the  origin  and  apostolic  propagation  of  the  new  re- 
ligion, with  its  later  progress.  L--^o  argument  for  the 
Ji/ine  authority  of  Christianity  has  been  urged  with 
greater  force,  or  traced  with  higher  eloquence,  than 
that  deduced  from  its  primary  development,  explica 
ble  on  no  other  hypothesis  than  a  heavenly  origin, 
and  from  its  rapid  extension  through  great  part  of 
the  Roman  empire.  But  this  argument — one,  when 
confined  within  reasonable  limits,  of  unanswerable 
force — becomes  more  feeble  and  disputable  in  propor- 
tion as  it  recedes  from  the  birthplace,  as  it  were,  of 
the  religion,  ^^he  further  Christianity  advanced,  the 
more  causes  purely  human  were  enlisted  in  its  favor ; 
nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  those  developed  with  such 
artful  exclusiveness  by  Gibbon  did  concur  most  essen- 
tially to  its  establishment.  It  is  in  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, as  in  the  material  world.  In  both  it  is  ai 
the  great  First  Cause,  that  the  Deity  is  most  undenia- 
bly manifest.  When  once  launched  in  regular  motion 
upon  the  bosom  of  space,  and  endowed  with  all  their 
properties  and  relations  of  weight  and  mutual  at 
traction,  the  heavenly  bodies  appear  to  pursue  their 
courses  according  to  secondary  laws,  which  account 
^or  all  their  sublime  regularity.  So  Christianity  pro- 
claims its  Divine  Author  chiefly  in  its  first  origin  and 
development.  When  it  had  once  received  its  impulse 
jrom  above — when  it  had  once  been  infused  into  the 
minds  of  its  first  teachers — when  it  had  gained  full 
possession  of  the  reason  and  affections  of  the  favored 


XVI  IREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR 

few — it  might  he — and  to  the  Protestant,  the  rationa 
Christian,  it  is  impossible  to  define  when  it  really  wai 
—  -left  to  make  its  way  by  its  native  force,  under  the 
ordinary  secret  agencies  of  all-ruling  Providence.  The 
main  question,  the  divine  origin  of  the  7'eligion,  was 
lexterously  eluded,  or  speciously  conceded  by  Gib- 
bon ;  his  plan  enabled  him  to  commence  hisp<icount, 
in  most  parts,  below  the  apostolic  times  ;Wnd  it  was 
only  by  the  strength  of  the  dark  coloring  with  which 
he  brought  out  the  failings  and  the  follies  of  the  suc- 
ceeding ages,  that  a  shadow  of  doubt  and  suspicion 
was  thrown  back  upon  the  primitive  period  of  Chris- 
tiai^ity. 

.  /'  The  theologian,"  says  Gibbon,  "  may  indulge  the 
pleasing  task  of  describing  religion  as  she  descended 
from  heaven,  arrayed  in  her  native  purity  ;  a  more 
melancholy  duty  is  imposed  upon  the  historian : — he 
must  discover  the  inevitable  mixture  of  error  and  cor- 
ruption  which  she  contracted  in  a  long  residence 
upon  eartli  among  a  weak  and  degenerate  race  of 
beings,','  Divest  this  passage  of  the  latent  sarcasc 
betrayed  by  the  subsequent  tone  of  the  whole  disqui 
sition,  and  it  might  commence  a  Christian  history 
written  in  the  most  Christian  spirit  of  candor.  But  as 
the  historian,  by  seeming  to  respect,  yet  by  dexter 
ously  confounding  the  limits  of  the  sacred  land,  con- 
trived  to  insinuate  that  it  was  an  Utopia  which  had 
no  existence  but  in  the  imagination  of  the  theologiai 
— as  he  suggested  rather  than  affirmed  that  the  dayg 
jl  Christian  purity  were  a  kind  of  poetic  golden  age; 
— so  the  ther^logian,  by  venturing  too  far  into  the 
V')main  of  the  historian,  has  been  perpetually  obliged 


PREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR.  XVli 

lo  contest  points  on  which  he  had  little  chance  of  vic^ 
tory — to  deny  facts  established  on  unshaken  evidence 
— and  thence,  to  retire,  if  not  with  the  shame  of  defeat, 
yet  with  but  doubtful  and  imperfect  success, 
i/raley,  with  his  intuitive  sagacity,  saw  through  the 
difficulty  of  answ^ering  Gibbon  by  the  ordinary  arts  of 
controversy  ;  his  emphatic  sentence,  "  Who  can  refute 
a  sneer  ?''  contains  as  much  truth  as  point.  But  ful. 
and  pregnant  as  this  phrase  is,  it  is  not  quite  the  whole 
truth  ;  it  is  the  tone  in  which  th^  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity is  traced,  in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  the 
splendid  and  prodigally  ornamented  work,  which  is 
f.he  radical  defect  in  the  "  Decline  and  Fall."-^Chris- 
tianity  alone  receives  no  embellishment  from  _  the 
magic  of  Gibbon's  language  ;  his  imagination  is  dead 
to  its  moral  dignity  ;  it  is  kept  down  by  a  general 
tone  of  jealous  disparagement,  or  neutralized  by  a 
painfully  elaborate  exposition  of  its  darker  and  degen- 
erate periods.  There  are  occasions,  indeed,  when  its 
pure  and  exalted  humanity,  when  its  manifestly  bene- 
ficial influence,  can  compel  even  him,  as  it  were,  to 
lairness,  and  kindle  his  unguarded  eloquence  to  its 
usual  fervor ;  but,  in  general,  he  soon  relapses  into  ;i 
frigid  apathy ;  affects  an  ostentatiously  severe  impar- 
tiality ;  notes  all  the  faults  of  Christians  in  every  age 
with  bitter  and  almost  malignant  sarcasm  ;  reluctantly, 
and  with  exception  and  reservation,  admits  their  claim 
to  admiratiory  This  inextricable  bias  appears  even 
to  influence  his  manner  of  composition.  While  all 
the  other  assailants  of  the  Roman  empire,  whethei 
vv'arlike  or  religious,  the  Goth,  the  Hun,  the  Arab, 
the   Tartar,  Ala  ic  and  Attila,  Mahomet,  and  Zengis, 


tVlll  PREt'ACE    BY    THE    EUITUR. 

and  Tamerlane,  are  each  introduced  upon  the  scene . 
almost  with  dramatic  animation — their  progress  re- 
lated in  a  full,  complete,  and  unbroken  narrative — the_ 
triumph  of  Christianity  alone  takes  the  form  of  a  cold 
and  critical  disquisition.  The  successes  of  barbarous 
energy  and  brute  force  call  forth  all  the  consummate 
skill  of  composition  ;  while  the  m.oral  triumphs  of 
Christian  benevolence — the  tranquil  heroism  of  en- 
durance, the  blameless  purity,  the  contempt  of  guilty 
fame  and  of  honors  destructive  to  the  human  race, 
which,  had  they  assumed  the  proud  name  of  philoso- 
phy, would  have  been  blazoned  in  his  brightest  words., 
because  they  own  religion  as  their  principle — sink 
into  narrow  asceticism.  The  glories  of  Christianity, 
in  short,  touch  on  no  chord  in  the  heart^ofJLlie_wi:iterjL 
his  imagination  remains  unkindled  ;  his^yords,  though 
they  maintain  their  stately  and  measured  march,  have 
become  _cool,  argumentative,  and  inanimate.  Who 
would  obscure  one  hue  of  that  gorgeous  coloring  in 
,  which  Gibbon  has  invested  the  dying  forms  of  Pagan- 
.'  ism,  or  darken  one  paragraph  in  his  splendid  view  of 
1  the  rise  and  progress  of  Mahometanism?  But  who 
'  would  not  have  wished  that  the  same  equal  justice 
had  been  done  to  Christianity ;  that  its  real  character 
and  deeply  penetrating  influence  had  been  traced  with 
the  same  philosophical  sagacity,  and  represented  with 
more  sober,  as  would  become  its  quiet  course,  and 
perhaps  less  picturesque,  but  still  with  lively  and 
attractive,  descriptiveness  ?  He  might  have  thrown 
aside,  with  the  same  scorn,  the  mass  of  ecclesiastical 
fiction  which  envelops  the  early  history  of  the  church, 
stripped  off  the  legendary  romance,  and  brought  out 


PREFACE    rv    THE    EDITOR.  XIH 

the  facU  in  their  primitive  nakedness  and  simplicity — • 
1  he  had  but  allowed  those  facts  the  benefit  of  the 
ghjwing  eloquence  which  he  denied  to  them  alone. 
tie  might  have  annihilated  the  whole  fabric  of  post- 
apostolic  miracles,  if  he  had  left  uninjured  by  sarcastic 
jisinuation  those  of  the  New  Testament ;  he  might 
have  cashiered,  with  Dodwell,  the  whole  host  of  mar- 
tyrs, which  owe  their  existence  to  the  prodigal  inven- 
tion of  later  days,  had  he  but  bestowed  fair  room,  and 
dwelt  with  his  ordinary  energy  on  the  sufferings  of 
the  genuine  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  Christianity,  the 
Polycarps,  or  the  martyrs  of  Vienne. 

And  indeed,  if,  after  all,  the  view  of  the  early  prog 
resrf  of  Christianity  be  melancholy  and  humiliating 
we  mui-t  beware  lest  we  charge  the  whole  of  this  on 
the  infidelity  of  the  historian.  It  is  idle,  it  is  disin- 
genuous, to  deny  or  to  dissemble  the  early  deprava- 
tions of  Christianity,  its  gradual  but  rapid  departure 
from  its  primitive  simplicity  and  purity,  still  more^ 
from  its  spirit  of  universal  love.  It  may  be  no  un- 
salutary  lesson  to  the  Christian  world,  that  this  silent, 
this  unavoidable,  perhaps,  yet  fatal  change  shall  have 
been  drawn  by  an  impartial,  or  even  an  hostile  hand. 
The  Christianity  of  every  age  may  take  warning,  lest 
by  its  oxvn  narrow  views,  its  want  of  wisdom,  and  its 
want  of  charity,  it  give  the  same  advantage  to  the 
future  unfriendly  historian,  and  disparage  the  caus^  of 
trnej:filigi^n. 

The  design  of  the  present  edition  is  partly  correC" 
tivCj  partly  supplementary  :  corrective,  by  notes,  which 
poin(  out  (n  is  nofied.  in  a  perfectly  candid  and  dis- 
paasionate   spn-it,  witb   no  desn^e  but  to  establish  (he 


XX  PREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR, 

truth)  such  inac(.uracies  or  misstalemenii  as  may  have 
been  detected,  particularly  with  regard  to  Christianity; 
and  which  thus,  with  the  previous  caution,  may  coiiii. 
teract  to  a  considerable  extent  the  unfair  and  unfavor 
able  impression  created  against  rational  religion :  sup 
plementary,  by  adding  such  additional  information  as 
ihe  editor's  reading  may  have  been  able  to  furnish, 
from  original  documents  or  books,  not  accessible  at  the 
lime  when  Gibbon  wrote. 

The  work  originated  in  the  editor's  habit  of  noting 
on  the  margin  of  his  copy  of  Gibbon  references  to 
such  authors  as  had  discovered  errors,  or  thrown  new 
light  on  the  subjects  treated  by  Gibbon.  These  had 
grown  to  some  extent,  and  seemed  to  him  likely  to  be 
of  use  to  others.  The  annotations  of  M.  Guizot  also 
appeared  to  him  worthy  of  being  better  known  to  the 
English  public  than  they  were  likely  to  be,  as  append- 
ed to  the  French  translation. 

The  chief  works  from  which  the  editor  has  derived 
his  materials  are,  I.  The  French  translation,  with 
notes  by  M.  Guizot;  2d  edition,  Paris,  1828.  The 
editor  has  translated  almost  all  the  notes  of  M.  Guizot. 
Where  he  has  not  altogether  agreed  with  him,  his 
respect  for  the  learning  and  judgment  of  that  writei 
has,  in  general,  induced  him  to  retain  the  statement 
from  which  he  has  ventured  to  differ,  with  the 
grounds  on  which  he  formed  his  own  opinion.  Tn 
the  notes  on  Christianity,  he  has  retained  all  those 
of  M.  Guizot,  with  his  own,  from  the  conviction,  that 
on  such  a  subject,  to  many,  the  authority  of  a  Frencli 
Btatesman,  a  Protestant,  and  a  rational  and  sincere 
Christian,  would  appear   more  independent  and    iir.- 


PREFACE    BY    THE    EDITOR.  IXJ 

biassed,  and  therefore  be  more  commanding,  than  that 
of  an  English  clergyman. 

The  editor  has  not  scrupled  to  transfer  the  notes  of 
M.  Guizot  to  the  present  work.  The  well-known 
real  for  knowledge,  displayed  in  all  the  writings  of 
that  dislinguished  historian,  has  led  to  the  natm'al 
inference,  tiiat  he  would  not  be  displeased  at  tho 
attempt  to  make  them  ot  use  to  the  English  readers 
of  Gibbon.  The  notes  of  M.  Guizot  are  signed  with 
the  letter  G. 

II.  The  German  translation,  with  the  notes  of 
Wenck.  Unfortunately  this  learned  translator  died, 
after  having  completed  only  the  first  volume  ;  the  rest 
of  the  work  was  executed  by  a  very  inferior  hand. 

The  notes  of  Wenck  are  extremely  valuable  ;  many 
of  them  have  been  adopted  by  M.  Guizot ;  they  are 
distinguished  by  the  letter  W.* 

III.  The  new  edition  of  Le  Beau's  "  Ilisioire  du 
Bas  Empire,  with  notes  by  M.  St.-  Martin,  and  M 
Brosset.'"'  That  distinguished  Armenian  scholar,  M. 
St.  Martin  (now,  unhappily,  deceased)  had  added 
much  information  from  Oriental  writers,  particularly 
from  those  of  Armenia,  as  well  as  from  more  general 
sources.  Many  of  his  observations  have  been  found 
as  applicable  to  the  work  of  Gibbon  as  to  that  of  Le 
Beau. 

IV.  The  editor  has  consulted  the  various  answers 
made  to  Gibbon  on  the  first  appearance  of  his  work ; 

•  Tlie  editor  regrets  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  find  the  Italian 
fera:islation,  mentioned  by  Gibbon  himself  with  some  respect.  It  is 
not  in  our  great  librariea  tlie  Museum  or  the  Bodleian ;  and  he  hue 
Derer  foimd  any  bookseller  in  London  who  has  seen  it. 


XKII  PREFACE    BY    THE    EOITOB. 

he   must  confess,  with   little  profit.      They  were,  ii 

general,  hastily  compiled  by  inferior  and  now  forgotten 
writers,  with  the  exception  of  Bishop  Watson,  whose 
able  apology  is  rather  a  general  argument,  than  an 
examination  of  misstatements.  The  name  of  Milner 
itards  higher  with  a  certain  class  of  readers,  but  will 
iiot  carry  much  weight  with  the  severe  investigator  of 
history. 

V.  Some  few  classical  works  and  fragments  have 
come  to  light,  since  the  appearance  of  Gibbon's  His- 
tory, and  have  been  noticed  in  their  respective  places ; 
and  much  use  has  been  made,  in  the  latter  volumes 
particularly,  of  the  increase  to  our  stores  of  Oriental 
literature.  The  editor  cannot,  indeed,  pretend  to  have 
followed  his  author,  in  these  gleanings,  over  the  wholo 
vast  field  of  his  inquiries ;  he  may  have  overlooked  or 
may  not  have  been  able  to  command  some  works, 
whicPT  irK&'lt  .have  thrown  still  further  light  on  these 
subjects  ;  but  he  trusts  that  what  he  has  adduced  will 
be  of  use  to  the  student  of  historic  truth. 

The  editor  would  further  observe,  thai  with  regard 
to  some  other  objectionable  passages,  which  do  not  in- 
volve misstatement  or  inaccuracy,  he  has  intentionally 
abstained  from  directing  particular  attention  towards 
them  by  any  special  protest. 

The  editor's  notes  are  marked  M, 

A  considerable  part  of  the  quotations  (some  of 
which  in  the  later  editions  had  fallen  into  great  confu. 
sioj  )  have  been  verified,  and  have  been  corrected  by 
ih*  '^tesi  and  test  editions  of  the  authors. 


fRKFACE    BY    THK    EDITOR.  Xllll 

June,  1845. 

In   this    new  edition,  the  text  and  the  notes  have 
Doen  carefully  revised,  the  latter  by  the  editor. 

Some  additional  notes  have  been  subjoined,  distio 
g;uished  by  the  signature  M.  1845. 

2 


rREFACE 

OF    THE    AUTHOR 


It  is  not  m;  intention  to  detain  the  reader  by  exfa 
iating  on  the  variety  or  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
which  I  have  undertaken  to  treat ;  since  the  merit  of 
the  choice  would  serve  to  render  the  weakness  of  the 
execution  still  more  apparent,  and  still  less  excusable. 
Biit  as  I  ha,Ve  presumed  to  lay  before  il.c  p-^^lic  a  iirsi 
volume  only'  of  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  it  will,  perhaps,  be  expected 
that  I  should  explain,  in  a  few  words,  the  nature  and 
limits  of  my  general  plan. 

The  memorable  series  of  revolutions,  which  in  the 
course  of  about  thirteen  centuries  gradually  under- 
mined, and  at  length  destroyed,  the  solid  fabric  of 
human  greatness,  may,  with  some  propriety,  be  divided 
into  the  three  following  periods  : 
\J  I.  TJie  first  of  these  periods  may  be  traced  froni 
the  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines,  when  the  Ro- 
^  man  monarchy,  having  attained  its  full  strength  and 

<^:::i^    inaturity,  began  to  verge  towards  its  decline  ;  and  wi'l 

^ ^ _ _^ 

The  first  volume  of  the  quarto,  which  contained  the  sixteen  first 
duijitcrs. 


AUTdOR  S    PREFACl!;.  XXV 

CAtcnd  to  the  subversion  of  the  Western  Empire,  by 
the  barbarians  of  Germany  and  Scythia,  the  rude 
ancestors  of  the  most  polished  nations  of  modern 
Europe.  This  extraordinary  revolution,  which  jSiib- 
jccted  JRome  to  the  power  of  a  Gothic  conqueror, 
was  completed  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  cen- 

V  II.  Thii.. second,  period  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of 
Rome  may  be  supposed  to  commence  with  the  reign  ol 
Justinian,  v/ho,  by  his  laws,  as  well  as  by  his  victories, 
restored  a  transient  splendor  to  the  Eastern  Empire 
It  will  comprehend  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Lom- 
bmdz ;  the_conques.t  of  ihe. Asiatic,  and. African  pmv- 
inces  by  the  Arabs,  who  jembraced  the  religion  of 
Mahomet ;  the  revolt  of  the  Roman  people  against  the. 
feeble  princes  of  Constantinople  ;  and  the  elevation  of 
Charlemagne,  who,  in  the  year  eight  hundred,  estab- 
lished the  second,  or  GmuuaxLEmpire  of  the  West 

^  III.  The  last  aj.id  longest  of  these  periods  includoii 
about  six  centuries  and  a  half;  from  the  revival  of  the 
Western  Empire,  till  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by 
the_Turks,  and  the  extinction  of  a  degenerate  race  of 
princes,  who  continued  to  assume  the  titles  of  Caesar 
and  Augustus,  after  their  dominions  were  contracted 
to  theJimits  of  a  single. city;  in  which  the  language, 
as^well  as  manners,  of  the  ancient  Romans,  hajcl  been 
long  since  forgotten.  The  writer  who  should  under- 
take to  relate  the  events  of  this  period,  would  find 
liiniself  obliged  to  enter  into  the  general  history  _of 
li)C  Crusades,  as  far  as  they  contributed  to  the  ruin  oi 
the  Greek  Empire  :  and  he  would  scarcely  be  able  to 
restrain  his  curiosity  from  making  some  inquiry  lute 


XXVI  AUTHOR S    PREFACE. 

.  the  stale  of  the  city  of  Rome,  during  the  darkness  aiid 

^confusion  of  the  middle  ages. 

As  I  have  ventured,  perhaps  too  hastily,  to  comniil 
to  the  press  a  work  which  in  every  sense  of  the 
word,  deserves  the  epithet  of  imperfect.  I  consider 
(fiyself  as  contracting  an  engagement  to  finish,  most 
probably  in  a  second  volume, '^  the  first  of  these  mem- 
orable  periods  ;  and  to  deliver  to  the  Public  the  com- 
plete History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  Rome,  from 
the  age  of  the  Antonines  to  the  subversion  of  the 
Western  Empire.  With  regard  to  the  subsequent  pe- 
riods, though  I  may  entertain  some  hopes,  I  dare  not 
presume  to  give  any  assurances.  iThe  execution  of 
the  extensive  plan  which  I  have  described^  vvould  con- 
nect the  ancientand  modern  history  of  the  w^orld  ;  but 
it  would  require_4nany._years  of  health,  of  leisure,  and 
of  perseverance.    { 

Bkntinck  St^pet,  February  1,  1'776. 


P.  S.  The  entire  History,  which  is  now  published, 
of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the 
West,  abundantly  discharges  my  engagements  with 
the  Public.  Perhaps  their  favorable  opinion  may 
encourage  me  to  prosecute  a  w)rk,  which,  however 
laborious  it  may  seem,  is  the  most  agreeable  occupa- 
tion of  my  leisure  hours. 
Bentinck  Street,  March  1,  1781. 


'  The  Authjr,  as  it  frequently  happens,  took  an  inadequate  meaa 
ore  of  hia  gro  (ving  work.  The  remainder  of  the  first  period  has  fiUeo 
lieo  volumes  in  quarto,  being  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  volumflf 
al  the  octavo  edition. 


AUTHOR  S    PREFACE.  XXVll 

'  An  Author  easily  persuades  himself  that  tiie  public 
opinion  is  still  favorable  to  his  labors ;  and  I  have 
now^  embraced  the  serious  resolution  of  proceeding  to 
he  last  period  of  my  original  design,  and  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turk?,  in  the  year  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty-three.  The  most  patient  Reader,  who  computes 
that  three  ponderous  ^  volumes  have  been  already  em- 
ployed on  the  events  of  four  centuries,  may,  perhaps, 
be  alarmed  at  the  long  prospect  of  nine  hundred  years.^ 
jBut  it  is  not  my  intention  to  expatiate  with  the  same 
minuteness  on  the  whole  series  of  the  Byzantine  his- 
tory. At  our  entrance  into  this  period,  the  reign  of 
Justinian,  and  the  conquests  of  the  Mahometans,  will 
deserve  and  detain  our  attention,  and  the  last  age  of 
Constantinople  (the  Crusades  and  the  Turks)  is  con- 
nected with  the  revolutions  of  Modern  Europe.  From 
the  seventh  to  the  eleventh  century,  the  obscure  inter- 
val will  be  supplied  by  a  concise  narrative  of  such 
facts  as  may  still  appear  either  interesting  or  import 

BKir*moK  SraKET,  March  1,  1782. 

*  The  first  six  yolumes  of  the  octavo  editkn. 


PREFACE 

TO    THE    FIKST    VOLUME 


Diligence  and  accuracy  art  ih?.  only  merits  m  \Hch 
an  historical  writer  may  asciibe  to  himself;  if  any 
merit,  indeed,  can  be  assumed  from  the  .pei'ibrmance 
oLbxi  indispensable  duty.  I  may  therefore  be  allowed 
to  sa}^  that  I  have  carefully  examined  all  the  original 
materials  that  could  illustrate  the  subject  which  I  had 
undertaken  to  treat.  Should  1  ever  complete  the 
extensive  design  which  has  been  sketched  out  in  the 
Preface,  I  might  perhaps  conclude  it  with  a  critical 
account  of  the  authors  consulted  during  the  progress 
of  the  whole  work ;  and  however  such  an  attempt 
might  incur  the  censure  of  ostentation,  I  am  persuaded 
that  it  would  be  susceptible  of  entertainment,  as  wel' 
as  information. 

At  present  I  shall  content  myself  with  a  single 
observation.  The  biographers,  who,  under  the  reigns 
of  Diocletian  and  Constantine,  conjposed,  or  rather 
compiled,  the  lives  of  the  Emperors,  from  Hadrian  to 
the  sons  of  Carus,  are  usually  mentioned  under  the 
names  of  iElius  Spartianus,  .Tubus  Capitolinus,  ^Eliu* 
Lampridius,   Yulcatius   Gallicanus,  TrebeHius   PolJio 


PREFACE    TO    THE    FIRST    VOLUME  \\l\ 

and  Flavius  Vopiscus.  But  there  is  so  much  per])lex- 
ity  in  the  titles  of  the  MSS.,  and  so  n.any  disputes 
have  arisen  among  tiie  critics  (see  Fabricius,  Bibhoth. 
Latin.  1.  iii.  c.  6)  concerning  their  number,  their 
names,  and  their  respective  property,  that  for  the  mosl 
part  I  have  quoted  them  without  distinc.ion,  unde. 
tlie  general  and  well-known  title  of  th»  Augusta* 
History. 


PREFACE 


rOURTH  VOLUME  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  QUARTO  EDITIOK 


I  NOW  dlscliarge  my  promise,  and  complete  my  de- 
sign, ot  writing  tiie  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
ofjhe  Roman  Empire,  both  in  the  West. and  the  East. 

The  \vhole  period  extends  from  the  age  of  Trajan  and 

the  Antonines,  to  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by 
Mahomet  the  Second  ;  and  includes  a  review  of  the 
Crusades,  and  the  state  of  Rome  during  the  middle 
»ges,  Since  the  publication  of  the  first  volume,  twelve 
J^rs  have  elapsed  ;  twelve  years,  according  to  my 
wish,  "  of  health,  of  leisure,  and  of  perseverance."  I 
Play  now  congratulate  my  deliverance  from  a  long  and 
Hborious  service,  and  my  satisfaction  will  be  pui'e  and 
perfect,  if  the  public  favor  should  be  extended  to  the 
conclusion  of  my  work. 

"^  It  was  my  first  intention  to  have  collected,  under 
:)ne  view,  the  nutnerous  authors,  of  every  age  and 
language,  from  whom  I  have  derived  the  materials  of 
this  history  ;  and  1  am  still  convinced  that  the  appa- 
rent ostentation  would  be  more  than  compensated  by 
real  use.  If  I  have  renounced  this  idea,  if  I  have 
decimed    an    undertaking    which    had    obtained   the 


ritEFACB.  XXX) 

approbation  of  a  inaster-artist,*  my  excuse  may  bt 
found  in  the  extreme  difficulty  of  assigning  a  proper 
measure  to  such  a  catalogue.  A  naked  list  of  names 
and  editions  would  not  be  satisfactory  either  to  myself 
or  my  readers  :  the  characters  of  the  principal  Authors 
of  the  Roman  and  Byzantine  History  have  been  occa- 
eionally  connected  with  the  events  which  they  describe ; 
a  more  copious  and  critical  inquiry  might  indeed  de- 
serve, but  it  would  demand,  an  elaborate  voiume,  which 
might  swell  by  degrees  into  a  general  library  of  his- 
torical writers.  For  the  present,  I  shall  content  my- 
self with  renewing  my  serious  protestation,  that  I  have 
always  endeavored  to  draw  from  the  fountain-head ; 
that  my  curiosity,  as  well  as  a  sense  of  duty,  has  al- 
ways urged  me  to  study  the  originals  ;  and  that,  if  they 
have  sometimes  eluded  my  search,  I  have  carefully 
marked  the  secondary  evidence,  on  whose  faith  a  pas- 
sage or  a  fact  were  reduced  to  depend. 

I  shall  soon  revisit  the  banks  of  the  Lake  of  Lau- 
sanne, a  country  which  I  have  known  and  loved  from 
my  early  youth.  Under  a  mild  government,  amidst  a 
beauteous  landscape,  in  a  life  of  leisure  and  independ- 
ence, and  among  a  people  of  easy  and  elegant  man- 
ners, I  have  enjoyed,  and  may  again  hope  to  enjoy, 
the  varied  pleasures  of  retirement  and  society.  But  I 
shall  ever  glory  in  the  name  and  character  of  an  Eng- 
lishman :  I  am  proud  of  my  birth  in  a  free  and  enlight- 
ened country  ;  and  the  approbation  of  that  country 
is  the  best  and  most  honorable  reward  of  my  labors 
Were  I  ambitious  of  any  other  Patron  than  the  Public, 

would  inscribe  this  work  to  a  Statesman,  who,  in  a 

•  See  Dr.  Robertson's  Preface  to  hi?  History  of  America. 


XXXn  PREFACE. 

long,  a  stormy,  and  at  length  an  unfortunate  adminis 
tiation,  had  many  pohtical  opponents,  almost  withou> 
u  personal  enemy ;  who  has  retained,  in  his  fall  from 
power,  many  faithful  and  disinterested  friends;  and 
who,  under  the  pressure  of  severe  infirmity,  enjoys  the 
lively  vigor  of  his  mind,  and  the  felicity  of  his  incom- 
parable temper.  Lord  North  will  permit  me  to  ex- 
press the  feelings  of  friendship  in  the  language  of  truth : 
but  even  truth  and  friendship  should  be  silent,  if  he 
still  dispensed  the  favors  of  the  crown. 

In  a  remote  solitude,  vanity  may  still  whisper  in  my 
ear,  that  my  readers,  perhaps,  may  inquire  whether,  iri 
the  conclusion  of  the  present  work,  I  am  now  taking 
an  everlasting  farewell.  The}  shall  hear  all  that  i 
know  myself,  and  all  that  I  could  reve?'  '.^  the  mosn 
intimate  friend.  The  motives  of  action  or  silence  ^.ir, 
now  equally  balanced  ;  nor  can  I  pronounce,  m  my 
most  secret  thoughts,  on  which  side  the  scale  "vvUl 
preponderate.  I  cannot  dissemble  that  six  airr-'i 
quartos  must  have  tried,  and  may  have  exhausted,  t  -. 
indulgence  of  the  Public  ;  that,  in  the  repetition  of 
.•similar  attempts,  a  successful  Author  has  much  more 
to  lose  than  he  can  hope  to  gain  ;  that  I  am  now 
descending  into  the  vale  of  years  ;  and  that  the  most 
respectable  of  my  countrymen,  the  men  whom  I  aspire 
to  imitate,  have  resigned  the  pen  of  history  about  the 
same  period  of  their  lives.  Yet  I  consider  that  the 
annals  of  ancient  and  modern  times  may  aflbrd  many 
lich  and  interesting  subjects ;  that  I  am  sti  1  possessed 
of  health  and  leisure  ;  that  by  the  practice  of  writing 
some  skill  and  facility  mus^  oe  acquired  ;  and  that,  ir 
the  ardent  pursuit  of  truth  and  knowledge,  I  am  iio\ 


PREFACE.  XXXU 


conscious  of  decay.  To  an  active  mind,  indolence  is 
more  painful  than  labor ;  and  the  first  months  of  my 
liberty  will  be  occupied  and  amused  in  the  excursions 
ol  c  uriosity  and  taste.  By  such  temptations,  I  have 
been  sometimes  seduced  from  the  rigid  duty  even  of 
1  pleasing  and  voluntary  task  :  but  my  time  will  now 
K'  my  own  ;  and  in  the  use  or  abuse  of  independence, 
I  shal.  no  longer  fear  my  own  reproaches  or  those  of 
my  friends.  1  am  fairly  entitled  to  a  year  of  jubilee  . 
next  summei  and  the  following  winter  will  rapidly  pass 
away ;  and  experience  only  can  determine  whether 
I  shall  still  prefer  the  freedom  and  variety  of  study  to 
the  design  and  composition  of  a  regular  work,  which 
animates,  while  it  confines,  the  daily  application  of 
the  Author.  Caprice  and  accident  may  influence  my 
choice ;  but  the  dexterity  of  self-love  will  contrive  to 
applaud  either  active  industry  or  philosophic  repose. 

Downing  Street,  May  1,  1*788. 


P.  S.  I  shall  embrace  this  opportunity  of  intro- 
ducins  two  verbal  remarks,  which  have  not  conve- 
niently  oflfered  themselves  to  my  notice.  1.  As  often 
as  1  use  the  definitions  of  beyond  the  Alps,  the  Rhine, 
the  Danube,  &c.,  I  generally  suppose  myself  at  Rome, 
and  afterwards  at  Constantinople ;  \vithout  observing 
whether  this  relative  geography  may  agree  with  the 
local,  but  variable,  situation  of  the  reader,  or  the  histo- 
rian 2.  In  proper  names  of  foreign,  and  especially 
of  Orienta>  origin,  it  should  be  always  our  aim  to 
express,  in  our  English  version,  a  faithful  copy  of  Jie 


XXXIV  PREFACE. 

original.  But  this  rule,  which  is  founded  on  a  lust 
regard  to  uniformity  and  truth,  must  often  be  relaxed ; 
and  the  exceptions  will  be  limited  or  enlarged  by  the 
custom  of  the  language  and  the  taste  of  the  interpreter. 
Our  alphabets  may  be  often  defective ;  a  harsh  sound. 
ar  uncouth  spelling,  might  offend  the  ear  or  the  eye 
of  our  countrymen ;  and  some  words,  notoriously  cor- 
rupt, are  fixed,  and,  as  it  were,  naturalized  in  the  vulgar 
tongue.  The  prophet  Mohammed  can  no  longer  be 
stripped  of  the  famous,  though  improper,  appellation 
of  Mahomet :  the  well-known  cities  of  Aleppo,  Da- 
mascus, and  Cairo,  would  almost  be  lost  in  the  strange 
descriptions  of  Haleb,  Demashk,  and  Al  Cahira :  the 
titles  ana  oliices  of  the  Ottoman  empire  are  fashioned 
by  the  practice  of  three  hundred  years ;  and  we  are 
pleased  to  blend  the  three  Chinese  monosyllables, 
Con-fu-tzee,  in  the  respectable  name  of  Confucius,  or 
even  to  adopt  the  Portuguese  corruption  of  Mandarin. 
But  I  would  vary  the  use  of  Zoroaster  and  Zerdusht, 
as  I  drew  my  information  from  Greece  or  Persia :  since 
our  connection  with  India,  the  genuine  Timour  is 
restored  to  the  throne  of  Tamerlane  :  our  most  correct 
writers  have  retrenched  the  Al,  the  superfluous  article, 
from  the  Koran ;  and  we  escape  an  ambiguous  termi- 
nation, by  adopting  Moslem,  instead  of  Musulman,  in 
the  plural  number.  In  these,  and  in  a  thousand  exam- 
ples, the  shades  of  distinction  are  often  minute  ;  and  I 
can  feel,  where  I  cannot  explain,  the  motives  of  my 
choice. 

*»*  At  the  eud  of  the  History,  the  reader  will  find  a  General  Indei 
to  the  whole  Work,  which  has  been  drawn  up  by  a  person  frequentlj 
nnployed  in  works  of  this  natura. 


CONTENTS 

OF    THE    FIRST    VOLUME, 


CHAPTER   I. 

ma    fXTKNT    AND  MILITARY    FORCE   OF   THE    EMPIRE,  IN   THE   AGK   OP   TSl 

ANT0NINE3. 
&    D,  PAOE 

Introduclion, 1 

Moderation  of  Augustus 9 

Imitated  by  his  Successors 3 

Conquest  of  Britain,  the  first  Exception  to  it 4 

Conquest  of  Dacia,  the  second  Exception  to  it, 5 

Conquests  of  Trajan  in  the  East, 7 

Resigpned  by  his  Successor,  Hadrian 8 

Contrast  of  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius, 6 

Pacific  System  of  Hadrian  and  the  two  Antonines, 9 

Defensive  Wars  of  Marcus  Antoninus, 10 

Militaiy  Establishment  of  the  Bx)man  Emperors, IC 

Discipline, 11 

Exercises 13 

The  Legions  under  the  Emperors, 14 

Arms 15 

Cavalry 15 

Auxiliaries, 17 

Artillery, 17 

Encampment, 18 

March, 19 

Number  and  Disposition  of  the  Legions, 19 

Navj', iM) 

Amount  of  the  whole  Establishment 21 

View  o:  the  Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire !1 

Spain, , . ,  81 

Gaul ,.  2S 

Briuln, 83 


riXVl  CONTENTS. 

*. »                                    '                                                                                             •  "1 

IiaJy SJ 

The  Danube  and  Illyrian  Frontier 8< 

R  h*tia 25 

Noricam  and  Pannonia, 2£ 

Dalmatia,  .  ^ 25 

Maasia  and  Daoia, 2fl 

Tlirace,  Macedonia,  and  Greece 26 

Asia  Minor 2b 

Sj-ria,  Phoenicia,  and  Palestine, 27 

Egypt    30 

Africa 30 

The  Mediterranean,  with  its  Islands, 31 

General  Idea  of  the  Roman  Empire, .,  3P 


CHAPTER   II. 

tF     THE    UNION    AND    INTERNAL     PROSPERITY   OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE    IK 
THE   AGE   OF   THE   ANTONINES. 

Principles  of  Goveniment, 33 

Universal  Spirit  of  Toleration, 33 

Of  the  People 34 

Of  Philosophers, 35 

Of  the  Magistrates, 37 

In  the  Provinces, 37 

At  Rome, 38 

Freedom  of  Rome, 39 

Italj' 41 

The  Provinces 42 

Colonies  and  Municipal  Towns 42 

Division  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Provinces, 44 

General  Use  of  both  the  Greek  and  Latin  Languages, 46 

Slaves, 47 

Their  Treatment 47 

Enfranchisement, 50 

Numbers, 51 

Populousness  of  the  Roman  Empire, 52 

Obedience  and  Union, 54 

Elomau  Monuments 55 

Many  of  them  erected  at  private  Expense 55 

Example  of  Herodes  Atticns, 5€ 

His  Reputation 57 

Most  of  the  Roman  Monuments  for  public  Use 5S 

Temples,  Theatres,  Aqueducts, 58 

Number  and  Greatness  of  the  Cities  of  the  Empire 8* 


CONTENTS.  XlXni 

In  Ital/ 60 

Gaul  and  Spain CI 

Africa, 01 

Asia GS 

Roman  Roads , 63 

Posts 64 

Navigation 64 

Improvement  of  Agriculture  in  the  Western  Countries  of  the  Em- 
pire,    63 

Introduction  of  Frails,  &c., 63 

The  Vine, 63 

The  Olive 66 

Flax 60 

Artificial  Grass, 67 

Cfeneral  Plenty 67 

Arts  of  Luxurj', 68 

Foreign  Trade, 68 

Grold  and  Silver, 69 

General  Felicity, 70 

Decline  of  Courage 70 

Decline  of  Genius, 71 

Degeneracy, 72 


CHAPTER   III. 

VHE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    ROMAN     EMPIRE     IN    -^HE     AGE    OF    THE 

ANTONINES. 

Idea  of  a  Monarcliy, 73 

Situation  of  Augustus 73 

He  reforms  the  Senate, 74 

'Resigns  his  usurped  Power 75 

fe  prevailed   upon   to  resume  it  under  the  Title  of  Emperor  or 

General 73 

Power  of  the  Roman  Generals 78 

Lieutenants  of  the  Emperor 77 

Division  of  the  Provinces  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Senste,...  78 
n:e  former  preserves  his  military  Command,  and  Guards,  in  Rome 

itself; 79 

Consular  and  Tribunitian  Powers 79 

Imperial  Prerogatives, 80 

The  Magistrates 81 

Tlie  Senate, 89 

€teneral  Idea  of  the  Irapcri;il  System - 93 

Ooart  of  the  Emperors W 


XXXVlll  CONTENTS. 

%.  ».  MSB 

Deification, 84 

Titles  of  Augustus  and  Ccesar, 85 

Character  and  Policy  of  Augustus 96 

Image  of  Liberty  for  tlie  People, 87 

Attempts  of  the  Senate  after  the  Death  of  Caligula, 87 

Image  of  Government  for  the  Armies, 89 

Their  Obedience, 89 

Designation  of  a  Suca  jssor, 90 

Of  Tiberius 90 

Of  Titus, 90 

The  llace  of  the  Csesars,  and  Flavian  Family, 90 

M    Adoption  and  Character  of  Trajan, 91 

117     Of  Hadrian 92 

Adoption  of  the  elder  and  younger  Verus, 92 

13?— 180.     Adoption  of  tlie  two  Anionines, 93 

Character  and  Reign  of  Pius 94 

Character  and  Reign  of  Maixus, 94 

Happiness  of  the  Romans, 95 

Its  precarious  Nature, 95 

Memory  of  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Nero,  and  Domitian 96 

Peculiar  Misery  of  tlie  Romans  under  their  Tyrants 96 

Insensibility  of  the  Orientals, 97 

Knowledge  and  free  Spirit  of  the  Romans 98 

Kxtent  of  their  Empire  left  them  no  Place  of  Refiige, 98 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CRUELTY,  FOLLIES,  AND  MURDER  OF  COMMODUS. — ELECTION  OF  PERTI- 
NAX. — HIS  ATTEMPTS  TO  REFORM  THE  STATE. — HIS  ASSASSINATION  BT 
THE   PR.a;TORIAN   GUARDS. 

lidulgence  of  Marcus, 101 

To  his  Wife,  Faustina, 101 

To  his  Son  Commodus 102 

180.    Accession  of  the  Emperor  Commodus 103 

Character  of  Commodus, 103 

His  Return  to  Rome, 103 

183.    Is  wounded  by  an  Assassin, 104 

Hatred  and  Cruelty  of  Commodus  tOtvards  the  Senate 105 

The  QuintiUan  Brothers, 105 

lee.    The  Minister  Perennis, 106 

Revolt  of  Matemus 107 

The  Minister  Cleander 107 

Hifl  Avarice  and  Cruelty, 1C8 

m    Sedition  and  Death  of  Cleander, IW 


CONTENTS.  XXXll 

■  ■  PAOI 

Dissolute  Pleasures  uf  Commodus, ^ Ill 

His  Ig^norance  and  low  Sports, Ill 

Hunting  of  wild  Beasts Ill 

Commodus  displays  his  Skill  in  the  Amphitheatre 1 1'J 

Acts  as  a  Gladiator, 113 

His  Lifamy  and  Extravagance 115 

Conspiracy  of  his  Domestics US 

tfli    Death  of  Commodus, 116 

Choice  of  Pertinax  for  Emperor, 116 

He  is  acknowledged  by  the  Prretorian  Guards 117 

ItJ.    And  by  the  Senate 117 

The  Memory  of  Commodus  declared  infamous 118 

Legal  Jurisdiction  of  the  Senate  over  the  Emperors 118 

Virtues  of  Pertinax 119 

He  endeavors  to  refonn  the  State 120 

His  Regulations. 120 

His  Popularity 121 

Discontent  of  the  Prajtorians 121 

A  Conspiracy  prevented, 122 

I W.    Murder  of  Pertinax  by  the  Praetorians, 122 


CHAPTER   V. 

fUBLIC  SALE  OF  THE  EMPIRE  TO  DIDIUS  JULIANUS  BY  THE  PR^TCRIAS 
GUARDS. — CI.0DIUS  ALlilNUS  IN  BRITAIN,  PESCENNIUS  NIGER  IN  SYRIA, 
AND  SEPTIMIUS  SEVERUS  IN  PANNONIA,  DECLARE  AGAINST  THE  MUR- 
DERERS OF  PERTINAX. — CIVIL  WARS  AND  VICTORY  OF  SEVERUS  OVER 
UIS  THREE  RIVALS. — RELAXATION  OF  DISCIPLINE. — NEW  MAXIMS  OF 
GOVERNMENT. 

Proportion  of  the  Military  Force  to  the  Number  of  the  People 124 

The  Pra3torian  Guards, 124 

Their  Institution, 125 

Their  Camp 125 

Strength  and  Confidence 125 

Their  specious  Claims, 126 

They  ofler  the  Empire  to  Sale, 127 

113     It  is  purchased  by  Julian 127 

Julian  is  acknowledged  by  the  Senate,.... 128 

Takes  Possession  of  the  Palace 1 28 

The  public  Discontent, 12B 

The    Armies    of   Britain,   Syria,   and   Pannonia  declare  against 

Julian 129 

Clodins  Albinus  in  Britain   130 

Peicenuius  Niger  in  SjTia, 133 


U  CONTENTS. 

Pannonia  and  Dalmatia, .....  131 

193     Soptimius  Sevcrus 133 

Declared  Emperor  by  llie  Piuiuouiaii  Legions, 134 

Marches  into  Italy, 134 

Advances  towards  Rome i34 

Distress  of  Julian 133 

H'.s  uncertain  Conduct, 136 

Is  descried  by  the  Praetorians, 136 

Is  condemned  and  executed  by  Order  of  the  Senate, 136 

Disgrace  of  the  Praetorian  Guards 137 

Funeral  and  Apotheosis  of  Periinax 137 

183    -197.     Success  of  Scverus  against  Niger  and  sgainst  Albinus 137 

Conduct  of  the  two  Civil  \V;irs 13? 

Arts  of  Sevcrus 138 

Towards  Niger, 13D 

Towards  Albiniis 1  '10 

Event  of  the  Civil  VVais 141 

Decided  by  one  or  two  Battles 141 

Siege  of  Bjzantium, 142 

Death  of  Niger  and  Albinus, 143 

Cruel  Consequences  of  the  Civil  Wars 143 

Animosity  of  Severus  against  the  Senate 144 

The  Wisdom  and  Justice  of  his  Government, 144 

General  Peace  and  Prosperity, 143 

Relaxation  of  Military  Discijiline, 145 

New  Establishment  of  the  Prajtorian  Guards, 146 

The  Office  of  Prffitorian  Prefect, 147 

The  Senate  oppressed  by  militai-y  Despotism, 148 

New  Maxims  of  the  Imperial  Prerogative, l4^ 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  DEATH  OF  SEVERUS. — TYRANNY  OF  CARACAT.T.A. — USURPATION  OP 
MACRINUS. — FOLLIES  OF  ELAGABALUS. — VIRTUES  OF  ALEXANDER  SEVERUS. 
— LICENTIOUSNESS    OF     THE     ARMY. — GENERAL     STATE     OF    THE     UOMAN 

FINANCES. 

Greatness  and  Discontent  of  Severus 150 

His  Wife,  the  Empress  Julia, 150 

Their  two  Sons,  Caracalla  and  Geta, 151 

Tlieir  mutual  Aversion  to  each  other, *  51 

Three  Emperors 153 

»3     The  Caledonian  War, 153 

Fingal  and  his  Heroes 158 

Coatrost  of  the  Caledonians  and  the  Romans 1S9 


CONTENTS.  xlj 

•.  S,  _  ItOE 

Ambition  of  Cai-acallf 15? 

111.    Death  of  Sevcrus,  and  Accession  of  his  two  Sous l.')4 

Jealousy  and  Hatred  of  the  two  Emperors, 155 

Fruitless  Negotiations  for  dividing  the  Empire  between  thcni, ...   153 

«:2     Murder  of  Geta 156 

Remorse  and  Cruelty  of  Caracalla, 1  ST 

Death  of  Papinian, 1  59 

J13     His  T}"ranny  extended  over  the  whole  Empire, 160 

Relaxation  of  Discipline, 161 

11 1     Murder  of  Caracalla 1C9 

Imitation  of  Alexander, U<3 

Election  and  Character  of  Macrinus, 1*53 

Discontent  of  the  Senate, 1G4 

Discontent  of  the  Army, 1C5 

Macrinus  attempts  a  Reformation  of  the  Army, 165 

Death  of  the  Empress  Julia, .' 166 

Education,  Pretensions,  and  Revolt  of  Elagabalns,  called  at  first 

Bassianus  and  Antonnius, 167 

318.    Defeat  and  Death  of  Macrinus 168 

Elagabidus  writes  to  the  Senate 169 

819.    Picture  of  Elagabalus 170 

His  Superstition, 171 

His  profligate  and  effeminate  Luxury 171 

Contempt  of  Decency,  which  distinguished  the  Roman  Tyrants,  173 
Discontents  of  the  Anny, 173 

•^zl.    Alexander  Severus  declared  Ctesar, 171 

222.    Sedition  of  the  Guards,  and  Murder  of  Elagabalus 174 

Accession  of  Alexander  Severus, 175 

Power  of  his  Mother  Maniaea 176 

His  wise  and  moderate  Administration. 177 

Education  and  virtuous  temper  of  Alexander, 177 

Journal  of  his  ordinary  Life 178 

122 — 235.     General  Happiness  of  the  Roman  World 179 

Alexander  refuses  the  name  of  Antonnius, 1 80 

He  attempts  to  reform  the  Army, 180 

Seditions  of  the  Praatorian  Guards,  and  Murder  of  Ulpian 181 

Danger  of  Dion  Cassius 182 

Tumults  of  the  Legions, 183 

Firmness  of  the  Emperor 183 

Defects  of  his  Reign  and  Character, 184 

Digression  on  the  Finances  of  the  Empire, 185 

Establishment  of  the  Tribute  on  Roman  Citizens 183 

Abolition  of  the  Tribute 186 

Tributes  of  the  Provinces 187 

Of  Asia,  Egypt,  and  Gaul, 187 

Of  Africa  and  Spain 181 

Of  the  Isle  of  Gyarus, IM 


riii  CONTENTS. 

Amonnt  of  A\c  Revenue IBS 

Taxes  on  Roman  Citizens  instituted  by  Augustus 189 

I.  The  Customs, 190 

IT.  The  Excise, 191 

III.  Tax  on  Legacies  and  Inheritances 191 

Suited  to  the  Laws  and  Manners,  193 

Regulations  of  the  Emperors 193 

Edict  of  Caracalla l»3 

The  Freedom  of  the  City  given  to  all  Provincials  for  the  Purpose 

of  Taxation, 194 

Temporary  Reduction  of  the  Tribute 194 

Consequences  of  the  universal  Freedom  of  Rome, 195 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THK  ELEVATION  AND  TYRANNY  OE  MAXIMIN. — REBELLION  IN  AFRICA 
AND  ITALY,  UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SENATE. — CIVIL  WARS 
AND  SEDITIONS. — VIOLENT  DEATHS  OF  MAXIMIN  AND  HIS  SON,  OF  MAX- 
IMUS  AND  BALBINUS,  AND  OF  THE  THREE  GOUDIANS. — USURPATION  AND 
SECULAR   GAMES   OF    PHILIP. 

The  apparent  Ridicule  and  solid  Advantages  of  hereditary  Succes- 
sion,    196 

Want  of  it  in  the  Roman  Empire  productive  of  the  greatest  Calam- 
ities    19 

Birth  and  Fortunes  of  Maximin, 197 

His  Military  Service  and  Honors 198 

835.    Conspiracy  of  Maximin, '.39 

Murder  of  Alexander  Severus 199 

Tyi'anny  of  Maximin, "200 

Oppression  of  the  Provinces, 201 

2?7     Revolt  in  Africa 203 

Character  and  Elevation  of  the  two  Gordians 204 

They  solicit  the  Confirmation  of  their  Authority 205 

The  Senate  ratifies  the  Election  of  the  Gordians, 20fi 

Declares  Maximin  a  public  Enemy 207 

Assumes  the  Command  of  Rome  and  Italy 207 

Prepares  for  a  Civil  War, 207 

837    Defeat  and  Death  of  the  two  Gordians 208 

Election  of  Maximns  and  Balbinus  by  the  Senate, 208 

Their  Characters 209 

Tumult  at  Rome 210 

The  Younger  Gordian  is  declared  Cassar, 211 

Maximin  prepares  to  attack  the  Senate  and  their  Emperors, 211 

til     Marches  into  Italy 319 


CONTENTS.  Xllll 

••  9.                                                                                                                            PAec. 
Siege  of  Aquileia, 213 

Conduct  of  Maximus, 214 

838.    Murder  of  Maximin  and  his  Son 214 

His  Portrait, 215 

Joy  of  the  Roman  World 216 

Sedition  at  Rome 216 

Discontent  of  the  Praetorian  Guards, 217 

fi36    Massacre  of  Maximus  and  Balbinus 218 

The  third  Gordian  remains  sole  Emperor, 220 

Innocence  and  Virtues  of  Gordian 220 

240.    Administration  of  Misithcus 221 

242.  The  Persian  War 221 

243.  The  Arts  of  Phihp, 221 

244.  Murder  of  Gordian 222 

Form  of  a  military  Republic, 222 

Reign  of  Philip 223 

348.    Secular  Games, 224 

Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire, 224 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

OI     IHE   STATE   OF    PKRSIA    AFTKR    THE    RESTORATION    OF    THE    MONARCH? 

BY    ARTA.XERXES. 

The  Barbarians  of  the  East  and  of  the  North 22t) 

Revolutions  of  Asia, 220 

The  Persian  Monarchy  restored  by  Artaxerxes 228 

Reformation  of  the  Magian  Religion, 229 

Persian  Theology,  two  Principles, 231 

Religious  Worship 233 

Ceremonies  and  moral  Precepts, 234 

Encouragement  of  Agiiculture, 234 

Power  of  the  Magi 235 

Spirit  of  Persecution 237 

Establishment  of  the  Royal  Authority  in  the  Provinces, 237 

Extent  and  Population  of  Persia, 239 

Recapitulation  of  the  War  between  the  Parthian   and  Roman 

Empires, 24(1 

165     Cities  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon 241 

16.    Conquest  of  Osrhoene  by  the  Romans, 24? 

130,    Artaxerxes  claims   the    Provinces    of   Asia,  and   declares  War 

against  the  Romans 24.1 

133     Pretended  Victory  of  Alexander  Sevenis 244 

More  probable  Account  of  the  "War, 245 

140.    Character  and  Maxims  of  Artaxerxes, 24J 


/ 


XllV  C0NTKNT8. 


Military  Power  of  the  Persians, 247 

Their  Infantiy  contemptible 247 

Their  Cavalry  excellcut, 248 


CHAPTER   IX. 

HI    STATE    OF     GERMANY    TILL    THE    INVASION    OF    THE    BARBARIAMJ.    in 
THE   TIME    OF   THE   EMPEROR   DECIUS. 

Extent  of  Gennany, 249 

Climate, 252 

Its  Effects  on  the  Natives 234 

Origin  of  the  Germans 255 

Tables  and  Conjectures 255 

The  Germans  ignorant  of  Letters, 257 

The  Germans  ignorant  of  Arts  and  Agriculture, 258 

The  Germans  ignorant  of  the  Use  of  Metals, 259 

Their  Indolence 260 

Their  Taste  for  strong  Liquors 261 

State  of  Population, 262 

Gennan  Freedom 263 

Assemblies  of  the  People, 264 

Authority  of  the  Princes  and  Magistrates 'J65 

More  absolute  over  the  Property  than  over  the  Persons  of  the 

Germans, 266 

Voluntary  Engagements 266 

German  Chastity 267 

Its  probable  Causes 2€8 

Reli.gion 269 

Its  Effects  in  Peace 270 

Its  Eflfbcts  in  ^Var 271 

The  Bards 271 

Causes  which  checked  the  Progress  of  the  Germans, 272 

Want  of  Arms 272 

Want  of  Disci pline 273 

Civil  Dissensions  of  Germany 274 

Fomented  by  the  Policy  of  Rome, 275 

Transient  Union  against  Marcus  Antoninus, 278 

Distinction  of  the  German  Tribe, 277 

WttiabrT*, „..., ...,.  Sif 


CONTENTS.  lit 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  EMFEUDRS  DECIUS,  CALLUS,  ^MILIANUS,  VALERIAS.  AI^D  OALllERtS 
—  THE  GENERAL  IRRUPTION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS, — THE  THIRTT  IT 
S-iNTi 

i.  I>.  PAnE 

US-  268.     The  Nature  of  the  Subject 1'79 

The  Emperor  Philip 279 

H9     Services  RevoU,  Victory,  and  Reig^  of  the  Emperor  Decius, 280 

B5C     He  marches  against  the  Goths, 281 

Origin  of  the  Goths  from  Scandinavia, 281 

Religion  of  the  Goths 283 

Institutions  and  Death  of  Odin, 283 

Agreeable,  but  unccitain,  Hypothesis  concerning  Odin 284 

Emigration  of  the  Goths  from  Scandinavia, ^ 285 

Emigration  from  Prussia  to  the  Ukraine, 286 

The  Gothic  Nation  increases  in  its  March 287 

Distinction  of  the  Germans  and  Sarmatians, 288 

Description  of  the  Ukraine 289 

The  Goths  invade  the  Roman  Provinces 289 

850.    Various  Effects  of  the  Gothic  War 2^0 

251.    Decius  revives  the  Office  of  Censor  in  the  Person  of  Valerias, . ..  291 

The  Design  impracticable  and  without  Effect, 293 

Defeat  and  Death  of  Decius  and  his  Son, 293 

251.    Election  of  Gallus 295 

C52.    Retreat  of  the  Goths 295 

Gallus  purchases  Peace  by  the  Payment  of  an  annaal  Tribute 295 

Popular  Discontent 290 

2.53.    Victory  and  Revolt  of  iEmilianus, 296 

Gallus  abandoned  and  slain, 297 

Valerian  revenges  the  Death  of  Gallus, 297 

Valerian  is  acknowledged  Emperor, 297 

Character  of  Valerian, 298 

13?     268.     General  Misfortunes   of  the  Reigns  of  Valerian  and   Gal- 

lienns 298 

Inroads  of  the  Barbarians 293 

Origin  and  Confederacy  of  the  Franks 293 

They  invade  Gaul 300 

Ravage  Spain 1^31 

Pass  over  into  Africa, 3  >< 

Origin  and  Renown  of  the  Sncvi, 303 

A  mixed  body  of  Suevi  assume  the  Name  of  Alemanni, 302 

Invade  Gaul  and  Italy 303 

Are  repulsed  from  Rom"  by  tiio  Senate  and  People 303 

rbe  Senators  excluded  by  Gallieiiu.s  from  the  ivfilitaiy  Service,.. .   30* 


llvl  Ct>NTENTS. 

A.  •  risB 

Gallienas  contracts  an  Alliance  with  the  Alemanni, 304 

Inroads  of  the  Goths 305 

Conquest  of  the  Bosphorus  by  the  Goths, , 3Qt 

The  Goths  acquire  a  Naval  Force, 'JOl 

First  Naval  Expedition  of  the  Goths ?07 

The  Goihs  besiege  and  take  Trebizond, 308 

The  Second  Expedition  of  the  Goths, 308 

Thej-  plunder  the  Cities  of  Bithjniia, 310 

Retreat  of  the  Goths, 31i 

Third  Naval  Expedition  of  the  Goths, 310 

They  pass  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Hellespont, ail 

Ravage  Greece  and  threaten  Italy, 319 

Their  Divisions  and  Retreat, 313 

Ruin  of  the  Temple  of  E  phesus, 313 

Conduct  of  the  Goths  at  Athens, 314 

Conquest  of  Armenia  by  the  Persians, 314 

Valerian  marches  into  the  East, 315 

tSO    Is  defeated  and  taken  Prisoner  by  Sapor,  King  of  Persia 315 

Sapor  ovennins  Syria,  Cilicia,  and  Cappadocia 316 

Boldness  and  Success  of  Odenathus  against  Sapor 318 

Treatment  of  Valerian, ■.* 318 

Character  and  Administration  of  Gallienus 320 

The  Thirty  Tyrants, 321 

Their  real  Number  not  more  than  Nineteen 323 

Character  and  Merit  of  the  Tyrants 322 

Their  obscure  Birth 323 

The  Causes  of  their  Rebellion, 323 

Their  violent  Deaths 324 

Fatal  Consequences  of  these  Usurpations, 325 

Disorders  of  Sicily 326 

Tumults  of  Alexandria, 326 

Rebellion  of  the  Isaurians, 327 

Famine  and  Pestilence. ,  328 

Diminution  of  the  Human  Species, 38f 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Ki:aN  or  claudics. — defeat  of  the  goths. — victories,  TRiDKrH,  kn 

DEATH    OF   AURELIAN. 

W8    Aureolus  invades  Italy,  is  defeated,  and  besieged  at  Milan, rt3l 

Death  of  Gallienus JS5 

Character  and  Elevation  of  the  Emperor  Claudiae, it% 

Mi    Deiith  of  Aureolne, K9 


CONTENTS.  Xlvii 

».  ■.  '*0K 

CiCweicy  anJ  Justice  of  Claudius, 333 

He  undertakes  the  Reformation  of  the  A  rmy 334 

»69,    The  Goths  invade  the  Empire, 335 

Distress  and  Firmness  of  Claudius 33S 

His  Victory  over  the  Goths, 33fi 

C70    Death  of  the  Emperor,  who  recommen<l8  Aurelian  for  his  Suc- 
cessor,  -  338 

The  Attempt  and  Fall  of  auintilius, 338 

Origin  and  Services  of  Aurelian, 339 

Aurelian's  successful  Reign, 341' 

His  severe  Discipline 340 

He  concludes  a  Treaty  with  the  Goths 341 

He  resigns  to  them  the  Province  of  Dacia, 341 

r»0    The  Alemannic  War 342 

The  Alemanni  invade  Italy, 344 

They  are  at  last  vanquished  by  Aurelian, 344 

5171.    Superstitious  Ceremonies, 345 

Fortifications  of  Rome, 346 

-71.    Aurelian  suppresses  the  two  Usurpers, 347 

Succession  of  Usurpers  in  Gaul, 348 

271.  The  Reign  and  Defeat  of  Tetricus 348 

272.  Character  of  Zenobia, 349 

Her  Beauty  and  Learning 349 

Her  Valor 349 

She  revenges  her  Husband's  Death 351 

She  reigns  over  the  East  and  Egypt, 3.'i9 

27?!.    The  Expedition  of  Aurelian 353 

The  Emperor  defeats  the  Palmj-renians  iu  the  Battles  of  Antioch 

and  Eniesa, 354 

The  State  of  Palmj'ra, 354 

It  is  besieged  by  Aurelian, 355 

*73.   Aurelian  becomes  Master  of  Zenobia,  and  of  the  City, 355 

Behavior  of  Zenobia, 356 

Rebellion  and  Ruin  of  Palmyra, 357 

Aurelian  suppresses  the  Rebellion  of  Finnus  in  Egj'pt, 358 

t74     Triumph  of  Aurelian, 359 

His  Treatment  of  Tetricus  and  Zenobia, 360 

His  Magnificence  and  Devotion, 361 

He  suppresses  a  Sedition  at  Rome 361 

Observations  upon  it, 36? 

Cruelty  of  Aurelian, ■t63 

Wt6    He  marches  into  the  E  ast,  and  is  assassinated, Mi 

3 


Xlviii  CONTENTB. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

COUDDCT   of   the    army  and   senate    after   the    death    of  AUREIUR.'* 
REIGNS   OF   TACITUS,    PROBUS,    CARUS,    AND    HIS   S0N3 

«.  t  PiBI. 

Exlraordiuaiy  Contest  between  the  Army  and  the  Senate  for  the 

Clioice  of  an  Emperor, 3C6 

4'  3     A  peaceful  Interreg^num  of  eight  Months 3rt7 

The  Consul  assembles  the  Senate 3C8 

Character  of  Tacitus, 3(19 

He  is  elected  Emperor, 370 

He  accepts  llie  Purple 370 

Authority  of  the  Senate 371 

Their  Joy  and  Confidence, 372 

376     Tacitus  is  acknowledged  by  the  Army, 372 

The  Alani  invade  Asia,  and  are  repulsed  by  Tacitus, 373 

876.    Death  of  the  Emperor  Tacitus, 373 

Usurpation  and  Death  of  his  Brother  Florianus 374 

Their  Family  subsists  in  Obscurity 373 

Character  and  Elevation  of  the  Emperor  Probas 375 

His  respectful  Conduct  towards  the  Senate, 376 

Victories  of  Probus  over  the  Bai'barians 377 

art.    He  delivers  Gaul  from  the  Livasion  of  the  Germans, 378 

He  carries  his  Anns  into  Geraiany, 380 

He  builds  a  Wall  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube, 381 

Introduction  and  Settlement  of  the  Barbarians 383 

Daring  Enterprise  of  the  Franks 384 

979.    Revolt  of  Saturninus  in  the  East, 384 

rt80.    Revolt  of  Bonosiis  and  Proculus  in  Gaul, 385 

»81.    Triumph  of  the  Emperor  Probus, 386 

His  Discipline, 386 

282    His  Death 387 

Election  and  Character  of  Carus, 388 

The  Sentiments  of  the  Senate  and  People 389 

Cants  defeats  the  Sarmatians,  and  marches  into  the  East, 389 

•83.    He  gives  Audience  to  the  Persian  Ambassadors, 39 

833     His  Victories,  and  extraordinary  Death, 390 

He  is  succeeded  by  his  two  Sons,  Carinas  and  Numerian, 399 

881     Vices  of  Carinus, 393 

He  celebrates  the  Roman  Games 394 

SpecUicles  of  Rome, 39.1 

The  Amphitheatre 396 

Return  of  Numerian  with  the  Army  from  Perg-a, 398 

Death  of  Numerian 398 

884     Election  of  the  Emperor  Diocletian, 4O0 

C85     Defeat  and  Death  of  Carinus 401 


C0NTBNT8.  dix 


CHAPTER  xirr. 

TH«  REIGN  OF  r.IOCLETIAN  AND  HIS  THREE  ASSOCIATES,  MAXIMIAN. 
GALEUIUi,  AND  CONSTANTIUS. — GENERAL  UEESTABLISHMENT  OF  ORDEM 
AND  TRANQUILLITY. — THE  PERSIAN  WAR,  VICTORY,  AND  TRIUKPH. — 
THS  NEW  FORM  OF  ADMINISTRATION. — ABDICATION  AND  RETIREME.NT 
0/    DIOCLETIAN   AND   MAXIMIAN. 

iD  Pi  OK. 

iifl     Elevation  and  Character  of  Diocletian, 403 

His  Clemency  in  Victory 403 

886    Association  and  Character  of  Maxiiuian, 404 

892    Association  of  two  Ca3sars,  Galcrius  and  Constantius 4CH 

Departments  and  Harmony  of  the  four  Princes 400 

Series  of  Events, 407 

?fl7     State  of  the  Peasants  of  Gaul, 407 

Their  Rebolhon 408 

And  Chastisement 403 

387.    Revolt  of  Carausius  in  Britain, 409 

Importance  of  Britain, 410 

Power  of  Carausius 410 

289.    Acknowledged  by  the  other  Emperors, 411  . 

'".94.    His  Death ,...  412 

296     Recovery  of  Britain  by  Constantius 412 

Defence  of  the  Frontiers, 413 

Fortifications, 413 

Dissensions  of  the  Barbai-iaus, 413 

Conduct  of  the  Emperors, 414 

Valor  of  the  Caisars, 414 

Treatment  of  the  Bai'barians, 415 

Wars  of  Africa  and  Egypt 415 

♦596.    Conduct  of  Diocletian  in  Egypt 416 

He  suppresses  Books  of  Alchemy, 417 

Novelty  and  Progress  of  that  Art 418 

The  Persian  War 419 

88;     Tiridatos  the  Armenian 419 

886.    His  Restoration  to  the  Tlu'one  of  Armenia 419 

State  of  the  Country, 420 

Revolt  of  the  People  and  Nobles, 420 

Story  of  Mamgo, , 421 

The  Persians  recover  Armenia, 423 

B96     War  between  the  Persians  and  the  Romans, 423 

Defeat  of  Galerius, 423 

His  Reception  by  Diocletian 421 

*»7     Second  Campaign  of  Galerius, 42 

His  Victory, 42) 

His  Behavior  to  his  Royal  Captives, 4!M 


1  CONTENTS. 

A.  B.  rA«l 

Negotiation  for  P(;ace, 421 

Speech  of  die  Persian  Ambassador, 427 

Answer  of  Galerius, 45n 

Moderation  of  Diocletian 427 

Conclusion  of  a  Treaty  of  Peace, 427 

Articles  of  the  Treaty, 427 

The  Aboras  fixed  as  the  Limits  between  the  Empires, 42S 

Cession  of  five  Provinces  beyond  the  Tigris, 42* 

Armenia 421 

Iberia. 4.J0 

903     Triumph  of  Diocletian,  and  Maximian 431 

Long  Absence  of  the  Emperors  from  Rome 432 

Their  Residence  at  Milan 433 

Their  Residence  at  Nicomedia, 434 

Debasement  of  Rome  and  of  the  Senate, 434 

New  Bodies  of  Guards,  Jovians  and  Herculians, 435 

Civil  Magistracies  laid  aside, 435 

Imperial  Dignity  and  Titles 436 

Diocletian  assumes  the  Diadem,  and  introduces  the  Persian  Cer- 
emonial   437 

New  Form  of  Administration,  two  Augnsti  and  two  Caesars, 438 

Increase  of  Taxes, 439 

Abdication  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian, 441 

Resemblance  to  Charles  the  Fifth, 441 

>04.    Long  Illness  of  Diocletian 443 

His  Pnidence, 442 

Compliance  of  Maximian, •. 443 

Retirement  of  Diocletian  at  Salona 444 

His  Philosopliy, 444 

313.    His  Death, 445 

Description  of  Solona  and  the  adjacent  Country, 445 

Of  Diocletian's  Palace 446 

Decline  of  the  Arts, J47 

Decline  of  Letters,  ., 449 

The  New  Platouists, 449 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TEOCBLES  AFTER  THE  ABDICATION  OF  DIOCLETIAN. — DEATH  OF  CONST  IB 
YIUS. — ELEVATION  OF  CONSTANTINE  AND  MAXENTIUS. — SIX  EMPERC.tS  AT 
THE  SAME  TIME. — DEATH  OF  MAXIMIAN  AND  GALERIUS. — VICTORIi»  0» 
C01I3TANTINE  OVER  MAXENTIUS  AND  LICINIUS — REUNION  OF  TUK  CH- 
P1E£   0NDKR  THE   AUTHORITY   OF   CONSTANTINE. 

ft)5— 323.     Period  of  Civil  Wars  and  Confusion 431 

Character  and  Situation  of  Constantias, ........i   iU 


CONTENTS.  n 

k.  B.  PAOB. 

Of  Gfc/eriuB, 453 

The  two  Caesars,  Severus  and  Maximin, 453 

Ambition  of  Galerius  disappointed  by  two  Revolutiuns, 454 

274.    Birth,  Education,  and  Escape  of  Constantino 455 

300.    Death  of  Constantius.  and  Elevation  of  Constantiue, 457 

He  is  acknowledged  by  Galerius,  who  gives  him  only  the  title  of 

Ca3sar,  and  that  of  Augustus  to  Severus, 458 

The  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Constantino, 458 

Discontent  of  the  Romans  at  the  Apprehension  of  Taxes, 459 

J9i     Maxentius  declared  Emperor  at  Rome 460 

Maximian  reassumes  the  Purple, 461 

307     Defeat  and  Death  of  Severus, 46a 

Maximian  gives  his  Daughter  Fausta,  and  the  title  of  Augustus  to 

Constantine 463 

Galerius  invades  Italy, 463 

His  Retreat, 465 

307     Elevation  of  Licinius  to  the  Rank  of  Augustus, 4G5 

Elevation  of  Maximin 466 

308.    Six  Emperors, 466 

Misfortunes  of  Maximian, 467 

31 0.  His  Death, 469 

311.  Death  of  Galerius, 469 

His  Dominion  shared  between  Maximin  and  Licinius, 470 

306 — 312.    Administration  of  Constantine  in  Gaul, 471 

Tyranny  of  Maxentius  in  Italy  and  Africa 471 

312.  Civil  War  between  Constantiue  and  Maxentius, 473 

Preparations, 474 

Constantine  passes  the  Alps 475 

Battle  of  Turin 475 

Siege  and  Batde  of  Verona, 477 

Indolence  and  Fears  of  Maxentius, 479 

41,  J.    Victory  of  Constantine  near  Rome, 480 

His  Reception, 489 

His  Conduct  at  Rome, 484 

31 3.  His  Alliance  with  Licinius 485 

War  between  Maximin  and  Licinias, 485 

The  Defeat  of  Maximm 486 

His  Death, 486 

Cruelty  of  Licinius 486 

Unfortunate  Fate  of  the  Empress  Valeria  and  her  Mother 487 

1 1 4     (iuarrel  between  Constantine  and  Licinius, 499 

First  Civil  War  between  them, 490 

111     Battle  of  Cybalis, 491 

Battle  of  Mardia, 491 

Treaty  of  Peace, 493 

tl5  -323.    General  Peace  and  Laws  of  Constantine, 493 

IW    The  Gothic  War, 4M 


dl  CONTENTS. 

>■  B  FASB 

323    Becoiid  Civil  War  between  Constantine  ajd  Licinias, 49'; 

Batllo  of  Hadrianople, 498 

Siege  of  Byzantium,  and  Naval  Victory  of  Crispus 500 

Battle  of  Chiysopolis 501 

Submission  and  Death  of  Licinius 503 

S9 «     Uennion  of  the  Empire, 50^ 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

rBE   PROGRESS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN   RELIGION,  AND  THE   SENTIMENTS,  MAS- 
KERS,   NUMBERS,   AND   CONDITION    OF    THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS. 

Importance  of  the  Inquirj- 504 

Its  Difficulties, 50# 

Five  Causes  of  the  Growth  of  Christianity 50J 

,  I.  The  First  Cause.     Zeal  of  the  Jews ; 503 

Its  gradual  Increase 509 

Their  Religion  better  suited  to  Defence  than  to  Conquest, 510 

More  liberal  Zeal  of  Christianity, 512 

Obstinacy  and  Reasons  of  the  believing  Jews, 513 

The  Nazarene  Church  of  Jerusalem, 514 

The  Ebionites, 516 

The  Gnostics, 518 

Their  Sects,  Progress,  and  Influence, 520 

The  Daemons  considered  as  the  Gods  of  Antiquity, 522 

Abhon-ence  of  the  Christians  for  Idolati*y, 523 

Ceremonies, 524 

Arts, 525 

Festivals, 526 

Zeal  for  Christianity 527 

TT.  The  Second  Cause.    The  Doctrine  of  the  Immortality  of  the 

Soul  among  the  Philosophers 528 

Among  the  Pagans  of  Greece  and  Rome, 528 

Among  the  Barbarians  and  the  Jews, 530 

Among  the  Christians, 532 

Approaching  End  of  the  World, 532 

Doctrine  of  the  Milennium, 533 

Conflagration  of  Rome  and  of  the  World, S'n 

The  Pagans  devoted  to  eternal  Punishment 537 

Were  often  converted  by  their  Fears 533 

ni.  The    Third    Causi.     Miraculous  Powers  of  the  Primitive 

Church 538 

Their  Truth  contested 541 

Our  Perplexity  in  defining  the  Miraculous  Period, 543 

Use  of  the  primitive  Miracles 543 


CONTENTS. 

IV.  The  Fojrth  Cause.     Virtues  of  the  first  Chria 

Effects  of  tlicir  Repentance 

Care  of  their  Roputiition, 

Morality  of  the  Fathers, 

Principles  of  Human  Nature 5i. 

The  primitive  Christians  condemn  Pleasure  and  Luxuiy, .548 

Their  Sentiments  concerning  Marriage  and  Chastity, 549 

Their  Aversion  to  the  Business  of  War  and  Govenimeut, S.'il 

V.  The  Fifth  Cause.    The  Christians  active  in  the  Government 

of  the  Church 553 

Its  primitive  Freedom  and  Equality, 554 

Institutions  of  Bishops  as  Presidents  of  the  College  of  Presby- 
ters,     556 

Provincial  Councils 558 

Union  of  the  Church 559 

Progress  of  Episcopal  Authority 559 

Preeminence  of  the  Metropolitan  Churches, 56C 

Ambition  of  the  Roman  Pontiff, 561 

Laity  and  Clergy, T 562 

Oblations  and  Revenue  of  the  Church 563 

Distribution  of  the  Revenue 566 

Excommunication, 567 

Public  Penance 568 

The  Dignity  of  Episcopal  Government 569 

Recapitulation  of  the  Five  Cause  s 571 

AVeakness  of  Polytheism, 572 

The  Scepticism  of  the  Pagan  World  proved  favorable  to  the  new 

Religion 572 

And  to  the  Peace  and  Union  of  the  Roman  Empire, 573 

Historical  View  of  the  Progi-ess  of  Christianity 573 

In  the  East, 575 

Tlie  Church  of  Antioch, 576 

In  Egypt, 577 

In  Rome. 579 

In  Africa  and  the  Western  Provinces, 580 

Beyond  the  Limits  of  the  Roman  Empire 582 

General  Proportion  of  Christians  and  Pagans, 583 

Wliether  the  first  Christians  were  mean  and  ignorant, 5S4 

Bome  Exceptions  wi'.h  regard  to  Learning 584 

W'ilh  regard  to  Rank  and  Fortune 585 

Christianity  most  favo.-ably  received  by  the  Poor  and  Simple, 586 

Rejected  by  some  eminent  Men  of  the  first  and  second  Centaries,  5R6 

Their  Neglect  of  Prophecy, 557 

Their  Neglect  of  Miracles 586 

Qeneral  Silence  concerning  the  Darkness  of  the  Passioa 5M 


THB  V 

HISTORY 

or 

THE    DECLINE   AND  FALL 

OF   THE 

ROMAN    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. THE    EXTENT    AND    MILITARY    FORCE    OF   TIEB 

EMPIRE    IN    THE    AGE    OF   THE    ANTONINES, 

In  the  second  century  of  tlie  Christian  ^ra,  the  empire  of 
Rome  comprehended  the  fairest  part  of  the  earth,  and  the 
most  civihzed  portion  of  mankind.  The  frontiers  of  that 
extensive  monarchy  were  guarded  by  ancient  renown  and 
discipUned  valor.  The  gentle  but  powerful  influence  of  laws 
and  manners  had  gradually  cemented  the  union  of  the  prov- 
inces. Their  .peaceful  inhabitants  enjoyed  and-  abused  the 
advantages  of  wealth  and  luxury.  The  image  of  a  free  con- 
stitution was  preserved  with  decent  reverence :  the  Romau 
senate  appeared  to  possess  the  sovereign  authority,  and  de- 
volved on  the  emperors  all  the  executive  powers  of  govern- 
ment. During  a  happy  period  of  more  than  fourscore  years, 
the  public  administration  was  conducted  by  the  virtue  and 
abilities  of  Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  two  Antonincs. 
It  is  the  design  of  this,  and  of  the  two  succeeding. .chapters,  to 
describe  the  prosperous  condition  of  their  empire ;  and  after 
wards,  from  the  death  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  to  deduce  tha 
most  important  circumstances  of  its  decline  and  fall ;  a  revolu 
tion  which  will  ever  be  remembered,  and  is  still  fe  t  by  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

The  .print  ipal    conqu^ts   of  the   Romans   were   achieved 

VOL.   I.- -A 


2  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180 

and.^r  the .  republic ;  and  the  emperors,  for  the  most  part, 
were  satisfied  with  preserving  those  dominions  which  had 
been  acquired  by  the  pohcy  of  the  senate,  the  active  emula- 
tions of  the  consuls,  and  the  martial  enthusiasm  of  the  people. 
The  seven  first  centuries  were  filled  with  a  rapid  succession 
of  triumphs ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  Augustus  to  relinquish 
the  ambitious  design  of  subduing  the  whole  earth,  and  to  in- 
troduce a  spirit  of  moderation  into  the  public  councils.  In 
dined  to  peace  by  his  temper  and  situation,  it  was  easy  fof 
him  to  discover  that  Rome,  in  her  present  exalted  situation, 
had  much  less  to  hope  than  to  fear  from  the  chance  of  arms ; 
and  that,  in  the  prosecution  of  remote  wars,  the  undertaking 
became  every  day  more  difficult,  the  event  more  doubtful, 
and  the  possession  more  precarious,  and  less  beneficial.  The 
experience  of  Augustus  added  weight  to  these  salutary  re- 
flections, and  eflfectually  convinced  him  that,  by  the  prudent 
vigor  of  his  counsels,  it  would  be  easy  to  secure  every  con- 
cession which  the  safety  or  the  dignity  of  Rome  might  require 
from  the  most  formidable  barbarians.  Instead  of  exposing 
his  person  and  his  legions  to  the  arrows  of  the  Parthians,  he 
obtained,  by  an  honorable  treaty,  the  restitution  of  the  stan- 
dards and  prisoners  which  had  been  taken  in  the  defeat  of 
Orassus.* 

His  generals,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  attempted  the 
reduction  of  Ethiopia  and  Arabia  Felix,  'ihey  marched  near 
a  thousand  miles  to  the  south  of  the  tropic ;  but  the  heat  of 
the  climate  soon  repelled  the  invaders,  and  protected  the  un- 
warlike  natives  of  those  sequestered  regions."     The  northern 

*  Dion  Cassius,  (1.  liv.  p.  736,)  -with  the  annotations  of  Reimar 
who  has  collected  all  that  Roman  vanity  has  left  upon  the  subject. 
The  narble  of  Ancyra,  on  which  Augustus  recorded  his  own  ex- 
ploits, asserted  that  he  compelled  the  Parthians  to  restore  the  ensigua 
of  Crassus. 

2  Strabo,  (L  xvi.  p.  780,)  Pliny  the  elder,  (Hist.  Natur.  1 
▼i  c  32,  35,  [28,  29,]  and  Dion  Cnssius,  (1.  Uii.  p.  723,  and  L 
liv.  p.  734,)  have  left  us  very  curious  details  concerning  these 
wars.  The  Romans  made  themselves  masters  of  Mariaba,  or  Merab, 
a  city  of  Arabia  Felix,  well  known  to  the  Orientals.  (See  Abulfeda 
and   the   Nubian   geography,  p.   52.)*     They   were   arrived  within 


*  It  is  this  city  of  Merab  that  the  Arabs  say  was  the  residence  of  Belkis, 
queen  oi  Saba,  who  desired  to  see  Solomon.  A  dam,  by  which  the  watero 
collected  in  its  neighborh  >od  were  ke-pi  back,  having  been  .swept  away,  the 
euddeu  inundation  destroyed  this  city,  of  which,  nevertheless,  vestige* 
remain.  It  bordered  on  a  country  called  Adramout,  where  a  particulai 
•romatie  piaiit  rtowb  :  it  i»  for  this  reason  that  we  rea^i  in  the  bistoiy  o' 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  9 

countries  of  Europe  scarcely  deserved  the  expense  and  labor 
of  conquest.  The  forests  and  morasses  of  Germany  were 
filled  with  a  hardy  race  of  barbarians,  who  despised  life  when 
it  was  separated  from  freedom  ;  and  though,  on  the  first  attack, 
they  seemed  to  yield  to  the  weight  of  the  Roman  power,  they 
soon,  by  a  signal  act  of  despair,  regained  their  independence, 
and  reminded  AugJistua.of-the  vicissitude  of  fortune."  On  the 
death  of  that  emperor,  his  testament  was  publicly  read  in  the 
senate.  He  bequeathed,  as  a  valuable  legacy  to  his  successors, 
the  advice  of  confining  the  empire  within  those  limits  whiclr- 
nature  seemed  to  have  placed  as  its  permanent  bulwarks  and 
boundaries :  on  the  west,  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  the  Rhine  and 
Danube  on  the  north  ;  the  Euphrates  on  the  east ;  and  towards 
the  south,  the  sandy  deserts  of  Arabia  and  Africa.* 

Happily  for  the  repose  of  mankind,  the  moderate  system 
recommended  by  the  wisdom  of  Augustus,  was  adopted  by 
the  fears  and  vices  of  his  immediate  successors.  Engaged  in 
the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  or  in  the  exercise  of  tyranny,  the  first 
Caesars  seldom  showed  themselves  to  the  armies,  or  to  the 
provinces ;  nor  vvere  they  disposed  to  suflfer,  that  those  tri> 
umphs  which  their  indolence  neglected,  should  be  usurped  by 
the  conduct  and  valor  of  their  lieutenants.     The  military  fame 

three  days'*  journey  of  the  spice  country,  the  rich  object  of  theu 
invasion. 

^  By  the  slaughter  of  Varus  and  his  three  legions.  See  the  first 
book  of  the  Annals  of  Tacitus.  Sueton.  in  August,  c.  23,  and  Velle- 
ius  Paterculus,  1.  ii.  c.  117,  <fec.  Augustus  did  not  receive  the  melan- 
choly news  with  all  the  temper  and  firmness  that  might  havp  been 
expected  from  his  character. 

■•  Tacit.  Annal.  1.  ii.  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ivi.  p.  833,  and  the  speech 
of  Augustus  himself,  in  Julian's  Csesars.  It  receives  great  light  from 
the  learned  notes  of  his  French  translator,  M.  Spanheim. 

the  Roman  expedition,  that  they  were  arrived  within  three  daj's'  jom-ney  of 
the  spice  country. — G.  Compare  Malie-Brun,  Geo^r.  Eng.  trans,  vol.  ii.  p. 
815.  The  period  of  this  flood  has  been  copiously  discussed  by  Reiske, 
f Program,  de  velm'td  Epochd  Arabum,  nifturd  cataractm  Merabensxs.) 
Add.  Joliarmsen,  Hist.  YemancE,  p.  282.  Bonn,  1828 ;  and  sec  Gibbon,  note 
16.  to  Chap.  L.— M. 

*  Two,  according-  to  Strabo.  The  detailed  account  of  Strabo  makes  tho 
invaders  fail  before  Marsuabae  :  this  cannot  be  the  same  place  as  Mariaba. 
Ukert  observes,  that  iElius  Gallus  would  not  have  failed  for  want  of  watei 
before  Mariaba.  (See  M.  Guizot's  note  above.)  "  Either,  therefore,  they 
were  different  places,  or  Strabo  is  mistaken."  (Ukert,  Geograj>hie  der 
Griechen  und  Romer,  vol.  i.  p.  181.)  Strabo,  indeed,  mentions  Mariaba  dis- 
linet  from  Marsuaba;.  Gibbon  ha-s  followed  Pliny  in  reckoning  Mariaba 
tmong  the  conquests  of  Gallus.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  lie  if 
wrong,  as  Gallus  did  not  approach  tlie  capital  of  Sabcea.  Compare  iJmj  now 
of  the  Oxford  editor  of  Strabo.-  -M. 


4  THE   DECLINE    A.ND    FALL         [A.D.  98-180, 

of  a  subject  was  considered  as  an  insolent  invasion  of  the  Im- 
perial prerogative ;  and  it  became  the  duty,  as  weU  as  interest, 
of  every  Roman  general,  to  guard  the  frontiers  intiusted  to  liia 
care,  without  aspiring  to  conquests  ivhich  might  have  proved  no 
less  fatal  to  Limself  than  to  the  vanquished  barbarians.' 

The  only  accession  which  the  Roman  empire  received, 
during  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  ^ra,  was  the  province 
of  Britain.  In  this  single  instance,  the  successors  of  Caesar 
and  Augustus  were  persuaded  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
former,  rather  than  the  precept  of  the  latter.  The  proximitj 
of  its  situation  to  the  coast  of  Gaul  seem.ed  to  inviie  their 
arms ;  the  pleasing  though  doubtful  intelligence  of  a  pearl 
fishery,  attracted  their  avarice ; "  and  as  Britain  was  viewed 
in  the  light  of  a  distinct  and  insulated  world,  the  conquest 
scarcely  formed  any  exception  to  the  general  system  of  con- 
tinental measures.  After  a  war  of  about  forty  years,  under- 
taken by  the  most  stupid,^  maintained  by  the  most  dissolute, 
and  terminated  by  the  most  timid  of  all  the  emperors,  the  far 
2;rcater  part  of  the  island  submitted  to  the  Roman  yoke.* 
The  various  tribes  of  Britain  possessed  valor  without  conduct, 
and  the  love  of  freedom  without  the  spirit  of  union.  They 
took  up  arms  with  savage  fierceness ;  they  laid  them  down, 
or  turned  them  against  each  other,  with  wild  inconsistency ; 
and  while  they  fought  singly,  they  were  successively  subdued. 
.Neither  the  fortitude  of  Caracfcicus,  nor  the  despair  of  Boa- 
dicea,  nor  the  fanaticism  of  the  Druids,  could  avert  the  slavery 
of  their  country,  or  resist  the  steady  progress  of  the  Imperial 
generals,  who  maintained  the  national  glory,  when  the  throne 

*  Geriiianicus,  Suetonius  Paulinus,  and  Agricola  were  checked  and 
recalled  in  the  course  of  their  victories.  Corbulo  was  put  to  death 
Military  merit,  as  it  is  admirably  expressed  by  Tacitus,  was,  in  tho 
strictest  sense  of  the  word,  imperatoria  virtus. 

®  Caesar  himself  conceals  that  ignoble  motive ;  but  it  is  mentioned 
by  Suetonius,  c.  47.  The  British  pearls  proved,  however,  of  L'ltle 
value,  on  account  of  their  dark  aud  livid  color.  Tacitus  observes, 
with  reason,  (in  Agricola,  c.  12,)  that  it  was  an  inherent  defect. 
"Ego  facilius  crediderim,  naturam  margaritis  deesse  quam  noLia 
Bvaritiam." 

'  Claudius,  Nero,  and  Domitian.  A  hope  is  expressed  by  Pompo- 
oius  Mela,  1.  iii.  c.  6,  (he  wrote  under  Claudius,)  that,  by  the  success  of 
the  Roman  arms,  the  island  and  its  savage  inhabitants  would  soon  b« 
better  known.  It  is  amusing  enough  to  peruse  such  passages  iu  the 
tuidst  of  London. 

*  See  the  admirable  abridgment  given  by  Tacitus,  in  the  life  of 
Agricola,  and  copiously,  though  perhaps  not  completely,  illustrated  b] 
oor  own  .intiqufirians.  Camden  and  Ho'rsley. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  I 

was  disgraced  by  the  weakest,  or  the  most  vicious  of  man 
kind.  At  the  very  time  when  Doraitian,  confined  to  his  palace, 
felt  thcs  ti^iv."ors  which  he  inspired,  his  legions,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  virtuous  Agricola,  defeated  the  collected  force  cf 
the  Caledonians,  at  the  foot  of  the  Grampian  Hills ;  and  hia 
fleets,  venturing  to  explore  an  unknown  and  dangerous  naviga- 
tion, displayed  the  Roman  arms  round  every  part  of  the  island. 
The  conquest  of  Britain  was  considered  as  already  achieved ; 
and  it  was  the  design  of  Agricola  to  complete  and  insure  his 
success,  by  the  easy  reduction  of  Ireland,  for  which,  in  his 
opinion,  one  legion  and  a  few  auxiharies  were  sufficient.*  The 
western  isle  might  be  improved  into  a  valuable  possession,  and 
the  Britons  would  wear  their  chains  with  the  less  reluctance, 
if  the  prospect  and  example  of  freedom  were  on  every  side 
removed  from  before  their  eyes. 

But  the  superior  merit  of  Agricola  soon  occasioned  hia 
removal  fi'om  the  government  of  Britain ;  and  forever  dis- 
appointed this  rational,  though  extensive  scheme  of  conquest. 
Before  his  departure,  the  prudent  general  had  provided  for 
i^iurity  as  well  as  for  dominion.  He  had  observed,  that  the 
'sland  is  almost  divided  into  two  unequal  parts  by  the  opposite 
gulfs,  or,  as  they  are  now  called,  the  Friths  of  Scotland. 
Across  the  narrow  interval  of  about  forty  miles,  he  had  drawn 
a  line  of  militarj'^  stations,  which  was  afterwards  fortified,  in 
the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  by  a  turf  rampart,  erected  on 
foundations  of  stone.'"  This  wall  of  Antoninus,  at  a  small 
distance  beyond  the  modern  cities  of  Edinburgh  and  Glas- 
gow, was  fixed  as  the  limit  of  the  Roman  province.  The 
native  Caledonians  preserved,  in  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  island,  their  wild  independence,  for  which  they  were  not 

•  The  Irish  writers,  jealous  of  their  national  honor,  are  extremely 
provoked  ou  this  occasion,  both  with  Tacitus  and  with  Agricola. 

*"  See  Horsley's  Britannia  Romana,  L  i.  c.  10.* 

*  Agricola  fortified  the  line  from  Dumbarton  to  Edinbnrgh,  consequently 
within  Scotland.  The  emperor  Hadrian,  during  his  residence  in  Britain, 
about  the  year  121,  caused  a  rampart  of  earth  to  be  raised  between  New- 
castle and  Carlisle.  Autouiuus  Pius,  having  gained  new  victories  over  llie 
Caledonians,  by  the  ability  of  his  general,  Lollius  Urbicus,  caused  a  new 
ram  pari  nl  earth  to  be  constructed  between  Edinburgh  and  Dumbarton. 
Lastly,  Sei)timius  Severus  caused  a  wall  of  stone  to  be  built  parallel  to  the 
jam  part  of  Hadrian,  and  on  the  same  locality.  Sec  .John  Warburton's  Val- 
lum ilomanum,  or  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Roman  Wall.  Lon- 
don, 1754,  4n. — W.  See  likewise  a  good  note  on  the  lloman  wall  ia  Lin 
nrd'a  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  p   10,  4to  edit  —  M. 


)^'; 


6  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

less  indebted  to  tlieir  poverty  than  to  their  valor.  Their  in- 
cursions -were  frequently  repelled  and  chastised ;  but  their 
country  was  never  subdued."  The  masters  of  the J^^irest  and 
most  wealthy  climates  of  the  globe  turned  with  contempt  from 
gloomy  hills,  assailed  by  the  winter  tempest,  from  lakes  con 
cealed  in  a  blue  mist,  and  from  cold  and  lonely  heaths,  over 
which  the  deer  of  the  forest  were  chased  by  a  troop  of  naked 
barbaTians.'" 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  Roman  frontiers,  and  such  the 
maxims  of  Imperial  policy,  from  the  death  of  Augustus  to 
the  accession  of  Trajan.  That  virtuous  and  active  prince  had 
received  the  education  of  a  soldier,  and  possessed  the  talenta 
of  a  general.'^  The  peaceful  system  of  his  predecessors 
was  interrupted  by  scenes  of  war  and  conquest;  and  the 
legions,  after  a  long  interval,  beheld  a  military  emperor  at 
their  head.  The  first  exploits  of  Trajan  were  against  the 
Dacians,  the  most  warlike  of  men,  who  dwelt  beyond  the 
Danube,  and  who,  during  the  reign  of  Domitian,  had  insulted, 
with  impunity,  the  Majesty  of  Rome."  To  the  strength  and 
fierceness  of  barbarians  they  added  a  contempt  for  life,  which 
was  derived  from  a  warm  persuasion  of  the  immortahty  and 
transmigration  of  the  soul."  Decebalus,  the  Dacian  king, 
approved  himself  a  rival  not  unworthy  of  Trajan ;  nor  did  he 
despair  of  his  own  and  the  public  fortune,  till,  by  the  confes- 
sion of  his  enemies,  he  had  exhausted  every  resource  both  of 
valor  and  policy."  This  memorable  war,  with  a  very  short 
suspension  of  hostiHties,  lasted  five  years;  and  as  the  em- 
peror could  exert,  without  control,  the  whole  force  of  the 
state,  it  was  terminated  by  an  absolute  submission  of  the  bar- 
barians."    The    new    province   of   Dacia,   which    formed   a 

*'  The  poet  Buchanan  celebrates  with  elegance  and  spirit  (see  hia 
Sylvse,  V.)  the  un violated  independence  of  his  native  country.  But,  if 
the  single  testimony  of  Richard  of  Cirencester  was  sufficient  to  create 
a  Roman  province  of  Vespasiana  to  the  north  of  the  wall,  that  inde- 
pendence would  be  reduced  within  very  narrow  limits. 

"  See  Appian  (in  Procem.)  and  the  uniform  imagery  of  Ossian's 
Poems,  which,  according  to  every  hypothesis,  were  composed  by  a  native 
Caledonian. 

"  See  Pliny's  Panegyric,  which  seems  founded  on  facts. 

"  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixvii. 

*'  Herodotus,  1.  iv.  c.  94.  Julian  in  the  Csesai-s,  with  Spanheim'* 
abeervations. 

"  Plin.  Epist.  viii.  9. 

"  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixviii.  p.  1123,  1131.  Julian  in  CaeBaribm 
Eutropiiis,  \m.  2,  6.     Aurclius  Victor  it  Epitome. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  t 

second  exception  to  tlie  precept  of  Augustus,  was  about  th^^ 
teeu  hundred  miles  in  circumference.  Its  natural  boundariea 
were  the  Niester,  the  Teyss  or  Tibiscus,  the  Lower  Danube,  and 
the  Euxine  Sea.  The  vestiges  of  a  military  road  may  still  be 
traced  from  the  banks  of  the  Danube  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Bender,  a  place  famous  in  modern  history,  and  the  actual 
,  frontier  of  the  Turkish  and  Russian  empires.'* 
~^~  ^^rajan  was  ambitious  of  fame ;  and  as  long  as  mankind 
ehall  continue  to  bestow  more  liberal  applause  on  their  de- 
stroyers than  on  their  benefactors,  the  thirst  of  military  glory 
will  ever  be  the  vice  of  the  most  exalted  characters.  The 
praises  of  Alexander,  transmitted  by  a  succession  of  poets 
and  historians,  had  kindled  a  dangerous  emulation  in  the  mind 
of  Trajan.  Like  him,  the  Roman  emperor  undertook  an 
expedition  against  the  nations  of  the  East ;  but  he  lamented 
with  a  sigh,  that  his  advanced  age  scarcely  left  him  any  hopes 
of  equalling  the  renown  of  the  son  of  Philip.'*  Yet  the  sue 
cess  of  Trajan,  however  transient,  was  rapid  and  specious. 
The  degenerate  Parthians,  broken  by  intestine  discord,  fled 
before  his  arms.  He  descended  the  River  Tigris  in  triumph, 
from  the  mountains  of  Armenia  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  He  en- 
joyed the  honor  of  being  the  first,  as  he  was  the  last,  of  the 
Roman  generals,  who  ever  navigated  that  remote  sea.  His 
fleets  ravaged  the  coast  of  Arabia ;  and  Trajan  vainly  flat 
tered  himself  that  he  was  approaching  towards  the  confines 
of  India.*"  Every  day  the  astonished  senate  received  the 
intelligence  of  new  names  and  new  nations,  that  acknowl 
edged  his  sway.  They  were  informed  that  the  kings  of  Bos- 
phorus,  Colchos,  Iberia,  Albania,  Osrhoene,  and  even  the  Par- 
thian monarch  himself,  had  accepted  their  diadems  from  the 
hands  of  the  emperor;  that  the  independent  tribes  of  the 
Median  and  Carduchian  hills  had  implored  his  protection ; 
and  that  the  rich  countries  of  Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and 
Assyria,  were  reduced  into  the  state  of  provinces."  But  the 
death  of  Trajan  soon  clouded  the  splendid  prospect ;    and  it 

'*  See  a  Memoir  of  M.  d'Anville,  on  the  Province  of  Dacia,  in  the 
Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xxviii.  p.  444 — 468. 

*•  Trajan's  sentiments  are  represented  in  a  very  just  and  lively  man- 
oer  in  the  Caesars  of  Julian. 

*  Eutropius  and  Sextus  Rufus  have  endeavored  to  perpetuate  ths 
iliusioa  See  a  very  sensible  dissertation  of  M.  Freret  in  the  Academit 
des  Inscriptions,  torn.  xxL  p.  55. 

•1  Dion  Cassius.  1.  Ixviii. ;  and  the  Abbreviatora 


M  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

was  justly  to  be  dreaded,  that  so  many  distAut  nations  would 
throw  off  the  unaccustomed  yoke,  when  they  Avere  no  longe* 
restrained  by  the  powerful  hand  which  had  imposed  it. 

It  was  an  ancient  tradition,  that  when  the  Capitol  was 
founded  by  one  of  the  Roman  kings,  the  god  Terminus 
(who  presided  over  boundaries,  and  was  represented,  accord- 
ing to  the  fashion  of  that  age,  by  a  large  stone)  alone,  among 
all  the  inferior  deities,  refused  to  yield  his  place  to  Jupitoi 
Himself,  A  favorable  inference  was  drawn  from  his  obsti 
nacy,  which  was  interpreted  by  the  augurs  as  a  sure  presage 
that  the  boundaries  of  the  Roman  power  would  never  recede." 
During  many  ages,  the  prediction,  as  it  is  usual,  contributed  to 
its  own  accomplishment.  But  though  Terminus  had  resisted 
the  Majesty  of  Jupiter,  he  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the 
emperor  Hadrian.""  The  resignation  of  all  the  eastern  con- 
quests of  Trajan  was  the  first  measure  of  his  reign.  He 
restored  to  the  Parthians  the  election  of  an  independent  sover- 
eign ;  withdrew  the  Roman  garrisons  from  the  provinces  of 
Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Assyria ;  and,  in  compliance  with 
the  precept  of  Augustus,  once  more  established  the  Euphrates 
as  the  fi'ontier  of  the  empire."  Censure,  which  arraigns  the 
public  actions  and  the  private  motives  of  princes,  h;xs  ascribed 
to  envy,  a  conduct  which  might  be  attributed  to  the  prudence 
and  moderation  of  Hadrian.  The  various  character  of  that  em- 
peror, capable,  by  turns,  of  the  meanest  and  the  most  generous 
sentiments,  may  afford  some  color  to  the  suspicion.  It  was,  how- 
ever, scarcely  in  his  power  to  place  the  superiority  of  his  pre- 
decessor in  a  more  conspicuous  light,  than  by  thus  confessing 
himself  unequal  to  the  task  of  defending  the  conquests  of  Trajan. 

The  martial  and  ambitious  of  spirit  Trajan  formed  a  very 
singular  contrast  with  the  moderation  of  his  successor.  The 
restless  activity  of  Hadi-ian  was  not  less  remarkable  when 
compared  with  the  gentle   repose  of  Antoninus  Pius.      The 

22  Ovid.  Fast.  1.  ii.  vcr.  667.    See  Livy,  aad  Dionysius  of  Hallcar- 

nassus,  iinder  the  reign  of  Tarquin. 

23  St.  Augustin  is  highly  delighted  with  the  proof  of  the  weakness 
of  Terminus,  and  the  vanity  of  the  Augurs.  See  De  Civitate  Dei,  iv. 
29.* 

2*  See  the  Augustan  History,  p.  5,  Jerome's  Chronicle,  and  all  the 
Epitomizers.  It  is  somewhat  surprising,  that  this  memorable  evenl 
should  be  omiied  by  Dion,  or  rather  by  Xiphilin.    . 


•  The  turn  of  Gibbon's  sentence  is  Augnstin's:  "Plus  Hadriaaom  retfeoB 
httmvuam,  quam  regem  Deorum  timuiBse  videatur." — M. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  f 

life  of  the  former  was  almost  a  perpetual  jouraey ;  and  tM  he 
possessed  the  various  talents  of  the  soldier,  the  statetman,  and 
the  scholar,  he  gratified  his  curiosity  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty.  Careless  of  the  difference  of  seasons  and  of  climates,  he 
inarched  on  foot,  and  bare-headed,  over  the  snows  of  Caledo- 
nia, and  the  sultry  plains  of  the  Upper  Egypt ;  nor  was  there 
a  province  of  the  empire  which,  in  the  course  of  his  loign,  waa 
not  honored  with  the  presence  of  the  monarch.'*  But  the 
tranquil  life  of  Antoninus  Pius  was  spent  in  the  bosom  of  Italy , 
and,  during  the  twenty-three  years  that  he  directed  the  public 
administration,  the  longest  journeys  of  that  amiable  prince  ex- 
tended no  farther  than  from  his  palace  in  Rome  to  the  retire- 
ment of  his  Lanuvian  villa.''* 

Notwithstanding  this  difference  in  their  personal  conduct, 
the  general  system  of  Augustus  was  equally  adopted  and  uni- 
formly pursued  by  Hadrian  and  by  the  two  Antonines.  JThey 
persisted  in  the  design  of  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the 
^-empire,  without  attempting- -ter-entarge  its  Hmits.  By^nevery 
lionbrable  expedient  they  invited  the  friendship  of  the  bar- 
barians ;  and  endeavored  to  convince  mankind  that  the  Roman 
power,  raised  above  the  temptation  of  conquest,  was  actuated 
only  by  the  love  of  order  and  justice.  During  a  long  period 
of  forty-three  years,  their  virtuous  labors  were  crowned  with 
success ;  and  if  we  except  a  few  slight  hostilities,  that  served 
to  exercise  the  legions  of  the  frontier,  the  reigns  of  Hadrian 
and  Antoninus  Pius  offer  the  fair  prospect  of  universal 
peace.'^  The  Roman  name  was  revered  among  the  most 
remote  nations  of  the  earth.  The  fiercest  barbarians  fre- 
quently  submitted   their   differences  to  the  arbitration  of  the 

25  Dion,  1.  Ixix.  p.  1158.  Hist.  August,  p.  5,  8.  If  all  our  historians 
were  lost,  medals,  inscriptions,  and  other  monuments,  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  record  the  travels  of  Hadrian.* 

26  See  the  Augustan  History  and  the  Epitomes. 

2''  We  must,  however,  remember,  that  in  the  time  of  Hadrian,  a 
lebelUon  of  the  Jews  raged  with  religious  fury,  though  only  in  a  single 
province.  Pausanias  (1.  viii.  c.  43)  mentions  two  necessary  and  suc- 
cessful wars,  conducted  by  the  generals  of  Pius:  1st.  Ag.ainst  the 
wandering  Moors,  who  wore  driven  into  the  solitudes  of  Atlas.  2d 
Against  the  Brigantes  of  Britain,  who  had  invaded  the  Roman  prov- 
ince. Both  these  wars  (with  several  other  hostilities)  are  mentioned  in 
the  Augustan  History,  p.  19. 


The  journej'S  of  Hadrian  are  traced  in  a  note  on  Solvet'e  translation  of 
Begowisch,  Essai  sur  I'Epoque  de  Histoire  Roaiaine  la  plus  heoreaee  poitf 
te  Genre  Humain     Pane,  1831,  p.  123.— M. 

A* 


10  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180 

emperor ;  and  we  are  informed  by  a  contemporary  historian 
that  he  had  seen  ambassadors  who  were  refused  the  honcn 
which  they  came  to  sohcit  of  being  admitted  into  the  rank  of 
subjects.'" 

The  terror  of  the  Roman  arms  added  weight  and  dignity  to 
the  moderation  of  the  emperors.  They  preserved  peace  by  a 
i3onatant  preparation  for  war ;  and  while  justice  regulated  their 
•onduct,  they  announced  to  the  nations  on  their  confines,  that 
they  were  as  little  disposed  to  endure,  as  to  offer  an  injury 
The  military  strength,  which  it  had  been  sufficient  for  Hadrian 
and  the  elder  Antoninus  to  display,  was  exerted  against  the 
Parthians  and  the  Germans  by  the  emperor  Marcus.  The 
hostilities  of  the  barbarians  provoked  the  resentment  of  that 
philosophic  monarch,  and,  in  the  prosecution  of  a  just  defence, 
Marcus  and  his  generals  obtained  many  signal  victories,  both 
on  the  Euphrates  and  on  the  Danube."'  The  military  estaV 
lishment  of  the  Roman  empire,  which  thus  assured  either  ita 
tranquiUity  or  success,  will  now  become  the  proper  and  im- 
portant object  of  our  attention. 

In  the  purer  ages  of  the  commonwealth,  the  use  of  arms 
was  reserved  for  those  ranks  of  citizens  who  had  a  country  to 
love,  a  property  to  defend,  and  some  share  in  enacting  those 
laws,  which  it  was  their  interest  as  well  as  duty  to  maintain. 
But  in  proportion  as  the  public  freedom  was  lost  in  extent  of 
conquest,  war  was  gradually  improved  into  an  art,  and  de 
graded  into  a  trade.'"  The  legions  themselves,  even  at  the 
time  when  they  were  i-ecruited  in  the  most  distant  provinces, 

28  Appian  of  Alexandria,  in  the  preface  to  his  History  of  the 
Roman  Wars. 

89  Dion,  1.  Lxxi.  Hist.  August,  in  Marco.  The  Parthian  victories 
gave  birth  to  a  crowd  of  contemptible  historians,  whose  memory  has 
been  rescued  from  oblivion  and  exposed  to  ridicule,  in  a  very  lively 
piece  of  criticism  of  Lucian. 

3"  The  poorest  rank  of  soldiers  possessed  above  forty  pounds  ster- 
ling, (Dionys.  Halicarn.  iv.  17,)  a  very  high  qualification  at  a  time 
when  money  was  so  scarce,  that  an  ounce  of  silver  was  equivalent  to 
seventy  pounds  weight  of  brass.*  The  populace,  excluded  by  the 
ancient  constitution,  were  indiscriminately  admitted  by  Marius  See 
Sallust.  de  Bell.  Jugurth.  c.  91. 


*  On  the  uuccrtaiuty  of  all  these  estimates,  and  the  difEculty  of  fixing 
the  relative  value  of  brass  and  silver,  compare  Niebuhr ,  vol.  i.  p.  473,  &c, 
Eng.  trans,  p.  45-2.  According  to  Niebuhr,  the  relative  disproportion  in 
value,  between  the  tv^rc  metals,  ai'ose,  in  a  great  degree  from  the  abundance 
of  brass  or  copper. — M.  Compare  also  Dureau  de  la  Malle  Kconomifl 
Politiqae  des  Romaina,  especially  L  1.  c.  ix. — M.  1845. 


A.,D.  9d-180.J  OP    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  H 

were  supposed  to  consist  of  Roman  citizens.  That  distino 
tion  was  geueiallj  considered,  either  as  a  legal  qualification 
or  as  a  proper  recompense  for  the  soldier ;  but  a  more  serious 
renjard  was  paid  to  the  essential  merit  of  age,  strength,  and 
iiihtary  stature."  In  all  levies,  a  just  preference  was  given 
to  the  climates  of  the  North  over  those  of  the  South :  the  race 
i)f  men  born  to  the  exercise  of  arms  was  sought  for  in  the 
country  rather  than  in  cities ;  and  it  was  very  reasonably  pre- 
sumed, that  the  hardy  occupations  of  smiths,  carpenters,  and 
liuntsmen,  would  supply  more  vigor  and  resolution  than  the 
sedentary  trades  which  are  employed  in  the  service  of  lux- 
ury.'* After  every  qualification  of  property  had  been  laid 
aside,  the  armies  of  the  Roman  emperors  were  still  com- 
manded, for  the  most  part,  by  officers  of  liberal  birth  and 
education  ;  but  the  common  soldiers,  like  the  mercenary  troops 
of  modern  Europe,  were  drawn  from  the  meanest,  and  very 
frequently  fi-om  the  most  profligate,  of  mankind. 

That  public  virtue,  which  among  the  ancients  was  denomi- 
nated patriotism,  is  derived  from  a  strong  sense  of  our  own. 
interest  in  the  preservation  and  prosperity  of  the  free  govern- 
ment of  which  we  are  members.  Such  a  sentiment,  which 
had  rendered  the  legions  of,  the  republic  almost  invincible, 
could  make  but  a  very  feeble  impression  on  the  mercenary 
servants  of  a  despotic  prince  ;  and  it  became  necessary  to 
supply  that  defect  by  other  motives,  of  a  different,  but  not 
less  forcible  nature — honor  and  religion.  The  peasant,  or 
mechanic,  imbibed  the  useful  prejudice  that  he  was  advanced 
to  the  more  dignified  profession  of  arms,  in  which  his  rank 
and  reputation  would  depend  on  his  own  valor ;  and  that, 
although  the  prowess  of  a  private  soldier  must  often  escape 
the  notice  of  fame,  his  own  behavior  might  sometimes  confer 
glory  or  disgrace  on  the  company,  the  legion,  or  even  the 
army,  to  whose  honors  he  was  associated.  On  his  first  en- 
trance into  the  service,  an  oath  was  administered  to  him  with 
every  circumstance  of  solemnity.  He  promised  never  to 
desert  his  standard,  to  submit  his  own  will  to  the  commands 
of  his  leaders,  and  to  sacrifice  his  life  for  the  safety  of  the 
emperor  and  the  empire."     The   attachment  of  the  Roman 

*  Caesar  formed  his  legion  Alauda  of  Gauls  and  strangers;  Imt  it 
was  during  the  license  of  civil  war ;  and  after  the  victory,  he  gavfl 
them  the  freedom  of  the  city  for  their  reward. 

»a  See  Vegetius,  de  Re  Militari,  1.  i.  c.  2—7. 

■•  The  oath  of  service  aind  fidelity  to  the  emperor  was  annualfei 
tcnewed  by  the  troops  on  tlie  first  of  Januai-y. 


19  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  99-180 

iroops  to  their  standards  was  inspired  by  the  united  influence 
of  rehgion  and  of  honor.  The  golden  eagle,  which  glittered 
in  the  front  of  the  legion,  was  the  object  of  their  fondest  de- 
votion ;  nor  was  it  esteemed  less  impious  than  it  was  igno- 
minious, to  abandon  that  sacred  ensign  in  the  hour  of  dan- 
ger.*' These  motives,  which  derived  their  strength  from  the 
imagination,  were  enforced  by  fears  and  hopes  of  a  more 
substantial  kind.  Regular  pay,  occasional  donatives,  and  a 
stated  recompense,  after  the  appointed  time  of  service,  alle- 
viated the  hardships  of  the  military  life,"  whilst,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  impossible  for  cowardice  or  disobedience  to  es- 
cape the  severest  punishment.  The  centurions  were  author- 
ized to  chastise  with  blows,  the  generals  had  a  right  to  punish 
with  death ;  and  it  was  an  inflexible  maxim  of  Roman  disci- 
pline, that  a  good  soldier  should  dread  his  officers  far  more 
than  the  enemy.  From  such  laudable  arts  did  the  valor  of 
the  Imperial  troops  receive  a  degree  of  firmness  and  docility 
unattainable  by  the  impetuous  and  irregular  passions  of  bar 
barians. 

And  yet  so  sensible  were  the  Romans  of  the  impeifection 
of  valor  without  skill  and  practice,  that,  in  their  language, 
the  name  of  an  army  was  borrowed  from  the  word  which 
signified   exercise.^*      Military    exercises   were   the   important 

3*  Tacitus  calls  the  Roman  eagles,  Bellorum  Deos.  They  were 
placed  in  a  chapel  in  the  camp,  and  with  the  other  deities  received  the 
religious  worship  of  the  troops.* 

35  See  Gronovius  de  Pecunia  vetere,  1.  iii.  p.  120,  &c.  The  em- 
peror Domitian  raised  the  annual  stipend  of  the  legionariw  to  twelve 
pieces  of  gold,  which,  in  his  time,  was  equivalent  to  about  ten  of  our 
guineas.  Tliis  pay,  somewhat  higher  than  our  own,  had  been,  and 
■was  afterwards,  gradually  increased,  according  to  the  progress  of 
vealth  and  miUtary  government.  After  twenty  years'  service,  tht 
veteran  received  three  thousand  denarii,  (about  one  hundred  poundt 
sterling,)  or  a  proportionable  allowance  of  land.  The  pay  and  ad- 
vantages of  the  guards  were,  in  general,  about  double  those  of  the 
legions. 

**  Exercitus  ab  exercitando,  Varro  de  Lingua  Latina,  1.  iv.  Cicero 
in  Tusculan.  1.  ii.  37.  [15.]  There  is  room  for  a  very  interesting 
work,  which  should  lay  open  the  connection  between  tho  languages 
and  manners  of  nations.f 


*  See  also  Die.  Cass.  xL  c.  18. — ^M. 

t  I  am  not  aware  of  the  existence,  at  present,  of  such  a  w^ork ;  bat  tna 
prafoand  observations  of  the  late  WiUiam  von  Humboldt,  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  his  posthumously  published  Essay  on  the  Language  of  the  Island 
at  Java  (ijber  die  Kawi-sprache,  Berlin,  1836,)  may  cause  regret  tha,*  tluf 
ttuili  \vu.8  not  completed  by  that  accomplished  and  universaj  scholar. — M. 


A.  D,  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  IS 

and  unremitted  object  of  their  discipline.  The  iticruita 
and  young  soldiers  were  constantly  trained,  both  in  the 
morning  and  in  the  evening,  nor  was  age  or  knowledge 
allowed  to  excuse  the  veterans  from  the  daily  repetition  of 
what  they  had  completely  learnt.  Large  sheds  were  erected 
in  the  winter-quarters  of  the  troops,  that  their  useful  labors 
might  not  receive  any  interruption  from  the  most  tempestuous 
vfeather ;  and  it  was  carefully  observed,  that  the  arms 
deatincd  to  this  imitation  of  war,  should  be  of  double  the 
weight  which  wa*s  required  in  real  action."  It  is  not  the 
pui-pose  of  this  work  to  enter  into  any  minute  descriptioF 
of  the  Roman  exercises.  We  shall  only  remark,  that  they 
comprehended  whatever  could  add  strength  to  the  body, 
activity  to  the  limbs,  or  grace  to  the  motions.  The  soldiere 
were  diligently  instructed  to  march,  to  run,  to  leap,  to  swim, 
to  carry  heavy  burdens,  to  handle  every  species  of  arms  that 
was  used  either  for  offence  or  for  defence,  either  in  distant 
engagement  or  in  a  closer  onset ;  to  form  a  variety  of  evolu- 
tions ;  and  to  move  to  the  sound  of  flutes  in  the  Pyrrhic 
or  martial  dance."  In  the  midst  of  peace,  the  Roman 
troops  familiarized  themselves  with  the  practice  of  war; 
and  it  is  prettily  remarked  by  an  ancient  historian  who 
had  fought  against  them,  that  the  effusion  of  blood  was  the 
only  circumstance  which  distinguished  a  field  of  battle  from 
a  field  of  exercise."  It  was  the  policy  of  the  ablest 
generals,  and  even  of  the  emperors  themselves,  to  encourage 
these  military  studies  by  their  presence  and  example ;  and 
we  are  informed  that  Hadrian,  as  well  as  Trajan,  frequently 
condescended  to  instruct  the  unexperienced  soldiers,  to 
reward  the  diligent,  and  sometimes  to  dispute  with  them 
the  prize  of  superior  strength  or  dexterity.*"  Under  the 
reigns  of  those  princes,  the  science  of  tactics  was  cultivated 
with  success ;  and  as  long  as  the  empire  retained  any  vigor, 
their  military  instructions  vvere  respected  as  the  most  perfect 
model  of  Roman  discipline. 

*7  Vegslius,  1.  ii.  and  the  rest  of  his  first  book. 

S8  The  Pyrrliic  dance  is  extremely  well  illustrated  by  M.  le  Beau, 
in  the  Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn.  xxxv.  p.  262,  itc.  Tliat  learned 
t&lemician,  in  a  series  of  memoirs,  has  collected  all  Ihe  passages  of 
tii?  &ncK'.nt8  that  relate  to  the  Roman  legion. 

*  Joseph,  de  Bell.  Judaico,  1.  iii.  c.  5.     We  are  indebted  to  this  Jew 
for  oome  ^ery  curious  details  of  Eoman  discipline. 

*  Plin.    Panfgyr.    c.    13.    Life    of    Hadrian,    in    the    Au^^tau 
Hutory. 


14  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180 

Nine  centuries  of  war  had  gradually  introduced  into  the 
service  many  alterations  and  improvements.  The  legions, 
as  they  are  described  by  Polybius/'  in  the  time  of  the 
Punic  wars,  differed  very  materially  from  those  which 
achieved  the  victories  of  Caesar,  or  defended  the  monarchy 
of  Uadrian  and  the  Antonines.  The  constitution  of  the 
Imperial  legion  may  be  described  in  a  few  words,*''  The 
Deavy-armed  infantry,  which  composed  its  principal  strength,** 
ffas  divided  into  ten  cohorts,  and  fifty-five  companies,  under 
the  orders  of  a  correspondent  number  of 'tribunes  and  cen- 
turions. The  first  cohort,  which  always  claimed  the  post  of 
honor  and  the  custody  of  the  eagle,  was  formed  of  eleven 
hundred  and  five  soldiers,  the  most  approved  for  valor  and 
fidelity.  The  remaining  nine  cohorts  consisted  each  of  five 
hundred  and  fifty-five ;  and  the  whole  body  of  legionary 
infantry  amounted  to  six  thousand  one  hundred  men.  Their 
arms  were  uniform,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  nature  of 
their  service :  an  open  helmet,  with  a  lofty  crest ;  a  breast- 
plate, or  coat  of  mail ;  greaves  on  their  legs,  and  an  ample 
buckler  on  their  left  arm.  The  buckler  was  of  an  oblong 
and  concave  figure,  four  feet  in  length,  and  two  and  a  half  in 
breadth,  framed  of  a  light  wood,  covered  with  a  bull's  hide, 
and  strongly  guarded  with  plates  of  brass.  Besides  a  lighter 
spear,  the  legionary  soldier  grasped  in  his  right  liand  the 
formidable  pilum,  a  ponderous  javelin,  whose  utmost  length 
was  about  six  feet,  and  which  was  terminated  by  a  massy 
triangular  point  of  steel  of  eighteen  inches.**  This  instru- 
ment was  indeed  much  inferior  to  our  modern  fire-arms ; 
since  it  was  exhausted  by  a  single  discharge,  at  the  distance 
of  only  ten  or  twelve  paces.     Yet  when  it  was  launched  by 

*^  See  an  admirable  digression  on  the  Roman  discipline,  in  the  sixth 
book  of  his  History. 

^2  Vegetius  de  Re  Militari,  1.  ii.  c.  4,  &c.  Considerable  part  of  hia 
very  perplexed  abridgment  was  taken  from  the  regulations  of  Trajan 
and  Hadrian ;  and  the  legion,  as  he  describes  it,  cannot  suit  any  othei 
age  of  the  Roman  empire. 

43  Vegetius  de  Re  Militari,  1.  ii.  c.  1.  In  the  purer  age  of  Caesar 
and  Cicero,  the  word  miles  was  almost  confined  to  the  infabtry 
Under  the  lower  empire,  and  the  times  of  chivalry,  it  was  appro- 
priated almost  as  exclusively  to  the  men  at  arms,  who  fought  ou 
tiorseback. 

*♦  In  the  time  of  Polybius  and  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  (L  t.  e 
45,)  the  steel  point  of  t]\e  pilum  seems  to  have  b<er  much  longer.  Jd 
the  time  of  Vegetius,  it  was  reduced  to  a  foot,  cir  even  nine  inches.  I 
h&Te  chosen  a  medium. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  ,1P   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRR.  Ifl 

A  firm  and  skilful  liand,  there  was  not  any  cavalry  that 
durst  venture  within  its  reach,  nor  any  shield  or  corselet  that 
could  sustain  the  impetuosity  of  its  weight.  As  soon  as  thfe 
Roman  had  darted  his  pilum,  he  drew  his  sword,  and 
rushed  forwards  to  close  with  the  enemy.  His  sword  was 
a  short  well-tempered  Spanish  blade,  that  carried  a  double 
edge,  and  was  alike  suited  to  the  purpose  of  striking  or  of 
pushing ;  but  the  soldier  was  always  instructed  to  prefer  the 
latter  use  of  his  weapon,  as  his  own  body  remained  less 
exposed,  whilst  he  inflicted  a  more  dangerous  wound  on  his 
adversary.**  The  legion  was  usually  drawn  up  eight  deep ; 
and  the  regular  distance  of  three  feet  was  left  between  the 
files  as  well  as  ranks.*'  A  body  of  troops,  habituated  to  pre- 
serve this  open  order,  in  a  long  front  and  a  rapid  charge, 
found  themselves  prepared  to  execute  every  disposition  which 
the  circumstances  of  war,  or  the  skill  of  their  leader,  might 
suggest.  The  soldier  possessed  a  free  space  for  his  arms  and 
motions,  and  sufficient  intervals  were  allowed,  through  which 
seasonable  reenforcements  might  be  introduced  to  the  relief 
of  the  exhausted  combatants.*^  The  tactics  of  the  Greeks  and 
Macedonians  were  formed  on  very  different  principles.  The 
strength  of  the  phalanx  depended  on  sixteen  ranks  of  long 
pikes,  wedged  together  in  the  closest  array.*'  But  it  was 
soon  discovered  by  reflection,  as  well  as  by  the  event,  that  the 
strength  of  the  phalanx  was  unable  to  contend  with  the  activity 
of  the  legion.** 

The  cavalry,  without  which  the  force  of  the  legion  would 
have  remained  imperfect,  was  divided  into  ten  troops  or 
squadrons ;  the  first,  as  the  companion  of  the  first  cohort, 
consisted  of  a  hundred  and  thirty-two  men ;  whilst  each  of 
the  other  nine  amounted  only  to  sixty -six.  The  entire  estab- 
lishment formed  a  regiment,  if  we  may  use  the  modern 
expression,  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six  horse,  naturally 
jonnected  with  its  respective  legion,  but  occasionally  separated 

<*  For  the  legionary  arms,  see  Lipsius  de  Militia  Romana,  L  iii. 
4  2—7. 

*«  See  the  beautiful  comparison  of  Virgil,  Georgic  ii.  v.  2*79. 

*'  M.  Guichard,  Menioires  Militaires,  torn.  i.  c.  4,  and  Nouveaur 
Memoircs,  torn.  i.  p.  293 — 311,  has  treated  the  subject  like  a  scholar 
and  an  officer. 

<^  See  Arrian's  Tactics.  With  tie  true  partiality  of  a  Greek,  Arrian 
rather  chose  to  describe  the  phalaiix,  of  which  he  had  read,  than  the 
legions  which  he  had  con\manded. 

"  Pilyb.  1  xvii.  [xviii.  9.1 


18  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180. 

to  act  ill  the  line,  and  to  compose  a  part  of  the  wings  of  the 
army.**  The  cavalry  of  the  emperors  was  no  longer  com- 
posed, like  that  of  the  ancient  republic,  of  the  noblest  youths 
of  Roaie  and  Italy,  who,  by  performing  their  military  service 
on  horseback,  prepared  themselves  for  the  offices  of  senator 
and  consul ;  and  solicited,  by  deeds  of  valor,  the  future 
suffrages  of  their  c/^untrymen.'"'  Since  the  alteration  of  man- 
ners and  government,  the  most  wealthy  of  the  equestrian 
order  were  engaged  in  the  administration  of  justice,  and  of 
the  revenue ;"  and  whenever  they  embraced  the  profession 
of  arms,  they  were  immediately  intrusted  with  a  troop  of 
horse,  or  a  cohort  of  foot/^     Trajan  and  Hadrian  formed  their 

5"  Veget.  de  Re  Militari,  L  ii.  c.  6.  His  positive  testimony, 
which  might  be  supported  by  circumstantial  evidence,  ought  surely 
to  silence  those  critics  who  refuse  the  Imperial  legion  its  proper  body 
of  cavalry.* 

51  See  Livy  almost  throughout,  particularly  xlii  61. 

52  PHn.  Hist.  Natur.  xxxiii.  2.     The  true  sense  of  that  very  curious 

f)assage  was  first  discovered  and  illustrated  by  M.  de  Beaufort,  Repub- 
ique  Romaine,  1.  iL  c.  2. 

53  As  in  the  instance  of  Horace  and  Agricola.  This  appears  to  have 
been  a  defect  in  the  Roman  discipline ;  which  Hadrian  endeavored  to 
remedy  by  ascertaining  the  legal  age  of  a  tribune.f 


"  See  also  Joseph.  B.  J.  iii.  vi.  2. — M. 

t  These  details  are  not  altogether  accurate.  Although,  in  the  latter 
days  of  the  republic,  and  under  the  first  emperors,  the  young  Roman  nobles 
obtained  the  command  of  a  squadron  or  a  cohort  with  greater  facility  than 
in  the  former  times,  they  never  obtained  it  without  passing  through  a  tol- 
erably long  mihtary  service.  Usually  they  served  first  in  the  pra;torian 
cohort,  which  \vas  intnisted  with  the  guard  of  the  general :  they  were 
received  into  the  companionship  (contubeniium)  of  some  superior  oflicer, 
and  were  there  formed  for  duty.  Thus  Julius  Caesar,  though  sprung  from 
a  great  family,  served  first  as  contubemalis  under  the  prstor,  M.  Thennus, 
and  later  under  Servilius  the  Isaurian.  (Suet.  Jul.  2,  5.  Plut.  in  Par 
p.  516.  Ed.  Froben.)  The  example  of  Horace,  which  Gibbon  adduces  to 
prove  that  young  knights  were  made  tribunes  immediately  on  entering  the 
«ei-vice,  proves  nothing.  In  the  first  place,  Horace  was  not  a  knight ;  he 
was  the  son  of  a  freedman  of  Venusia,  in  ApuHa,  who  exercised  the  hum- 
ble oiBce  of  coactor  exauctionum,  (collector  of  payments  at  auctions.) 
(Sat.  i.  vi.  45,  or  86.)  Moreover,  when  the  poet  was  made  tribune,  Brutus, 
whose  army  was  nearly  entirely  composed  of  Orientals,  gave  this  title  to 
all  the  Romans  of  consideration  ^vho  joined  him.  The  emperors  were  still 
less  difficult  in  their  choice ;  the  number  of  tribunes  was  augmented ;  the 
title  and  honors  were  confen-ed  on  persons  whom  they  wished  to  attach  to 
the  court.  Augustus  conferred  on  the  sons  of  senators,  sometimes  the 
tribunate,  sometimes  the  command  of  a  squadron.  Claudius  gave  to  the 
knights  who  entered  into  the  service,  first  the  command  of  a  cohort  of 
arxiliariefi,  later  that  of  a  squadron,  and  at  length,  for  the  first  time,  the 
tribunate.  (Suet,  in  Claud,  with  the  notes  of  Emesti.)  The  abuses  thaj 
::ro8e  caus^jd  the  odict  of  Hadrian,  which  fixed  the  age  at  which  that  bonot 
ooald  be  attained.    (Spai-t.  in   Had.   &c.)     Tliis  edict  w^as  sabseqaentlj 


A.D.  9S-180.]  OF    THE    ROMA>    EMPIRE.  I* 

cavalry  from  the  saiC3  provinces,  and  the  same  class  of  thei? 
subjects,  which  recruited  the  ranks  of  the  legion.  The  liorsea 
were  bred,  for  the  most  part,  in  Spain  or  Cappadocia.  The 
Roman  troopers  despised  the  complete  armor  with  which  the 
cavalry  of  the  East  was  encumbered.  Their  more  useful  arms 
consisted  in  a  helmet,  an  oblong  shield,  light  boots,  and  a  coat 
of  mail.  A  javelin,  and  a  long  broad  sword,  were  their  prin- 
capal  weapons  of  offence.  The  use  of  lances  and  of  iron  macee 
they  seem  to  have  borrowed  from  the  barbarians." 

The  safety  and  honor  of  the  empire  was  principally  intrusted 
to  the  legions,  but  the  policy  of  Eome  condescended  to  adopt 
every  useful  instrument  of  war.  Considerable  levies  were 
regularly  made  among  the  provincials,  who  had  not  yet  de 
served  the  honorable  distinction  of  Romans.  Many  dependen 
princes  and  communities,  dispersed  round  the  frontiers,  weri; 
permitted,  for  a  while,  to  hold  their  freedom  and  security  by 
the  tenure  of  military  service."  Even  select  troops  of  hostile 
barbarians  were  frequently  compelled  or  persuaded  to  con- 
sume their  dangerous  valor  in  remote  climates,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  the  state.^°  All  these  were  included  under  the  gen< 
eral  name  of  auxiliaries ;  and  howsoever  they  might  vary 
according  to  the  difference  of  times  and  circumstances,  their 
numbers  were  seldom  much  inferior  to  those  of  the  legions 
themselves."  Among  the  auxiliaries,  the  bravest  and  most 
feithful  bands  were  placed  under  the  command  of  praefects 
»nd  centurions,  and  severely  trained  in  the  arts  of  Roman 
discipline ;  but  the  far  greater  part  retained  those  arms,  to 
which  the  nature  of  their  country,  or  their  early  habits  of  life, 
more  peculiarly  adapted  them.    By  this  institution,  each  legion, 

-*  See  Arrian's  Tactics. 

55  Such,  in  particular,  was  the  state  of  the  Batavians.  Tacit.  Ger- 
mania,  c.  29. 

55  Marcus  Antoninus  obliged  the  vanquished  Quadi  and  Marco- 
manni  to  supply  him  with  a  large  body  of  troops,  which  he  immedi- 
ately sent  into  Britain.     Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxi.  [c.  16.] 

5T  Tacit.  Annal.  iv.  5.  Those  who  fix  a  regular  proportion  of  as 
wany  foot,  and  twice  as  many  horse,  confound  the  auxiliaries  of  the 
emperors  with  the  Italian  allies  of  the  repubhc. 

beyed;  for  the  emperor  Valerian,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mulvius  Galli- 
anus,  praet/jrian  prajfect,  excuses  himself  for  having  violated  it  in  favor 
of  the  young  Probus  jftei^vvards  emperor,  on  whom  he  had  confeiTed  the 
tribunate  at  an  earler  age  on  account  of  his  rai'c  talents.  (Vopisc.  in 
Frob.  iv.) —  W  and  G.  Agricola,  though  already  invested  with  the  title 
■f  tribune,  was  coutubemalis  in  Britain  with  Suetonius  Patlinus  TtD 
Agr  v.— M 


18  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A   D.  98-18C 

to  whom  n  certain  proportion  of  auxiliaries  was  allotted,  con- 
tained within  itself  every  species  of  lighter  troops,  and  of  mis- 
B  le  weapons ;  and  was  capable  of  encountering  every  nation, 
with  the  advantages  of  its  respective  arms  and  discipline." 
Nor  was  the  legion  destitute  of  what,  in  modern  language, 
would  be  styled  a  train  of  artillery.  It  consisted  in  ten  military 
engines  of  the  largest,  and  fifty-live  of  a  smaller  size  ;  but  all 
uf  which,  either  in  an  oblique  or  horizontal  manner,  discharged 
Jtones  and  darts  with  irresistible  violence." 

The  camp  of  a  Roman  legion  presented  the  appearance  of 
a  fortified  city.*"  As  soon  as  the  space  was  marked  out,  the 
pioneers  carefully  levelled  the  ground,  and  removed  every 
impediment  that  might  interrupt  its  perfect  regularity.  Ite 
form  was  an  exact  quadrangle ;  and  we  may  calculate,  that  a 
square  of  about  seven  hundred  yards  was  sufficient  for  the 
encampment  of  twenty  thousand  Romans ;  though  a  similar 
number  of  our  own  troops  would  expose  to  the  enemy  a  front 
of  more  than  treble  that  extent.  In  the  midst  of  the  ciimp,  the 
prgetorium,  or  general's  quarters,  rose  above  the  others ;  the 
cavalry,  the  infantry,  and  the  auxiliaries  occupied  their  respec-- 
tive  stations ;  the  streets  were  broad  and  perfectly  straight, 
and  a  vacant  space  of  two  hundred  feet  was  left  on  all  sides, 
between  the  tents  and  the  rampart.  The  rampart  iteelf  wa^ 
usually  twelve  feet  high,  armed  with  a  line  of  strong  and  iiitri 
cate  palisades,  and  defended  by  a  ditch  of  twelve  feet  in  depth 
as  well  as  in  breadth.  This  important  labor  was  j-)erformed 
by  the  hands  of  the  legionaries  themselves ;  to  whom  che  use 
of  the  spade  and  the  pickaxe  was  no  less  familiar  th.HU  that  of 
the  sword  or  pilum.    Active  valor  may  often  be  the  present  of 


*8  Vegetius,  ii.  2.    Arrian,  in  his  order  of  mai'ch  and  I  lUle  against 

the  Alani. 

59  The  subject  of  the  ancient  machines  is  treated  with  -.reat  knowl 
edge  and  ingenuity  by  the  Chevalier  Folard,  (Polybe,  ton  ,  ii.  p.  233— 
290.)  He  prefers  them  in  many  respects  to  our  modern  camion  and 
mortars.  We  may  observe,  that  the  use  of  them  in  tb  >  field  grad- 
ually became  more  prevalent,  in  proportion  as  person;  .1  valor  and 
military  skill  declined  with  the  Roman  empire.  Whe  j  meri  T^^ere 
m  longer  found,  their  place  was  supplied  by  machines  Bee  V»»ge- 
'du!3,  il  25.     Arrian. 

*"  Vegetius  finishes  his  second  book,  and  the  description  ci  the 
iegion,  with  the  following  emphatic  words: — ''Univc^ei  qv<e  ir 
quoque  belli  genere  necessaria  esse  creduntur,  secum  logio  debet 
ubique  portare,  nt  in  quo  vis  loco  fixerit  castra,  armntam  iadai 
dvitatem." 


A.  D.  98-180.]       OF  ruE  koman  empire.  U 

nature ;  but  sucli  patient  diligence  can  bo  ilio  fruit  wni/  of 
habit  and  discipline.*' 

Wlienever  the  trumpet  gave  the  signal  of  departure,  the 
camp  was  almost  instantly  broke  up,  and  the  troops  fell  into 
their  ranks  without  delay  or  confusion.  Besides  their  arms, 
which  the  legendaries  scarcely  considered  f>s  an  encumbrance, 
they  were  laden  with  their  kitchen  furniture,  the  instruments 
of  fortification,  and  the  provision  of  many  days."  Under  this 
weight,  which  would  oppress  the  delicacy  of  a  modern  soldier, 
they  were  trained  by  a  regular  step  to  advance,  in  about  six 
hours,  near  twenty  miles.*'  On  the  appearance  of  an  enemy, 
they  threw  aside  their  baggage,  and  by  easy  and  rapid  evolu- 
tions converted  the  column  of  march  into  an  order  of  battle." 
The  slingers  and  archers  skirmished  in  the  front;  the  auxil- 
iaries formed  the  first  line,  and  were  seconded  or  sustained  by 
the  strength  of  the  legions  ;  the  cavalry  covered  the  flanks,  and 
the  military  engines  were  placed  in  the  rear. 

Such  were  the  arts  of  war,  by  which  the  Roman  emperors 
defended  their  extensive  conquests,  and  preserved  a  military 
e-pirit,  at  a  time  when  every  other  virtue  was  oppressed  by 
luxury  and  despotism.  If,  in  the  consideration  of  their  armies, 
we  pass  from  their  discipline  to  their  numbers,  we  shall  not 
find  it  easy  to  define  them  with  any  tolerable  accuracy.  We 
nay  compute,  however,  that  the  legion,  which  was  itself  a 
»ody  of  six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-one  Romans, 
jight,  with  its  attendant  auxiliaries,  amount  to  about  twelve 
iiousand  five  hundred  men.  The  peace  establishment  of 
Hadrian  and  his  successors  wjis  composed  of  no  less  than  thirty 
of  these  formidable  brigades ;  and  most  probably  formed  a 
standing  force  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
men.  Instead  of  being  confined  within  the  walls  of  fortified 
cities,  which  the  Romans  considered  as  the  refuge  of  weak- 
ness or  pusillanimity,  the  legions  were  encamped  on  the  banka 
of  the  great  rivers,  and  along  the  frontiers  of  the  barbarians. 


'•  For  the  Roman  Castrametation,  see  Polybiu?,  1.  vi.  with  Lipsiua 
de  Militid  Romana,  Joseph,  de  BelL  Jud.  1.  iii.  c.  6.  Vegetiiia,  i.  21 
— '25,  iii.  9,  and  Memoires  de  Guichard,  torn.  i.  c.  1. 

•*  Cicero  in  Tusculaii.  ii.  37,  [15.] — Joseph,  de  Bell.  Jud.  1.  iii.  5, 
Ffontinus,  iv.  1. 

'3  Vegetius,  i.  9.  See  Memoires  de  I'Academie  dc3  Inscriptions, 
torn.  XXV.  p.  ISY. 

•*  See  those  evolutions  admirably  well  explained  by  M.  Guidutrcl 
Nouveaux  Memoires,  torn.  i.  p.  141 — 284. 


20  THE    DECLIN3    AND    FALl  [A.  D.  93-180. 

As  their  station  s,  for  the  most  part,  remained  fixed  and  pel 
manent,  we  luay  venture  to  describe  the  distribution  of  the 
troops.  Tliree  legions  were  sufficient  for  Britain.  The  prin- 
cipal strength  lay  upon  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  and  consisted 
of  sixteen  legions,  in  the  following  proportions :  two  in  the 
Lower,  and  three  in  the  Upper  Germany ;  one  in  Rhjetia,  one 
in  Noricum,  four  in  Pannonia,  three  in  Msesia,  and  two  in 
Dacia.  The  defence  of  the  Euphrates  was  intrusted  to  eight 
legions,  six  of  whom  were  planted  in  Syria,  and  the  other  two 
in  Cappadocia.  With  regard  to  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain,  as 
they  were  far  removed  from  any  important  scene  of  war,  a 
single  legion  maintained  the  domestic  tranquiUity  of  each  of 
those  great  provinces.  Even  Italy  was  not  left  destitute  of  a 
military  force.  Above  twenty  thousand  chosen  soldiers,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  titles  of  City  Cohorts  and  Praetorian  Guards, 
watched  over  the  safety  of  the  monarch  and  the  capital.  Aa 
the  authors  of  almost  every  revolution  that  distracted  the  em- 
pire, the  Praetorians  will,  very  soon,  and  very  loudly,  demand 
our  attention  ;  but,  in  their  arms  and  institutions,  we  cannot 
find  any  circumstance  which  discriminated  them  from  the 
legions,  unless  it  were  a  more  splendid  appearance,  and  a  less 
rigid  discipline.** 

The  navy  maintained  by  the  emperors  might  seem  inade- 
quate to  their  greatness ;  but  it  was  fully  sufficient  for  every 
useful  purpose  of  government.  The  ambition  of  the  Ronians 
was  confined  to  the  land ;  nor  was  that  warlike  people  ever 
actuated  by  the  enterprising  spirit  which  had  prompted  the 
navigators  of  Tyre,  of  Carthage,  and  even  of  Marseilles,  to 
enlarge  the  bounds  of  the  world,  and  to  explore  the  rnosl 
remote  coasts  of  the  ocean.  To  the  Romans  the  ocean 
remained  an  object  of  terror  rather  than  of  curiosity ; "'  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Mediterranean,  after  the  destruction  of 
Carthage,  and  the  extirpation  of  the  pirates,  was  included 
within  their  provinces.  The  policy  of  the  emperors  was 
directed  only  to  preserve  the  peaceful  dominion  of  that  sea, 
and  to  protect  the  commerce  of  their  subjects.  With  these 
moderate  views,  Augustus  stationed  two  permanent  fleets  in 

8    Tadtus  (AnnaL  iv.  5)  hasgiven  us  a  state   of  the  legions  undpF 
Tiberius ;  and  Dion  Cassius  (1.  Iv.  p.  794)   under  Alexander  Severca 
I  have  endeavored  to  fix  on  the  proper  medium  between  these  two  . 
periods.     See  likewise  Lipsius  de  Magnitudine  Romana,  L  i.  c.  4,  6. 

**  The  Romans  tried  to  disguise,  by  the  pretence  of  rciigioue  aT?«^ 
their  ignorance  an  1  terror.    See  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  S4- 


A.D.  98-lSU.j  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIUE,  21 

the  most  convenient  ports  of  Italy,  the  one  at  Ravenna,  on 
the  Adriatic,  the  other  at  Misenum,  in  the  Bay  of  Naples. 
Experience  seems  at  lenc^tli  to  have  convinced  the  ancients,; 
that  as  soon  as  their  galleys  exceeded  two,  or  at  the  most 
three  ranks  of  oars,  they  were  suited  rather  for  vain  pomp 
than  for  real  service.  Augustus  himself,  in  the  victory  of 
Actium,  had  seen  the  superiority  of  his  own  light  frigates  (they 
were  called  Liburnians)  over  the  lofty  but  unwieldy  castles  of 
hia  rival."'  Of  these  Liburnians  he  composed  the  two  fleets 
of  Kavenna  and  Misenum,  destined  to  command,  the  one  tho 
eastern,  the  other  the  western  division  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
and  to  each  of  the  squadrons  he  attached  a  body  of  several 
tliousand  marines.  Besides  these  two  ports,  which  may  be 
considered  as  the  principal  seats  of  the  Roman  navy,  a  very 
considerable  force  was  stationed  at  Frejus,  on  the  coast  of 
Provence,  and  the  Euxine  was  guarded  by  forty  ships,  and 
three  thousand  soldiers.  To  all  these  we  add  the  fleet  which 
preserved  the  communication  between  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  a 
great  number  of  vessels  constantly  luaintained  on  the  Rhine 
anc  Hanube,  to  harass  the  country,  or  to  intercept  the  passage 
of  the  barbarians."  If  we  review  this  general  state  of  tho.^ 
Imperial  forces ;  of  the  cavalry  as  well  as  infantry ;  of  the 
legions,  the  auxiliaries,  the  guards,  and  the  navy;  the  most 
Hberal  computation  will  nut  allow  us  to  fix  the  entire  estab- 
lishment by  sea  and  by  land  at  more  than  four  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men :  a  military  power,  which,  however  formi- 
dable it  may  seem,  was  equalled  by  a  monarch  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, whose  kingdom  was  confined  within  a  single  province  V 
of  the  Roman  empire.'*  / 

We  have  attempted  to  explain  the  spirit  which  moderated", 
and  the  strength  which  supported,  the  power  of  Hadrian  and 
the  Antonines.  We  shall  now  endeavor,  with  clearness  and 
precision,  to  describe  the  provinces  once  rtnit^  -ifriTTft'r  tTipir 
Bway,  but,  at  present,  divided  into  so  many  injependeut  and 
hostile  states. 

Spain,  the  western    extremity  of  the   einpire,  of  Europe, 

ST  Plutarch,  in  Marc.  Anton,  [c.  67.]  And  yet,  if  we  may  nedit 
Orosius,  these  monstrous  castles  were  no  more  than  ten  feet  above  the 
water,  vL  19. 

*3  See  Lipsius,  de  Magnitiid.  Rom.  L  L  c.  5.  The  sixteen  last 
chapters  of  Vegetius  relate  to  naval  a(Tai''e. 

**  Volta'rc,  Siecle  de  Louis  XI\^  c.  '29.  It  must,  however,  b« 
rsioeinberb  i,  that  Franco  still  feels  that  extraordinary  eflfyrt. 


22  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D    98-180 

and  of  the  ancient  world,  lias,  in  every  age,  invariably  pre- 
served the  same  natural  limits ;  the  Pyrensean  Mountains,  the 
Mediterranean,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  That  great  penin- 
sula, at  present  so  unequally  divided  between  two  sovereigns, 
was  distributed  by  Augustus  into  three  provinces,  Lusitania, 
Baetica,  and  Tarraconensis.  The  kingdom  o*  Portugal  now 
fills  the  place  of  the  warlike  country  of  the  Lusitanians ;  and 
the  loss  sustained  by  the  former  on  the  side  of  the  East,  is 
compensated  by  an  accession  of  territory  towards  the  North, 
The  confines  of  Grenada  and  Andalusia  correspond  with  those 
of  ancient  Baetica.  The  remainder  of  Spain,  GaUicia,  and  the 
Asturias,  Biscay,  and  Navarre,  Leon,  and  the  two  Castiles, 
Murcia,  Valencia,  Catalonia,  and  Arragon,  all  contributed  to 
form  the  third  and  most  considerable  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ments, which,  from  the  name  of  its  capital,  was  styled  the 
province  of  Tarragona."  Of  the  native  barbarians,  the  Cel- 
tiberians  were  the  most  powerful,  as  the  Cantabrians  and  As- 
turians  proved  the  most  obstinate.  Confident  in  the  strength 
of  their  mountains,  they  were  the  last  who  submitted  to  the 
arms  of  Rome,  and  tlie  first  who  threw  oft"  the  yoke  of  the 
Arabs. 

Ancient  Gaul,  as  it  contained  the  whole  country  between 
the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps,  the  Rhine,  and  the  Ocean,  was  of 
greater  extent  than  modern  France.  To  the  dominions  of 
that  powerful  monarchy,  with  its  recent  acquisitions  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  we  must  add  the  duchy  of  Savoy,  the  cantons 
of  Switzerland,  the  four  electorates  of  the  Rhine,  and  the 
territories  of  Liege,  Luxemburgh,  Hainault,  Flanders,  and 
Brabant.  When  Augustus  gave  laws  to  the  conquests  of  his 
father,  he  introduced  a  division  of  Gaul,  equally  adapted  to 
the  progress  of  the  legions,  to  the  course  of  the  rivers,  and  to 
the  principal  national  distinctions,  which  had  comprehended 
above  a  hundred  independent  states."     The  sea-coast  of  the 

'"  See  Strabo,  1.  ii.  It  is  natural  enough  to  suppose,  that  Arragon 
is  derived  from  Tarraconensis,  and  several  moderns  who  have  written 
in  Latin  use  those  words  as  synonymous.  It  is,  however,  certain, 
that  the  Arragon,  a  little  stream  which  falls  from  the  Pyrenees  into 
the  Ebro,  first  gave  its  name  to  a  country,  and  gradually  to  a  kingdom. 
Bee  d'Anville,  Geographic  du  Moyen  Age,  p.  181. 

''■  One  hundred  and  fifteen  cities  appear  in  the  Notitla  of  Gaul;  and 

it  is  well  known  that  this  appellation  was  applied  not  only  to  (he 

capital  town,  but  to  the  whole  territory. of  each  state.     But  Plutarch 

*nd  Appian  increase  the   number  of  tribes  to  three  or  four  hunr 

red 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  2S 

Mediterranean,  Languedoc,  Provence,  and  Daiiphin6,  rjceived 
their  provincial  appellation  from  the  colony  of  Narbonne. 
The  government  of  Aquitaine  was  extended  from  the  Pyre- 
nees to  the  Loire.  The  country  between  the  Loire  and  the 
Seine  was  styled  the  Celtic  Gaul,  and  soon  borrowed  a  new 
denomination  from  the  celebrated  colony  of  Lugdunum,  or 
Lyons.  The  Belgic  lay  beyond  the  Seine,  and  in  more  ancient 
times  had  been  bounded  only  by  the  Rhine  ;  but  a  little  before 
the  age  of  Cajsar,  the  Germans,  abusing  their  superiority  of 
valor,  had  occupied  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Belgic  ter- 
ritory. The  Roman  conquerors  very  eagerly  embraced  so 
flattering  a  circumstance,  and  the  Gallic  frontier  of  the  Rhine, 
from  Basil  to  Leyden,  received  the  pompous  names  of  the 
Upper  and  the  Lower  Germany."  Such,  under  the  reign  of 
the  Antonines,  were  the  six  provinces  of  Gaul ;  the  Narbonnese, 
Aquitaine,  the  Celtic,  or  Lyonnese,  the  Belgic,  and  the  two 
Germanics. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  the  conquest  of 
Britain,  and  to  fix  the  boundary  of  the  Roman  Province  in 
this  island.  It  comprehended  all  England,  Wales,  and  the 
Lowlands  of  Scotland,  as  far  as  the  Fiiths  of  Dumbarton  and 
Edinburgh.  Before  Britain  lost  her  freedom,  the  country  was 
irregularly  divided  between  tliirty  tribes  of  barbarians,  of 
whom  the  most  considerable  were  the  Belgae  in  the  West,  the 
Brigantes  in  the  North,  the  Silures  in  South  Wales,  and  the 
Iceni  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk."  As  for  as  we  can  either  trace 
or  credit  the  resemblance  of  manners  and  language,  Spain, 
Gaul,  and  Britain  were  peopled  by  the  same  hardy  race  of 
savages.  Before  they  yielded  to  the  Roman  arms,  they  often 
disputed  the  field,  and  often  renewed  the  contest.  After  their 
submission,  they  constituted  the  western  division  of  the  Euro- 
pean provinces,  which  extended  from  the  columns  of  Hercules 
to  the  wall  of  Antoninus,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  to 
the  sources  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube. 

Before  the  Roman  conquest,  the  country  which  is  now 
called  Lombardy,  was  not  considered  as  a  part  of  Italy.  If 
Lad  been  occupied  by  a  powerful  colony  of  Gauls,  who,  sct- 
thng  themselves  along  the  banks  of  the  Po,  from  Piedmont  to 
Roraagna,  carried  their  arms  and  diffused  their  name  from 
the  Alps  to  the  Apennine.     The  Liguriaus  dwelt  on  the  rockj 

**  D'Anville.     Notice  cle  I'Ancienne  Gaule. 

"  Whittaker's  History  of  Manchester,  voL  L  «\  I. 


24  THE    DECLINE    A5D    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

coast  which  now  forms  the  republic  of  Genoa.  Venice  was 
yet  unborn ;  but  the  territories  of  that  state,  which  he  to  the 
east  of  the  Adige,  were  inhabited  by  the  Venetians."  The 
middle  part  of  the  peninsula,  that  now  composes  the  duchy 
of  Tuscany  and  the  ecclesiastical  state,  was  the  ancient  seat  of 
the  Etruscans  and  Umbrians ;  to  the  former  of  whom  Italy 
was  indebted  for  the  first  rudiments  of  civilized  Hfe.^*  The 
Tyber  rolled  at  the  foot  of  the  seven  hills  of  Rome,  and  the 
BOTintry  of  the  Sabines,  the  Latins,  and  the  Volsci,  from  that 
fiver  to  the  frontiers  of  N;iples,  was  the  theatre  of  her  infant 
victories.  On  that  celebrated  ground  the  first  consuls  de- 
served triumphs,  their  successors  adorned  villas,  and  their 
posterity  have  erected  convents.^*  Capua  and  Campania 
possessed  the  immediate  territory  of  Naples ;  the  rest  of  the 
kingdom  was  inhabited  by  many  warlike  nations,  the  Marsi, 
the  Samnites,  the  Apulians,  and  the  Lucanians ;  and  the  sea- 
coasts  had  been  covered  by  the  flourishing  colonies  of  the 
Greeks.  We  may  remark,  that  when  Augustus  divided  Italy 
into  eleven  regions,  the  httle  province  of  Istria  was  annexed 
to  that  seat  of  Roman  sovereignty." 

The  European  provinces  of  Rome  were  protected  by  the 
course  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube.  The  latter  of  those 
mighty  streams,  which  rises  at  the  distance  of  only  thirty 
miles  from  the  former,  flows  abo\e  thirteen  hundred  miles, 
for  the  most  part  to  the  south-east,  collects  the  tribute  of  sixty 
navigable  rivers,  and  is,  at  length,  through  six  mouths,  received 
into  the  Euxine,  which  appears  scarcely  equal  to  such  an 
accession  of  waters.'*  The  provinces  of  the  Danube  soon 
acquired  the  general  appellation  of  Illyricura,  or  the  Illyrian 

"  The  Italian  Veneti,  though  often  confounded  with  the  GaulB, 
were  more  probivbly  of  Illyrian  origin.*  See  M.  Freret,  Memoires  de 
I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xviii. 

73  See  Mafiei  Verona  illustrata,  1.  i.f 

^^  The  first  contrast  was  observed  by  the  ancients.  See  Floras,  i 
1 1 .     The  second  must  strike  every  modern  traveller. 

''1  riiny  (Hist.  Natur.  L  iii.)  follows  the  division  of  ItiJy  by 
Augustus. 

"*  Toumcfort,  Voyages  en  Grece  efc  Asie  Mineure,  lettre  xvr"L 


*  Or  Libumian,  according  to  Niebulir.     Vol.  i.  p.  172. — M. 

T  Add  Niebulir,  vol.  i.,  and  Otfried  Muller,  die  Etnisker,  wliich  contaiae 
■/I  that  is  krowai,  and  much  that  is  conjectured,  ab«ut  this  remarkable 
|«ople.  Alsfl  Micali,  Storia  degli  anliclii  popoli  ItaJiaui.  Fioretxe,  1832 
-M. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  25 

frontier,"  and  were  esteemed  the  most  warlike  of  the  empire; 
but  they  deserve  to  be  more  particidarly  considered  under  the 
names  of  Rhtetia,  Noricum,  Pannonia,  Dahnatia,  Dacia,  Msesia, 
Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Greece. 

The  pro^/ince  of  Rhaetia,  which  soon  extin<j;uished  the  name 
of  the  Vindelicians,  extended  from  the  summit  of  the  Alps  to 
the  banks  of  the  Danube ;  from  its  sjurce,  as  far  as  its  con 
flux  with  the  Inn.  The  greatest  part  of  the  flat  country  is 
subject  to  the  elector  of  liavaria ;  the  city  of  Augsburg  is 
protected  by  the  constitution  of  the  (xerman  empire;  the 
Grisons  are  safe  in  their  mountains,  and  tlie  country  of  Tirol 
is  ranked  among  the  numerous  provinces  of  the  house  of 
\ustria. 

The  wide  extent  of  territory  which  is  included  between  the 
Inn,  the  Danube,  and  the  Save, — Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia, 
Carniola,  the  Lower  Hungary,  and  Sclavonia, — was  known  to 
the  ancients  under  the  names  of  Noricum  and  Pannonia.  In 
their  original  state  of  independence,  their  fierce  inhabitants 
were  intimately  connected.  Under  the  Roman  government 
they  were  frequently  united,  and  they  still  remain  the  patri- 
mony of  a  single  family.  They  now  contain  the  residence  of 
a  German  prince,  who  styles  himself  Emperor  of  the  Romans, 
and  form  the  centre,  as  well  as  strength,  of  the  Austrian  power. 
It  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  tliat  if  we  except  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  the  northern  skirts  of  Austria,  and  a  part  of  Hungary 
between  the  Teyss  and  the  Danube,  all  the  other  dominions  of 
the  House  of  Austria  were  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the 
Roman  Empire. 

Dalmaua,  to  which  the  name  of  Illyricura  more  properly 
belonged,  was  a  long,  but  narrow  tract,  between  the  Save  and 
the  Adriatic.  The  best  part  of  the  sea-coast,  which  still  retains 
its  ancient  appellation,  is  a  province  of  the  Venetian  state,  and 
the  seat  of  the  little  republic  of  Ragusa.  The  inland  parts  have 
assumed  the  Sclavonian  names  of  Croatia  and  Bosnia;  the 
former  obeys  an  Austrian  governor,  the  latter  a  Turkish  pacha; 
but  the  whole  country  is  still  infested  by  tribes  of  barbarians, 
whose  savage  independence  irregularly  marks  the  doubtful  limit 
of  the  Christian  and  Mahometan  power.*" 


'•  The  name  of  Illyricura  originally  belonged  to  ^ihe  sea-coast  at  tba 
Adiiitic,  and  was  gradually  extended  by  the  Romans  from  the  Alps 
to  the  E'lxine  Sea.     See  Severini  Pannonia,  1.  i.  c.  3. 

**  A    V'enetian  tiavcller,  the   Abbiite   Fortis,  has  lately  given  us 
•Gtite  avtount  of  tliose  very  obscure  rjMinuica     T.ut,  ■Sh«  |2;eo^raDhr 
■  vu'^  i.— B 


26  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98— 180, 

After  the  Danube  had  received  the  wawrs  of  the  Teyss  and 
the  Save,  it  acquired,  at  least  among  the  Greeks,  the  name  of 
Ister.*'  It  formerly  divided  Msesia  and  Dacia,  the  latter  of 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  a  conquest  of  Trajan,  and 
the  only  province  beyond  the  river.  If  we  inquire  into  the 
present  state  of  those  countries,  we  shall  find  that,  on  the  left 
hand  of  the  Danube,  Temi;swar  and  Transylvania  have  been 
annexed,  after  many  revolutions,  to  the  crown  of  Hungary ; 
whilst  the  principalities  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  acknowledge 
the  supremacy  of  the  Ottoman  Porte.  On  the  right  hand  of 
the  Danube,  Msesia,  which,  during  the  middle  ages,  was  broken 
into  the  barbarian  kingdoms  of  Servia  and  Bulgaria,  is  again 
united  in  Turkish  slavery. 

The  appellation  of  Rouraelia,  which  is  still  bestowed  by  the 
Turks  on  the  extensive  countries  of  Thrace,  Macedonia,  and 
Greece,  preserves  the  memory  of  their  ancient  state  under 
the  Roman  empire.  In  the  time  of  the  Antonines,  the  mar- 
tial regions  of  Thrace,  from  the  mountains  of  Haemus  and 
Rhodope,  to  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Hellespont,  had  assumed 
the  form  of  a  province.  Notwithstanding  the  change  of 
masters  and  of  religion,  the  new  city  of  Rome,  founded  by 
Constantine  on  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus,  has  ever  since 
remained  the  capital  of  a  great  monarchy.  The  kingdom  of 
Macedonia,  which,  under  the  reign  of  Alexander,  gave  laws 
to  Asia,  derived  more  solid  advantages  from  the  policy  of  the 
two  Philips ;  and  with  its  dependencies  of  Epirus  and  Thes- 
saly,  extended  from  the  ^gean  to  the  Ionian  Sea.  When  we 
reflect  on  the  fame  of  Thebes  and  Argos,  of  Sparta  and 
Athens,  we  can  scarcely  persuade  oui'selves,  that  so  many 
immortal  republics  of  ancient  Greece  were  lost  in  a  single 
province  of  the  Roman  empire,  which,  from  the  superior  influ- 
ence of  the  Achajan  league,  was  usually  cenominated  the 
province  of  Achaia. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Europe  under  the  Roman  emperors. 
The  provinces  of  Asia,  without  excejjting  the  transient  con- 
quests of  Trajan,  are  all  comprehended  within  the  limits  of 
the  Turkish  power.  But,  instead  of  following  the  arbitrary 
divisions  of  despotism  and  ignorance,  it  will  be  safer  for  us, 
OS  well  as  more  agreeable,  to  obser\e  the  indelible  characters 

and  antiquities  of  the  western  Illjricum  can  be  expected  only  from  th* 
niunificence  of  the  emperor,  its  sovereign. 

"  The  Save  rises  near  the  confines  of  Istria,  and  was  considered  b^ 
tbe  more  early  Greeks  as  the  principal  stream  of  the  Danube. 


A.I).  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  27 

of  nature.  The  name  of  Asia  Minor  is  attributed  with  some 
propriety  to  the  peninsula,  which,  confined  betwixt  the  Euxine 
and  the  Mediterranean,  advances  from  the  Euphrates  towarda 
Europe.  The  most  extensive  and  flourishing  district,  west- 
ward of  Mount  Taurus  and  the  River  Halys,  was  dignified  by 
the  Ronjans  with  the  exclusive  title  of  Asia.  The  jurisdiction 
of  that  province  extended  over  the  ancient  monarchies  of 
Troy,  Lydia,  and  Phrygia,  the  maritime  countries  of  the 
Pamphyiians,  Lycians,  and  Carians,  and  the  Grecian  colonies 
of  Ionia,  which  equalled  in  arts,  though  not  in  arms,  the  glory 
of  their  parent.  The  kingdoms  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus  pos- 
sessed the  northern  side  of  the  peninsula  from  Constantinople 
to  Trebizond.  On  the  opposite  side,  the  province  of  Cilicia 
was  terminated  by  the  mountains  of  Syria :  the  inland  country, 
separated  from  the  Roman  Asia  by  the  River  Halys,  and  from 
Armenia  by  the  Euphrates,  had  once  formed  the  independent 
kingdom  of  Cappadocia.  In  this  place  we  may  observe,  that 
the  northern  shores  of  the  Euxine,  beyond  Trebizond  in  Asia, 
and  beyond  the  Danube  in  Europe,  acknowledged  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  emperors,  and  received  at  their  hands  either  trib- 
utary princes  or  Roman  garrisons.  Budzak,  Crim  Tartary,  Cir- 
cassia,  and  Mingrelia,  are  the  modern  appellations  of  those 
savage  countries.*'' 

Under  the  successors  of  Alexander,  Syria  was  the  seat  of 
the  Seleucidse,  who  reigned  over  Upper  Asia,  till  the  success- 
ful revolt  of  the  Parthians  confined  their  dominions  between 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Mediterranean.  When  Syria  became 
subject  to  the  Romans,  it  formed  the  eastern  frontier  of  their 
empire :  nor  did  that  province,  in  its  utmost  latitude,  know 
any  other  bounds  than  the  mountains  of  Cappadocia  to  the 
north,  and  towards  the  south,  the  confines  of  Egypt,  and  the 
Red  ^ea.  Phoenicia  and  Palestine  were  sometimes  annexed 
to,  and  sometimes  separated  from,  the  jurisdiction  of  Syria, 
The  former  ,  of  these  was  a  narrow  and  rocky  coast ;  the 
latter  was  a  territory  scarcely  superior  to  Wales,  either  in 
fertility  or  extent.*     Yet  Phoenicia  and  Palestine  will  forever 


**  See  the  Periplus  of  Arrian.    He  examined  the  coasts  of  the  Eux 
ine,  when  he  was  governor  of  Cappadocia. 


•  This  comparison  is  cxag-gerated,  with  the  intention,  no  doubt,  of 
attaikins  the  autliovity  of  the  Bible,  which  boasts  of  the  fertility  of  Pales- 
tir.«.  Gibbon's  only  authorities  were  that  of  Slrabo  (I.  xvi.  llO'l)  aud  tb« 
frusent  state  of  the  country.     But  Strabo  only  speaks  of  the  neighborhoad 


W  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-38(X 

dve  in  tae  memory  of  mankind  ;  since  America,  as  well  aa 
Europe,  has  received  letters  from  the  one,  and  religion  from 
\he  otlier.*^  A  sandy  desert,  alike  destitute  of  wood  aud 
water,  skirts  />.long  tliA  doubtful  confine  of  Syria,  from  tlia 
fiaphrates  to  the  Red  Sea.     The  wandering  life  of  tlv   Arabs 

•'  The  progress  of  religion  is  well  known.  The  use  of  letters  was 
Rtroduced  among  the  savages  of  Europe  about  fifteen  hundred  yeara 
Defore  Christ ;  and  the  Europeans  carried  them  to  America  about 
fifteen  centuri(,s  after  the  Christian  ^ra.  But  in  a  period  of  three 
thousand  years,  the  Phoenician  alphabet  received  considerable  altera- 
tions, as  it  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 


of  Jerusalem,  which  lie  calls  barren  and  arid  to  the  extent  of  sixty  stadia 
round  the  city  :  iu  c;her  parts  he  Kives  a  favorable  testimony  to  the  fertil- 
ity of  many  parts  of  Palestine :  thus  he  says,  "  Near  Jericlio  there  is  a 
grove  of  palms,  and  a  country  of  a  hundred  stadia,  full  of  springs,  and 
well  peopled."  Moreover.  Strabo  had  never  seen  Palestine;  be  spoke  only 
after  reports,  which  may  be  as  inaccurate  as  those  according  to  which  he 
has  composed  that  description  of  Germany,  in  which  Gluverius  has  de- 
tected so  many  eiTors.  (Gluv.  GeiTn.  iii.  1.)  Finallj^,  his  testimony  ia 
contradicted  and  refuted  by  that  of  other  ancient  authors,  and  by  medals. 
Tacitus  says,  iu  speaking  of  Palestine,  "The  inhabitants  are  healthy  and 
robust ;  the  rains  moderate ;  the  soil  fertile."  (Hist.  v.  6.)  Ammianus 
Marcellinus  says  also,  '•  The  last  of  the  Syrias  is  Palestine,  a  country  of 
considerable  extent,  abounding  in  clean  and  well-cultivated  land,  and  con- 
lainmg  some  fine  cities,  none  of  \vhich  j'ields  to  the  other;  but,  as  it  were, 
being  on  a  iiaraljcl,  are  rivals." — xiv.  8.  Sec  also  the  historian  Josephus, 
Hist.  vi.  1.  Procopius  of  Cesarea,  who  lived  in  the  sixth  century,  says  that 
Chosroes,  king  of  Persia,  had  a  great  desire  to  make  himself  master  of 
Palestine,  on  account  of  Us  extraordinary  fertility,  its  opulence,  and  the 
great  number  -of  its  inhabitants.  The  Saracens  thought  the  same,  and 
were  afraid  that  Omar,  when  he  went  to  Jerusalem,  charmed  with  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  and  the  purity  of  the  air,  %vould  never  return  to  Medina. 
[Ockley.  Hist,  of  Sarac.  i.  232.)  The  importance  attached  by  the  Romans 
10  the  conquest  of  Palestine,  and  the  obstacles  they  encountered,  prove 
ilso  the  richness  and  population  of  the  country.  Vespasian  and  Titus 
caused  medals  to  be  struck,  with  ti'ophies,  in  which  Palestine  is  represented 
by  a  female  under  a  pahn-tree,  to  signify  the  richness  of  the  countrj',  with 
lliis  legend:  Jndaa  capfa.  Other  medals  also  indicate  this  fertility;  for 
instance,  that  of  Herod  holding  a  bunch  of  grapes,  and  that  of  the  young 
Agrippa  displaying  fruit.  As  to  the  present  state  of  the  country,  one  per- 
ceives that  it  is  not  fair  to  draw  any  inference  against  its  ancient  fertility ; 
die  disasters  through  which  it  has  passed,  the  government  to  which  it  ia 
subject,  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  explain  sufficiently  the  wild  and 
ancultivated  appearance  of  the  land,  where,  nevertheless,  fertile  and  cul- 
tivated districts  are  still  found,  according  to  the  testimony  of  travellers; 
among  others,  of  Sha\v,  Maundrcl,  La  Rocque,  &c.  —  G.  The  Abbe 
Guenee,  in  his  Lettres  de  quelqnes  Juifs  a  Manx,  de  Voltaire,  has  exhausted 
the  sabject  of  the  fertility  of  Palestine ;  for  Voltaire  had  likewise  indulged 
In  sarca.sra  on  this  subject.  Gibbon  was  assailed  on  this  point,  not,  indeed, 
by  Mr.  Davis,  who,  he  slyly  insinuates,  was  prevented  by  liis  patriotism  as 
a  Welshman  from  resenting  the  comparison  with  Wales,  but  by  other 
writers.  In  his  Vindication,  he  fii'st  established  the  coirectness  of  hia 
measurement  of  Palestine,  which  he  estimates  as  7600  square  English 
■ilea,  while  Wales  is  about  7011.    As  to  the  fertil'ty,  he  proceeds  in  the 


A- D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMi^N    EMPIRE.  29 

was  inseparably  connected  with  their  independence ;  and 
wherever,  on  some  spots  less  barren  than  the  rest,  they  ven- 
tured to  form  any  settled  habitations,  they  soon  became  sub 
jects  to  the  Roman  empire.*' 

^*  Dion  Cassius,  lib.  Ixviii.  p.  1131. 


following  dexterously  composed  and  splendid  passage :  "  The  empeiot 
Fre'lerick  II.,  the  enemy  and  the  victim  of  the  clergy,  is  accused  of  say 
ing,  after  his  return  from  his  crasade,  that  the  God  of  the  Jews  would 
have  despised  his  promised  land,  if  he  had  once  seen  the  fruitfbl  realms 
of  Sicily  and  Naples."  (See  Giannone,  Istor.  Civ.  del  R.  di  Napoli,  il. 
245.)  This  raillery,  which  malice  has,  perhaps,  falsely  imputed  to  Fred- 
erick, is  inconsistent  with  truth  and  piety ;  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that 
tlie  soil  of  Palestine  does  not  contain  that  inexhaustible,  and,  as  it  were, 
spontaneous  principle  of  fertility,  which,  under  the  most  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances, has  covered  with  rich  harvests  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  the  fields 
of  Sicily,  or  the  plains  of  Poland.  The  Jordan  is  the  only  navigable  river  of 
Palestine :  a  considerable  part  of  the  narrow  space  is  occupied,  or  rather 
lost,  in  the  Bead  Sea  whose  hoiTJd  aspect  inspires  every  sensation  of  dis- 
gust, and  countenances  every  tale  of  horror.  The  districts  which  border  od 
Arabia  partake  of  the  sandy  quality  of  the  adjacent  desert.  The  face  of 
the  country,  except  the  sea-coast,  and  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  is  covered 
with  mountains,  which  appear,  for  the  most  part,  as  naked  and  barren  rocks ; 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerasalcm,  there  is  a  real  scarcity  of  the  two 
elements  of  earth  and  water.  (See  Maundrel's  Travels,  p.  65,  and  Reland's 
Palestin.  i.  238, 395.)  These  disadvantages,  which  now  operate  in  their  fullest 
extent,  were  formerly  corrected  by  the  labors  of  a  numerous  people,  and  the 
active  protection  of  a  wise  government.  The  hills  were  clothed  with  rich 
beds  of  artificial  mould,  the  rain  was  collected  in  vast  cisterns,  a  supply  of 
fresh  water  was  conveyed  by  pipes  and  aqueducts  to  the  dry  lands.  The 
breed  of  cattle  was  encouraged  in  those  parts  which  were  not  adapted  for 
tillage,  and  almost  every  spot  was  compelled  to  yield  some  production  for  tho 
nse  of  the  inhabitants. 

Pater  ispe  colendi 
Haud  facilem  esse  viam  voluit,  primusque  pai  artem 
Movitagros;  curis  acuens  mortalia  corda, 
Nee  torpcie  gravi  passus  sua  Regna  veterno. 

Gibbon,  Misc.  Works,  iv.  540. 

But  Gibbon  has  here  eluded  the  question  about  the  land  "flowing  with 
milk  and  honey."  He  is  describing  Judaea  only,  without  comprehending 
Galilee,  or  the  rich  pastures  beyond  the  Jordan,  even  now  proverbial  for 
their  flocks  and  herds.  (See  Burckhardt's  Travels,  and  Hist,  of  Jews,  i. 
178.)  The  following  is  believed  to  be  a  fair  statement:  "The  extraor- 
dinary fertility  of  the  whole  country  must  be  taken  into  the  account.  No 
part  was  waste ;  very  little  \\-as  occupied  by  unprofitable  wood ;  the  mora 
fertile  hills  were  cultivated  in  artificial  terraces,  others  were  hung  with 
orchards  of  fruit  trees  the  more  rocky  and  barren  districts  were  covered 
with  vi/ieyards."  Even  in  the  present  day,  the  wars  and  misgovernment 
of  ages  have  not  exhausted  the  natural  richness  of  the  soil.  "  Galilee," 
eays  Make  Brun,  "  would  be  a  paradise  were  it  inhabited  by  an  industrious 
people  under  an  enlightened  government.  No  land  could  be  less  depend- 
ent on  foreign  importation  ;  it  bore  within  itself  every  thing  that  could  bo 
necessary  for  the  subsistence  and  comfort  of  a  simple  agricultural  people. 
The  climate  was  healthy,  the  seasons  regular ;  the  former  rains,  which  fell 
•boat  October,  after  the  vintiige,  prepared  the  ground  fa-  the  seed ;  the 
latter,  which  orevailcd  during  March  and  the  beginning  of  >prU.  made  il 


so  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180, 

The  geographers  of  antiquity  have  frequently  hesitated  to 
what  portion  of  the  globe  they  should  ascribe  Egypt.*'  By 
its  situation  that  celebrated  kingdom  is  included  within  the 
immense  peninsula  of  Africa ;  but  it  is  accessible  only  on  the 
side  of  Asia,  whose  revolutions,  in  almost  every  period  of  his- 
tory, Egypt  has  humbly  obeyed.  A  Roman  preefect  was  seat- 
ed on  the  splendid  throne  of  the  Ptolemies ;  and  the  irou 
sceptre  of  the  Mamelukes  is  now  in  the  hands  of  a  Turkish 
pacha.  The  Nile  flows  down  the  country,  above  five  hundred 
miles  from  the  tropic  of  Cancer  to  the  Mediterranean,  and 
marks  on  either  side  the  extent  of  fertility  by  the  measure  of  ita 
inundations,  Cyrene,  situate  towards  the  west,  and  along  the 
eea-coast,  was  first  a  Greek  colony,  afterwards  a  province  of 
Egypt,  and  is  now  lost  in  the  desert  of  Barca.* 

From  Cyrene  to  the  ocean,  the  coast  of  Africa  extends 
above  fifteen  hundred  miles;  yet  so  closely  is  it  pressed 
between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Sahara,  or  sandy  desert, 
that  its  breadth  seldom  exceeds  fourscore  or  a  hundred  miles. 
The  eastern  division  was  considered  by  the  Romans  as  the 
more  peculiar  and  proper  province  of  Africa.  Till  the  arrival 
of  the  Phoenician  colonies,  that  fertile  country  was  inhabited  by 


**  Ptolemy  and  Strabo,  with  the  modern  geographers,  fix  the  Isth- 
mus of  Suez  as  the  boundary  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Dionysius,  Mela, 
Phny,  Sallust,  Hirtius,  and  Solinus,  have  preferred  for  that  purpose 
the  western  branch  of  the  Nile,  or  even  the  great  Catabatlmius,  or 
descent,  which  last  would  assign  to  Asia,  not  only  Egypt,  but  part  of 
Libya. 


grow  rapidly.  Directly  the  rains  ceased,  the  gi-ain  ripeued  with  stii 
greater  rapidity,  and  was  gathered  in  before  the  end  of  May.  The  summer 
months  were  dry  and  very  liot,  but  the  nights  cool  and  refreshed  by  copious 
dews.  In  September,  the  vintage  was  gathered.  Grain  of  all  kinds, 
wheat,  barley,  millet,  zea,  and  other  sorts,  grew^  in  abundance ;  the  wheat 
commonly  yielded  thirty  for  one.  Besides  the  vuie  and  the  olive,  the 
almond,  the  date,  figs  of  many  kinds,  the  orange,  the  pomegranate,  and  many 
other  fruit  trees,  flourished  in  the  greatest  luxuriance.  Great  quantity  of 
honey  was  collected.  The  balm-tree,  which  produced  the  opobalsamum,  a 
great  object  of  trade,  v^'as  probably  introduced  fi-om  Arabia,  iu  the  time  of 
Solomon.  It  flourished  about  Jericho  and  in  Gilead." — Milman's  Hist,  of 
Jews,  i,  177. — M. 

*  The  French  editor  has  a  long  and  unnecessaiy  note  on  the  History  of 
CjTene.  For  the  Y)reseut  state  of  that  coast  and  countiy,  the  volume  of 
Captain  Boechey  is  full  of  iuterestiug  details.  Egypt,  now  an  independent 
and  improving  kingdom,  appears,  under  the  enterprising  nile  of  Mahommed 
Ah,  hkcly  to  revenge  its  former  oppression  upon  the  decrepit  power  of  the 
Turkish  empire. — M. — This  note  was  \vTitten  in  1838.  The  future  destiny 
of  Egypt  is  an  important  problem,  only  to  be  solved  by  time.  This  obsecTS 
tion  will  also  apply  to  the  new  French  colony  in  Algiers. — M  1845. 


A    O.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMt'IRE.  91 

the  Libyans,  the  most  savage  of  mankind.  Under  the  im- 
mediate jurisdiction  of  Carthage,  it  became  the  centre  of 
commirce  and  empire ;  but  the  republic  of  Carthage  is  now 
degenerated  into  the  feeble  and  disorderly  states  of  Tripoli 
and  Tunis.  The  military  government  of  Algiers  oppresses 
the  wide  extent  of  Numidia,  as  it  was  once  imited  jnder  Mas- 
sinissa  and  Jugurtha ;  but  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  the  limits 
of  Numidia  were  contracted ;  and,  at  least,  two  thirds  of  the 
country  acquiesced  in  the  name  of  Mauritania,  with  the 
epithet  of  Csesarieusis.  The  genuine  Mauritania,  or  country 
of  the  Moors,  which,  from  the  ancient  city  of  Tingi,  or 
Tangier,  was  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  Tingitana,  is 
represented  by  the  modern  kingdom  of  Fez.  Salle,  on  the 
Ocean,  so  infamous  at  present  for  its  piratical  depredations, 
was  noticed  by  the  Romans,  as  the  extreme  object  of  their 
power,  and  almost  of  their  geography.  A  city  of  their  foun- 
dation may  still  be  discovered  near  Mequinez,  the  residence 
of  the  barbarian  whom  we  condescend  to  style  the  Emperor 
of  Morocco ;  but  it  does  not  appear,  that  his  more  southern 
dominions,  Morocco  itself,  and  Segelmessa,  were  ever  compre- 
hended within  the  Roman  province.  The  western  parts  of 
Africa  are  intersected  by  the  branches  of  Mount  Atlas,  a  name 
60  idly  celebrated  by  the  fancy  of  poets  ;'*  but  which  is  now 
diffused  over  the  immense  ocean  that  rolls  between  the  ancient 
and  the  new  continent." 

Having  now  finished  the  circuit  of  the  Roman  empire,  we 
may  observe,  that  Africa  is  divided  from  Spain  by  a  narrow 
strait  of  about  twelve  miles,  through  which  the  Atlantic  flows 
mto  the  Mediterranean.  The  columns  of  Hercules,  so  famous 
among  the  ancients,  were  two  mountains  which  seemed  to 
have  been  torn  asunder  by  some  convulsion  of  the  elements ; 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  European  mountain,  the  fortress  of 
Gibraltar  is  now  seated.     The  whole  extent  of  the  Mediterra- 


w  The  long  range,  moderate  height,  and  gentle  dccliviiy  of  Mount 
Atlas,  (see  Shaw's  Travels,  p.  5,)  are  very  unlike  a  solitary  mountain 
which  rears  its  head  into  the  clouds,  and  seems  to  support  the  heav- 
ens. The  peak  of  TenerifF,  on  the  contrary,  rises  a  league  and  x  lialf 
above  the  surface  of  the  sea ;  and,  as  it  was  frequently  visited  by  tho 
Phcenicians,  might  engage  the  notice  of  the  Greek  poets.  See  Buf 
fon,  Histoire  Naturelle,  torn.  i.  p.  312.  Histoire  des  Voyages, 
torn.  ii. 

8T  M.  de  Voltaire,  torn.  xiv.  p.  297,  unsupported  by  either  fact  or 
probability,  has  generously  bestowed  tlie  Canary  Islands  on  the  Eouuui 
empve 


92  THE    DEOLl>E    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  99-180 

Dean  Sea,  its  coasts  and  its  islands,  were  comprised  witLin  th« 
Roman  dominion.  Of  the  larger  islands,  the  two  Baleares, 
which  derive  their  name  of  Majorca  and  Minorca  from  their 
res])ective  size,  are  subject  at  present,  the  former  to  Spain,  the 
latter  to  Great  Britain.*  It  is  easier  to  deplore  the  fate,  than 
to  describe  the  actual  condition,  of  Corsica.f  Two  Italian  sove- 
reigns assume  A  regal  title  from  Sardinia  and  Sicily.  Crete, 
»r  Canlia,  with  Cyprus,  and  most  of  the  smaller  islands  of 
Tireece  and  Asia,  have  been  subdued  by  the  Turkish  arms , 
vhilst  the  little  rock  of  Malta  defies  their  power,  and  hass 
emerged,  under  the  government  of  its  military  Order,  into  fame 
and  'opulence.J 

This  long  enumeration  of  provinces,  whose  broken  frag- 
ments have  formed  so  many  powerful  kingdoms,  might  almost 
induce  us  to  forgive  tlie  vanity  or  ignorance  of  the  ancients. 
Dazzled  with  the  extensive  swa}^  the  irresistible  strength,  and 
the  real  or  affected  moderation  of  the  emperors,  they  permitted 
themselves  to  despise,  and  sometimes  to  forget,  the  outlying 
countries  which  had  been  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  barbarous 
independence ;  and  they  gradually  usurped  the  license  of 
confounding  the  Roman  monarchy  with  the  globe  of  the 
earth.**  But  the  temper,  as  well  as  knowledge,  of  a  modern 
historian,  require  a  more  sober  and  accurate  language.  He 
may  impress  a  juster  image  of  the  greatness  of  Rome,  by 
observing  that  the  empire  was  above  two  thousand  miles  in 
breadth,  from  the  wall  of  Antoninus  and  the  northern  limits  of 
Dacia,  to  Mount  Atlas  and  tlie  tropic  of  Cancer ;  that  it 
extended  in  length  more  than  three  thousand  miles  from  the 
Western  Ocean  to  the  Euphrates  ;  that  it  was  situated  in  the 
finest  part  of  the  Temperate  Zone,  between  the  twenty-fourth 
and  fifty-sixth  degrees  of  northern  latitude ;  and  that  it  was 
supposed  to  contain  above  sixteen  hundred  thousand  square 
miles,  for  the  most  part  of  fertile  and  well-cultivated  land.** 

88  Bergier,  Hist,  des  Grands  Chemins,  1.  iii.  c.  1,  2,  3, 4,  a  very  useful 
eollection. 

89  See  Templeman's  Survey  of  the  Globe ;  but  I  distrust  both  the 
Doctor's  loarning  and  his  maps, 

*  Minorca  was  lost  to  Great  Britain  in  1782.  Aim.  Register  for  that 
year. — M. 

t  The  gallant  struggles  of  tlic  Corsicans  for  their  indspendence,  under 
Pa.3li,  were  brought  to  a  close  in  the  year  1769.  This  volume  w^as  published 
in  1776.     See  Botta,  Storia  d'  Italia,  vol.  xiv. — M. 

t  Malta,  it  need  scar<;ely  be  said,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  EngUsJi. 
We  have  not,  however,  thought  it  necessary  to  notice  cverj'  change  ui  th* 
pDlitical  state  of  the  worl  i,  since  the  time  of  Gibbon. — M 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   II. 

OT     THE    UNION    AND    INTERNAL    PROSPERITl     OP     THE     ROMAS 
EMl'IRE,    IN    THE    AGE    OF    THE    ANTONINES, 

Ir  is  uot  alone  by  the  rapidity,  or  extent  of  conquest,  that 
we  should  estimate  the  greatness  of  Rome.  The  sovereicri 
of  the  Russian  deserts  commands  a  larger  portion  of  the 
globe.  In  the  seventh  summer  after  his  passage  of  the  Hel- 
lespont, Alexander  erected  the  Macedonian  trophies  on  the 
oanks  of  the  Hyphasis.'  Within  less  than  a  century,  the 
irresistible  Zingis,  and  the  Mogul  princes  of  his  race,  spread 
their  cruel  devastations  and  transient  empire  from^the  Sea  of 
China,  to  the  confines  of  Egypt  and  Germany.\^ut  the  firm 
edifice  of  Roman  power  was  raised  and  preserved  b}'  the 
wisdom  of  ages.  The  obedient  provinces  of  Trajan  and  the 
Antonines  were  united  by  laws,  and  adorned  by  arfe;- 
They  might  occasionally  suffer  from  the  partial  abuse  of 
delegated  authority ;  but  the  general  principle  of  government 
was  wise,  simple,  and  beneficent.  They  enjoyed  the  religion 
of  their  ancestors,  whilst  in  civil  honors  and  advantages  they 
were  exalted,  by  just  degrees,  to  an  equality  with  their  con- 
querors. 

I.     The  policy  of  the  emj^erors  and  the  senate,  as  far  as  it 

'  They  were  erected  about  the  midway  between  Lalior  and  Delhi 
The  conquests  of  Alexander  in  Hindostan  were  confined  to  the  Pnn 
jab,  a  country  watered  by  the  five  great  streams  of  the  Indus.* 

2  See  M.  de  Guignes,  Histoire  des  Huns,  1.  xv.  xvi.  and  xvii. 


*  The  Hj-phasis  is  one  of  the  five  rivers  •which  join  the  Indus  or  the 
Bind,  after  havina:  traversed  the  province  of  tlic  Pcndj-ab — a  name  which 
in  Persian,  signifies  _^re  rivers.  *  *  *  G.  The  five  rivers  were,  1.  The 
HyJaspes,  uonv  the  Cheluni,  Behni,  or  Bedusta,  {Sanfcrii,  Vitasiha,  Ar 
row-swift.)  2.  The  Acesines,  the  Chenab,  {Sanscrit,  Chandrabh'ier&, 
Moon-ffift.)  3.  Hydraotes,  the  Ravey,  or  Iraoty,  {Sanserif,  Iravati.)  4.  Hy- 
phaflisr  .he  Beyah,  (.S'an«c«7,  Vepasa,  Fetterless.)  5.  The  Satadni,  (iS'«2.-i« .  ■' 
trti,  the  Hundred  Streamed,)  the  Sutledj,  known  first  to  the  Gref "  ^'^}  ^ 
time  of  Ptolemy.     Rcnuel.  Vincent,  Commerce  of  Anc.  boo'  „"*• 

Pentapotam.  In<l.     Wilsun's  Sanscrit  Diet.,  and  the  valuabi  VP*' 

Lieut.  Bumes,  Journal    if  London  Geogr.  Society,  vol.  iii.  p.  »^ 

travels  of  that  very  able  writer.     Compare  Gibbon's  own  noti!,  t 
M.— M  substit.  for  G. 


\ 


<84  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  98-180. 

concerned  religion,  was  happily  seconded  by  the  reflections  of 
the  enlightened,  and  by  the  habits  of  the  superstitious,  part  oi 
their  subjects.  The  various  modes  of  worship,  which  prevailed 
in  the  Roman  world,  were  all  considered  by  the  people,~Ias 
equally  true ;  by  tbe  philosopher,  as  equally  false ;  and  by  the 
magistrate,  as  equally  useful.  And  thus  toleration  produced 
not  only  mutual  indulgence,  but  even  rCiigious  concord. 
\  The  superstition  of  the  people  was  not  imbittered  by  any 
mixture  of  theological  rancor ;  nor  was  it  confined  by  the 
chains  of  any  speculative  s^ste_m,»  The  devout  polytheist, 
though  fondly  attached  to  his  national  rites,  admitted  with 
implicit  faith  the  different  religions  of  the  earth.'  Fear,  grat- 
itude, and  curiosity,  a  dream  or  an  omen,  a  singular  disorder, 
or  a  distant  journey,  perpetually  disposed  him  to  multiply  the 
articles  of  his  belief,  and  to  enlarge  the  list  of  his  protectors. 
The  thin  texture  of  the  Pagan  mythology  was  interwoven  with 
various  but  not  discordant  materials.  As  soon  as  it  was 
allowed  that  sages  and  heroes,  who  had  lived  or  who  had  died 
for  the  benefit  of  their  country,  were  exalted  to  a  state  of 
power  and  immortality,  it  was  universally  confessed,  that  they 

3  There  is  not  any  writer  who  describes  in  so  lively  a  manner  as 
Herodotus  th«  true  genius  of  polytheism.  The  best  commentary 
may  be  found  in  Mr.  Hume's  Natural  History  of  Religion ;  and  the 
best  contrast  in  Bossuet's  Universal  History.  Some  obscure  traces 
of  an  intolerant  spirit  appear  in  the  conduct  of  the  Egyptians,  (see 
Juvenal,  Sat.  xv. ;)  and  the  Christians,  as  well  as  Jews,  who  lived 
under  the  Roman  empire,  formed  a  very  important  exception ;  so 
important  indeed,  that  the  discussion  will  require  a  distinct  chapter 
of  this  work.* 

*  M.  Constant,  in  his  very  learned  and  eloquent  work,  "  Sur  la  Religion," 
with  the  two  additional  volumes,  "  Du  Polytheisme  Remain,"  has  considered 
the  whole  history  of  polytheism  in  a  tone  of  philosojjhy,  -which,  without 
subscribing  to  all  his  opinions,  we  may  be  pennitted  to  admire.  "  The 
boasted  tolerance  of  polytlieism  did  not  rest  upon  the  respect  due  from  so- 
ciety to  the  freedom  of  individual  opinion.  The  polytheistic  nations,  tolerant 
as  they  were  towards  each  other,  as  separate  states,  were  not  the  less  igno- 
rant of  the  eternal  principle,  the  only  basis  of  enlightened  toleration,  that 
every  one  has  a  right  to  warship  God  in  the  manner  which  seems  to  him 
the  best.  Citizens,  on  the  contrary,  were  bound  to  confonn  to  the  religion 
of  the  state ;  they  had  not  the  liberty  to  adopt  a  foreign  religion,  though  that 
religion  might  be  legally  recognized  in  their  own  city,  for  tlie  strangers  wdio 
were  its  votaries." — Sur  la  Religion,  v.  184.  Du.  Polyth.  Rom.  ii.  308.  At 
.tbis  time,  the  growng  religious  indifference,  and  the  general  adcjinistraliou 
o;i'  the  empire  by  Romans,  who.  being  strangers,  v/ould  do  no  more  than 
p/rotect,  not  enlist  themselves  in  the  cause  of  the  local  superstitions,  had 
ifntroduced  gi-eat  laxity.  But  intolerance  was  cJearly  the  theory  bcth  of 
,  the  Greek  and  Roman  law.  The  subject  is  more  fuUy  considered  in  anotliel 
/place. — M. 


A.D.  98-180.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRK.  84^ 

deserved,  if  not  the  adoi-ation,  at  le;ist  the  reverence,  of  all 
mankiud.  The  deities  of  a  thousand  groves  and  a  thousand 
streams  possessed,  in  peace,  their  local  and  respective  influ- 
ence ;  nor  could  the  Romans  who  deprecated  the  wrath  of  the 
Tiber,  deride  the  Egyptian  who  presented  his  offering  to  the 
beneficent  genius  of  the  Nile.  The  visible  powers  of  nature, 
the  planets,  and  the  elements  were  the  same  throughout  the 
univei-se.  The  invisible  governors  of  the  moral  world  were 
inevitably  cast  in  a  similar  mould  of  fiction  and  allegory 
Every  virtue,  and  even  vice,  acquired  its  divine  representa- 
tive ;  every  art  and  profession  its  patron,  whose  attributes,  in 
the  most  distant  ages  and  countries,  were  uniformly  derived 
from  the  character  of  their  j^eculiar  votaries.  A  republic  of 
gods  of  such  opposite  tempers  and  interests  required,  in  every 
system,  the  moderating  hand  of  a  supreme  magistrate,  who, 
by  the  progress  of  knowledge  and  flattery,  was  gradually  in- 
vested with  the  sublime  perfections  of  an  Eternal  Parent,  and 
an  Omnipotent  Monarch.''  Such  was  the  mild  spirit  of  an- 
tiquity, that  the  nations  were  less  attentive  to  the  difference, 
than  to  the  resemblance,  of  their  religious  worship.  The 
Greek,  the  Roman,  and  the  Barbarian,  as  they  met  before 
their  respective  altars,  easily  persuaded  themselves,  that  under 
various  names,  and  with  various  ceremonies,  they  adored  the 
same  deities.*  The  elegant  mythology  of  Homer  gave  a 
beautiful,  and  almost  a  regular  form,  to  the  polytheism  of  the 
ancient  world. 

The  philosophers  of  Greece  deduced  their  morals  from  the 
nature  of  man,  rather  than  from  that  of  God.  They  medi- 
tated, however,  on  the  Divine  Nature,  as  a  very  curious  and 
important  speculation ;  and  in  the  profound  inquiry,  they  dis- 
played the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  human  understand- 

*  The  rights,  powers,  and  pretensions  of  the  sovereign  of  Olympus 
are  very  clearly  described  in  the  xvtli  book  of  the  Ihad ;  in  tlie  Greek 
original,  I  mean ;  for  Mr.  Pope,  without  perceiving  it,  has  improved 
the  theology  of  Homer.* 

'  See,  for  instance,  CaBsar  de  Bell.  Gall.  vi..  17.  "Within  a  century  or 
two,  the  GauLs  themselves  apphed  to  their  gods  the  names  of  Mercury, 
Mars,  Apoho,  «fec. 

*  There  is  a  curious  coincidence  between  Gibbon's  expressions  and  thc«e 
of  the  ncwly-rccovcrcd  "  De  Rcpublicd"  of  Cicero,  though  the  argument  il 
rather  the  converse,  hb.  i.  c.  30.  "  Sive  hajc  ad  uiilitatem  vitau  constitata 
Bint  a  principibus  reruin  publicarum,  ut  rex  putaretur  unus  esse  in  cooltj,  qni 
nuiu,  ut  ait  Homcrus,  totum  Olympum  converteret,  idemque  et  rex  ot  p«tfii 
h&beretuT  c«aniuin." — M. 


36  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

\Dg.*  Of  the  four  most  celebrated  schools,  the  Stcdcs  and  the 
Platonists  endeavored  to  reconcile  the  jaring  interests  of  rea- 
son and  piety.  They  have  left  us  the  most  sublime  proofs  of 
the  existence  and  perfections  of  the  first  cause ;  but,  as  it  was 
impossible  for  them  to  conceive  the  creation  of  matter,  the 
workman  in  the  Stoic  philosophy  was  not  sufficiently  distin- 
guished from  the  work ;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  the  spiritual 
God  of  Plato  and  his  disciples  resembled  an  idea,  rather  than 
a  substance.  The  opinions  of  the  Academics  and  Epicureans 
were  of  a  less  religious  cast ;  but  whilst  the  modest  science  of 
the  former  induced  them  to  doubt,  the  positive  ignorance  of 
the  latter  urged  theu  to  deny,  the  providence  of  a  Supreme 
Ruler.  The  spirit  of  inquiry,  promj^ted  by  emulation,  and 
supported  by  freedom,  had  divided  the  public  teachers  of  phi- 
losophy into  a  variety  of  contending  sects ;  but  the  ingenious 
youth,  who,  from  every  part,  resorted  to  Athens,  and  the  other 
seats  of  learning  in  the  Roman  empire,  were  alike  instructed 
in  every  school  to  reject  and  to  despise  the  religion  of  the 
multitude.  How,  indeed,  was  it  possible  that  a  philosopher 
should  accept,  as  divine  truths,  the  idle  tales  of  the  poets,  and 
the  incoherent  traditions  of  antiquity ;  or  that  he  should  adore, 
as  gods,  those  imperfect  beings  whom  he  must  have  despised, 
as  men  ?  Against  such  unworthy  adversaries,  Cicero  conde- 
scended to  employ  the  arms  of  reason  and  eloquence ;  but  the 
satire  of  Lucian  was  a  much  more  adequate,  as  well  as  more 
efficacious,  weapon.  We  may  be  well  assured,  that  a  writer, 
conversant  with  the  world,  would  never  have  ventured  to 
expose  the  gods  of  his  country  to  public  ridicule,  had  they  nol 
already  been  the  objecte  of  secret  contempt  among  the  polished 
and  enlightened  orders  of  society.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  fashionable  irreligion  which  prevailed 
in  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  both  the  interest  of  the  priests  and 
the  credulity  of  the  people  were  sufficiently  respected.  In 
tncir  writings  and  conversation,  the  philosophers  of  antiquity 
asserted  the  independent  dignity  of  reason ;  but  they  resigned 
their  actions  to  the  commands  of  law  and  of  custom.     View- 

•  The  admirable  -work  of  Cicero  de  Natura  Deorura  is  the  best  clew 
we  Lave  to  guide  us  througt  the  dark  and  profound  abyss.  He  reprc- 
Bents  with  candor,  and  coufutes  with  subtlety,  the  opinions  of  the  plu 
losophers. 

T  I  do  not  pretend  to  assert,  that,  in  this  irrehgious  age,  the  natuia< 
terrors  of  superstition,  dreams,  omens,  apparitions,  <tc.,  had  lost  tbeii 


A-D.  98-180.J  OP    THE    ROMAN    EUriRB.  87 

ingf,  witli  a  smile  of  pity  and  indulgence,  the  various  errors  of 
ihe  vulgar,  they  diligently  practised  the  ceremonies  of  their 
fathers,  devoutly  frequented  the  temples  of  the  gods  ;  and 
sometimes  condescending  to  act  a  part  on  the  theatre  of  super- 
stition, they  concealed  the  sentiments  of  an  atheist  under  tht 
sacerdotal  robes.  Reasoners  of  such  a  temper  were  scarcely 
'Di  lined  to  wrangle  about  their  respectives  modes  of  faith,  or 
of  worship.  It  was  indifferent  to  them  what  shape  the  folly 
of  the  multitude  might  choose  to  assume ;  ana  tlicy  approached 
with  the  same  inward  contempt,  and  the  same  external  rever- 
ence, the  altars  of  the  Lib3-an,  the  Olympian,  or  the  Capitoline 
Jupiter.* 

It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  from  what  motives  a  spirit  o'*  per- 
secution could  introduce  itself  into  the  Roman  councils.  The 
magistrates  could  not  be  actuated  by  a  blind,  though  -onest 
bigotry,  since  the  magistrates  were  themselves  philosophers ; 
and  the  schools  of  Athens  had  given  laws  to  the  senate.  They 
could  not  be  impelled  by  ambition  or  avarice,  as  the  temporal 
and  ecclesiastical  powers  were  united  in  the  same  hands.  The 
pontiffs  were  chosen  among  the  most  illustrious  of  the  sena- 
tors ;  and  the  office  of  Supreme  Pontiff  was  constantly  exer- 
cised by  the  emperors  themselves.  They  knew  and  valued 
the  advantages  of  religion,  as  it  is  connected  with  civil  govern- 
ment. They  encouraged  the  public  festivals  which  humanize 
the  manners  of  the  people.  They  managed  the  arts  of  divina- 
tion as  a  convenient  instrument  of  policy  ;  and  they  respected, 
as  the  firmest  bond  of  society,  the  useful  persuasion,  that, 
either  in  this  or  in  a  future  life,  the  crime  of  perjury  is  most 
assuredly  punished  by  the  avenging  gods.*  But  whilst  they 
Jickuowledged  the  general  advantages  of  religion,  they  were 
convinced  that  the  various  modes  of  worship  contributed  alike 
to  the  same  salutary  purposes ;  and  that,  in  every  country,  the 
form  of  superstition,  which  had  received  the  sanction  of  tirde 
and  experience,  was  the  best  adapted  to  the  climate,  and  to 
its  inhabitants.  Avarice  and  taste  very  frequently  despoiled 
the  vanquished  nations  of  the  elegant  statues  of  their  gods, 


•  Socrates,  Epicurus,  Cicero,  and  Plutarch  always  iuculcated  a 
ieccnt  reverence  for  the  religion  of  their  own  country,  and  of  inau- 
^nd.  The  devotion  of  Epicurus  was  assiduous  und  exemplary. 
Diogen.  Laert.  x.  10. 

•  Polybius,  1.  vi.  c.  53,  51.  Juvenal,  Sat.  xiii.  Umenfcs  that  in  b'v 
itXk*  this  apprehension  had  lost  much  of  its  effect 


-^    rt    r^    '~ 


88  rilE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D,  99-180, 

and  the  ;icli  oriiaiDents  of  their  temples  ; '"  but,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  religion  which  they  derived  from  their  ancestors^ 
they  uniformly  experienced  the  indulgence,  and  even  protection^- 
of  the  Roman  conquerors.  The  province  of  Gaul  seems,  and 
indeed  only  seems,  an  exception  to  this  universal  toleration. 
Under  the  specious  pretext  of  abolishing  human  sacrifices,  the 
emperors  Tiberius  and  Claudius  suppressed  the  dangerous 
power  of  the  Druids  :  "  but  the  priests  themselves,  their  gods 
and  their  altars,  subsisted  in  peaceful  obscurity  till  the  final 
destruction  of  Paganism.'* 

Rome,  the  capital  of  a  great  monarchy,  was  incessantly 
filled  with  subjects  and  strangers  from  every  part  of  the 
world,'^  who  all  introduced  and  enjoyed  the  favorite  super 
stitions  of  their  native  country.'*  Every  city  in  the  empire 
was  justified  in  maintaining  the  purity  of  its  ancient  ceremo- 
nies ;  and  the  Roman  senate,  using  the  common  privilege, 
sometimes  interposed,  to  check  this  inundation  of  foreign 
rites.*  The  Egyptian  superstition,  of  all  the  most  contempti- 
ble and  abject,  was  frequently  prohibited :  the  temples  of 
Serapis  and  Isis  demolished,  and  their  worshippers  banished 
from  Rome  and  Italy."     But  the  zeal  of  fanaticism  prevailed 

'"  See  the  fate  of  Syracuse,  Tarontum,  Ambracia,  Corinth,  &c.,  the 
conduct  of  Verres,  in  Cicero,  (Actio  ii.  Orat.  4,)  and  the  usual  prac- 
tice of  governors,  in  the  viiith  Satire  of  Juvtnal. 

"  Seuton.  in  Claud. — Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxx.  1. 

'2  Pelloutier,  Histoire  des  Celtes,  torn.  vi.  p.  230—252. 

'3  Seneca,  Consolat.  ad  Helviam,  p.  74.     Edit.  Lips. 

i<  Dionysius  Halicarn.  Antiquitat.  Roman.  1.  ii.  [vol.  i.  p.  2*75,  edit. 
Reiske.] 

'5  lu  the  year  of  Rome  701,  the  temple  of  Isis  and  Serapis  was 
Jemolished  by  the  order  of  the  Senate,  (Dion  Cassius,  1.  xl.  p.  252,) 
and   even  by  the  hands   of  the   consul,    (Valerius   Maximus,  1.  3.)f 


*  Yet  the  worship  of  forei^  gods  at  Rome  was  only  guarantied  to  the 
natives  of  those  countries  from  whence  they  came.  The  Romans  admin- 
istered the  priestly  offices  only  to  the  gods  of  their  fathers.  Gibbon, 
thi'oughout  the  whole  preceding  sketch  of  the  opinions  of  the  Romans 
and  tlieir  subjects,  has  shown  through  what  causes  they  were  free  from 
religious  hatred  and  its  consequences.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inter 
nal  state  of  these  religions,  the  infidelity  and  hypocrisy  of  the  upper 
orders,  the  indifference  towards  all  religion,  in  even  the  better  part  of  tho 
conunon  people,  during  the  last  days  of  the  republic;  and  under  tho 
Caesars,  and  the  con-upting  principles  of  thi  philosophers,  had  exercised  s 
very  pernicious  influence  on  the  manners,  and  even  ou  the  constitu- 
tion.—W. 

f  Gibbon  here  blends  into  one,  two  events,  distant  a  hundred  and  sixty- 
fix  years  fi-om  each  other.  It  was  in  the  year  of  Rome  535,  that  the  gen- 
mtn  having  ordered  the  festruction  of  the  temples  of  Isis  and  Serapis,  ti« 


A.  D.  98-180,]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  81 

over  the  cold  aud  feeble  eflbrts  of  policy.  The  exiles  returned, 
the  proselytes  multiplied,  the  temples  were  restored  with 
increasing  splendor,  and  Isis  and  Serapis  at  length  assumed 
their  place  among  the  Roman  Deities."  Nor  was  this  indul- 
gence a  departure  from  the  old  maxims  of  government.  In 
the  purest  ages  of  the  commonwealth,  Cybele  and  -^sculapius 
had  been  invited  by  solemn  embassies  ; "  and  it  was  customary 
to  tempt  the  protectors  of  besieged  cities,  by  the  promise  of 
more  distinguished  honors  than  they  possessed  in  their  native 
country."  Rome  gradually  became  the  common  temple  of 
lier  subjects ;  and  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  bestowed  on  all 
the  gods  of  mankind." 

II.  The  narrow  policy  of  preserving,  without  any  foreign 
mixture,  the  pure  blood  of  the  ancient  citizens,  had  checked 
ihe  fortune,  and  hastened  the  ruin,  of  Athens  and  Sparta. 
Xlie_a^iriiig._ genius  of  Rome^  sacrificed  vanity  to  ambition, 
and  deemed  it  more  prudent,  as  well  as  honorable,  to  adopt 
virtue  and  merit  for  her  own  wheresoever  they  were  found, 
among  slaves  or  strangers,  enemies  or  barbarians.'^"     During 


After  the  death  of  Cse3ar  it  was  Restored  at  the  public  expense. 
(Dion.  1.  xlviL  p.  501.)  When  Augustus  was  in  Egypt,  he  revered 
the  majesty  of  Serapis,  (Dion,  1.  li.  p.  647 ;)  but  in  the  Pomajrium 
of  Rome,  and  a  mile  round  it,  he  prohibited  the  worship  of  the 
Egyptian  gods,  (Dion,  1.  liii.  p.  679  ;  1.  liv.  p.  735.)  They  remained, 
however,  very  fashionable  under  his  reign  (Ovid,  de  Art.  Amand.  1.  i.) 
and  that  of  his  successor,  till  the  justice  of  Tiberius  was  provoked  to 
some  acts  of  severity.  (See  Tacit.  Annal.  ii.  85.  Joseph.  Antiquit. 
L  xviii.  c.  3.)  * 

16  Tertullian  in  Apologetic,  c.  6,  p.  74  Edit.  Havercamp.  I  am 
inclined  to  attribute  their  establishment  to  the  devotion  of  the  Flavian 
family. 

'■'  See  Livy,  1.  xi.  [Suppl.]  and  xxix. 

'*  Macrob.  Saturnalia,  1.  iii.  c.  9.  He  gives  us  a  form  of  evoca 
tion. 

'•  Minutius  Fselix  in  Octavio,  p.  54.     Arnobius,  1.  vi.  p.  115. 

"^  Tacit.  Annal.  xi.  24.  Tlie  Orbis  Romanus  of  the  learned  Spanheim 
is  a  complete  history  of  the  progressive  admission  of  Latiuni,  Italy, 
and  the  provinces,  to  the  freedom  of  Rome.f 


workman  would  lend  his  liand  ;  and  the  consul,  L.  JEin\'  jus  Paulus  Inm.solf 
(Valcr.  Max.  1,  3)  seized  die  axe,  to  trive  the  first  blow.  Gibbon  aitribuio 
this  circumstance  to  the  second  demolition,  which  toolv  place  in  tlie  year  70J 
and  which  he  considers  as  the  fir.st. —  W. 

*  See,  in  the  pictures  from  the  ■walla  of  Pompeii,  the  representation  of 
•n  Isiac  temple  and  worship.  Vestiges  of  Egyptian  v^-oi  ship  liave  been 
traced  in  Gaul,  and,  I  am  informed,  recently  in  Britain,  ir  excavatioiw  tt 
York.— M. 

t  Democratic  states,  observes  T)enina,  (dellc  Rovoluz.  d'  Italia,  I.  ii.  e.  IJ 


10  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

the  most  flourisliing  sera  of  tlie  Athenian  commonwealth,  tlifl 
number  of  citizens  gradually  decreased  from  about  thirty*'  to 
twenty-one  thousand."^  If,  on  the  contrary,  we  svudy  the 
growth  of  the  Roman  republic,  we  may  discover,  that,  not- 
withstanding the  incessant  demands  of  wars  and  colonies,  the 
citizens,  who,  in  the  first  census  of  Servius  Tullius,  amounted 
t",  no  more  than  eighty-three  thousand,  were  multiplied,  before 
the  commencement  of  the  social  war,  to  the  number  of  four 
liundred  and  sixty-three  thousand  men,  able  to  bear  arms  in 
the  service  of  their  country.'"  When  the  allies  of  Rome 
claimed  an  equal  share  of  honors  and  privileges,  the  senate 
indeed  preferred  the  chance  of  arms  to  an  ignominious  con- 
cession. The  Samnites  and  the  Lucanians  paid  the  severe 
penalty  of  their  rashness ;  but  the  rest  of  the  Italian  states,  as 
they  successively  returned  to  their  duty,  were  admitted  into 
the  bosom  of  the  republic,'**  and  soon  contributed  to  the  ruin 
of  public  freedom.  Under  a  democratical  government,  the 
citizens  exercise  the  powers  of  sovereignty ;  and  those  powers 
will  be  first  abused,  and  afterwards  lost,  if  they  are  committed 
to  an  unwieldy  multitude.  But  when  the  popular  assembhes 
had  been  suppressed  by  the  administration  of  the  emperors, 
the  conquerors  were  distinguished  from  the  vanquished  na- 
tions, only  as  the  first  and  most  honorable  order  of  subjects ; 
and  their  increase,  however  rapid,  was  no  longer  exposed  to 
the  same  dangere.  Yet  the  wisest  princes,  who  adopted  the 
maxims    of   Augustus,"  guarded   with    the   strictest   care    the 

"'  Herodotus,  v.  97.  It  should  seem,  however,  that  he  followed  a 
large  and  popular  estimation. 

'^■■^  Athenteus,  Deipnosophist.  L  vL  p.  272.  Edit.  Casaubon.  Meur- 
siur,  de  Fortuna  Attica,  c.  4* 

-^  See  a  very  accurate  collection  of  the  numbers  of  each  Lustrum  in 
M.  de  Beaufort,  Republique  Romaine,  1.  iv.  c.  4:.\ 

'''*  Appian.  de  BeU.  Civil.  L  i.  Velleius  Paterculus,  1.  ii  c.  15, 
16,  17.  

are  most  jealous  of  communicating'  the  privileges  of  citizenship  ;  mouarcliies 
or  oligarchies  willingly  multiply  the  numbers  of  their  free  subjects.  The 
most  remarkable  accessions  to  the  strength  of  Rome,  by  the  aggregation  of 
conquered  and  foreign  nations,  took  place  under  the  regal  and  patrician — ^we 
may  add,  the  Imperial  government. — M. 

*  On  the  number  of  citizens  in  Athens,  compare  Boeckh,  Public  Economy 
af  Athens,  (English  Tr.,)  p.  45,  ct  seq.  Fynes  Clinton,  Essay  in  Fasti  Hcl 
Icnici,  vol.  i.  381. — M. 

t  All  these  questions  are  placed  in  an  entirely  new  point  of  view  by  Nie- 
hulir,  (Romische  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  464.)  He  rejects  the  census  of  Serving 
fuUius  as  unhistoric,  (vol.  ii.  p.  78,  et  seq.,)  and  be  establishes  the  principle 
that  the  census  comprehended  all  the  confederate  cities  wliich  had  "the  right 
of  Isopolity. — M. 


A.D  98-180.]  OV   THB    R7MAK    KHPIRE.  41 

dignitv  of  the  Roman  iianie,  and  diffused  the  freedom  of  the 
city  with  a  pnideut  liberality.'* 

Till  the  privileges  of  Romans  had  been  progressively  ex- 
tended to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire,  an  important  dis- 
tinction was  preserved  between  Italy  and  the  provinces,  llie 
former  was  esteemed  the  centre  of  public  unity,  and  the  firm 
basis  of  the  constitution.  Italy  claimed  the  birth,  or  at  least 
the  residence,  of  the  emperors  and.  the  senate."'  The  estates 
of  the  Italians  were  exempt  from  taxes,  their  pei-sons  from  the 
arbitrary  jurisdiction  of  governors.  Their  municipal  corpora- 
tions, formed  after  the  perfect  model  of  the  capital,*  were 
intrusted,  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  supreme  power, 
with  the  execution  of  the  laws.  From  the  foot  of  the  Alps  to 
the  extremity  of  Calabria,  all  the  natives  of  Italy  were  born 
citizens  of  Rome.  Their  partial  distinctions  were  obliterated, 
and  they  insensibly  coalesced  into  one  great  nation,  united  bj 
language,  manners,  and  civil  institutions,  and  equal  to  the 
weight  of  a  powerful  empire.  The  republic  gloried  in  her 
generous  policy,  and  was  frequently  rewarded  by  the  merit 
and  services  of  her  adopted  sons.  Had  she  always  confined 
the  distinction  of  Romans  to  the  ancient  families  within  thf; 
walls  of  the  city,  that  immortal  name  would  have  been  de- 
prived of  some  of  its  noblest  ornaments.  Virgil  was  a  native 
of  Mantua;  Horace  was  inclined  to  doubt  whether  he  should 
call  himself  an  Apulian  or  a  Lucanian  ;  it  was  in  Padua  that 
an  historian  was  found  worthy  to  record  the  majestic  series  of 
Roman  victories.  The  patriot  family  of  the  Catos  emerged 
from  Tusculum  ;  and  the  little  town  of  Arpinum  claimed,  tlie 
double  honor  of  producing  Marius  and  Cicero,  the  former  of 
whom  deserved,  after  Romulus  and  Camillus,  to  be  styled  the 
Third  Founder   of  Rome ;    and   the  latter,  after   saving   his 

^^  Maecenas  had  advised  liirn  to  declare,  by  one  edict,  all  his  subjects 
citizens.  But  we  may  justly  suspect  that  the  historian  Dion  was  the 
author  of  a  counsel  so  mucli  adapted  to  the  practice  of  liis  own  age,  and 
so  little  to  that  of  Augustus. 

'*  Thti  senators  were  obliged  to  have  one  third  of  their  own  landed 
properly  in  Italy.  See  Plia  1.  vL  ep.  19.  The  qualification  was 
educed  by  Marcus  to  one  foiutli.  Since  the  reign  of  Trajan,  ItaH 
^  sunk  nearer  to  the  level  of  tlie  provinces. 


•  It  may  be  doubted  wlietlicr  the   municipal  govemment  of  the  citie* 

was  not  the  old  Italian  constitution,  rather  tlian  a  transcript  from  that  of 

B/Ome.     The  free   trovei-nmeut  of  the   cities,   observes   Savigiiy,   was   thff 

eadin?  characteristic  of  Italy.     Geschichte  des  ROraischen  Rechts,  j    p 

«.— M. 


<2  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  I).  9ft-180 

country  from  tlie  designs  of  Catiline,  enabled  lier  to  contend 
with  Atlic^ns  for  the  palm  of  eloquence."' 

The  provinces  of  the  empire  (as  they  have  been  d-escribed 
in  the  preceding  chapter)  were  destitute  of  any  public  force, 
or  constitutional  freedom.  In  Etruria,  in  Greece/'  and  in 
Gaul,"'  it  was  the  first  care  of  the  senate  to  dissolve  those 
dangerous  confederacies,  which  taught  mankind  that,  as  the 
Roman  arms  prevailed  by  division,  they  miglit  be  resisted  by 
union.  Those  princes,  whom  the  ostentation  of  gratitude  or 
generosity  permitted  for  a  while  to  hold  a  precarious  sceptre^ 
were  dismissed  from  their  thrones,  as  soon  as  they  had  per 
formed  their  appointed  task  of  fashioning  to  the  yoke  the  van- 
quished nations.  The  free  states  and  cities  which  had  em- 
braced the  cause  of  Rome  were  rewarded  with  a  nominal 
alliance,  and  insensibly  sunk  into  real  servitude.  The  public 
authority  was  every  where  exercised  by  the  ministers  of  the 
senate  and  of  the  emperors,  and  that  authority  was  absolute, 
and  without  control.f  But  the  same  salutary  maxims  of  gov- 
ernment, which  had  secured  the  peace  and  obedience  of  Italy 
were  extended  to  the  most  distant  conquests.  A  nation  of 
Romans  was  gradually  formed  in  the  provinces,  by  the  double 
expedient  of  introducing  colonies,  and  of  admitting  the  most 
faithful  and  deserving  of  the  provincials  to  the  freedom  of 
Rome. 

"  Wheresoever  the  Roman  conquers,  he  inhabits,"  is  a  very 
just  observation  of  Seneca,^"  confirmed  by  history  and  expe- 
rience.     The   natives    of  Italy,    allured    by   pleasure    or   by 


^''  The  first  part  of  the  Verona  Illustrata  of  the  Marquis  MafFei 
gives  the  clearest  and  most  comprehensive  view  of  the  state  of  Italy 
under  the  CiEsars.* 

^'^  See  Pausanias,  1.  vii.  The  Romans  condef,;;ended  to  restore  the 
names  of  those  assemblies,  when  they  could  no  longer  be  dangerous. 

^^  They  are  frequently  mentioned  by  Caesar.  The  Abbe  Duboa 
attempts,  with  very  little  success,  to  prove  that  the  assemblies  of  Gaul 
Wfire  continued  under  the  emperors.  Histoire  de  I'Etablissement  de  la 
Monarchic  Fran^oise,  1.  i.  c.  4. 

'"  Seneca  in  Consolat.  ad  Helviam,  c.  6. 


*  Compare  Denina,  Revol.  d'  Italia,  1.  ii.  c.  6,  p.  100,  4  to  edit. 

t  This  is,  perhaps,  rather  overstated.  Most  cities  retained  the  choice  of 
■beir  mni>icipal  officers:  some  retained  valuable  privilcircs;  Atlious,  lor  m 
tance,  in  form  was  still  a  confederate  city.  (Tac.  Ann.  ii.  53.)  These  priv- 
leges,  indeed,  depended  entirely  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  emperor,  who 
■evoked  or  restored  them  according;  to  his  caprice.  See  Walther  Gescliichte 
lea  Romisphen  Rechts,  i.  324 — an  admirable  summary  of  the  ILomau  cor- 
titational  histoiy. — M. 


A.D.  98-180.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRK 


43 


interest,  hastened  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  victory ;  and  we 
may  remark,  that,  about  forty  years  after  the  reduction  cf 
Asia,  eighty  thousand  Romans  were  massacred  in  one  day,  by 
the  cruel  orders  of  Mithridates."  These  vohmtary  exiles 
were  engaged,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  occupations  of  com- 
merce, agriculture,  and  the  farm  of  the  revenue.  But  after 
the  legions  were  rendered  permanent  by  the  emperors,  th 
provinces  were  peopled  by  a  race  of  soldiers  ;  and  the  vet 
erans,  whether  they  received  the  reward  of  their  service  ii 
land  or  in  money,  usually  settled  with  their  families  in  the 
country,  where  they  had  honorably  spent  their  youth. 
Throughout  the  empire,  but  more  particularly  in  the  western 
parts,  the  most  fertile  districts,  and  the  most  convenient  situa 
tions,  were  reserved  for  the  establishment  of  colonies ;  some 
of  which  were  of  a  civil,  and  others  of  a  military  nature.  In 
their  manners  and  internal  policy,  the  colonies  formed  a  per- 
fect representation  of  their  great  parent ;  and  they  were  soon 
endeared  to  the  natives  by  the  ties  of  friendship  and  alliance, 
they  effectually  diffused  a  reverence  for  the  Roman  name,  and 
a  desire,  which  was  seldom  disappointed,  of  sharing,  in  due 
time,  its  honors  and  advantages.^*  The  municipal  cities  in- 
sensibly equalled  the  rank  and  splendor  of  the  colonies  ;  and 
in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  it  was  disputed  which  was  the  prefer- 
able condition,  of  those  societies  which  had  issued  from,  or 
those  which  had  been  received  into,  the  bosom  of  Rome.** 
The  right  of  Latium,  as  it  was  called,*  conferred  on  the  cities 
to   which  it  had  been  granted,  a  more  partial  favor.     The 

*•  Memnon  apud  Photium,  (c.  33,)  [c.  224,  p.  231,  ed  Bekker.] 
Valcr.  Maxim,  ix.  2.  Plutarch  and  Dion  Cassias  swell  the  massacre 
to  150,000  citizens;  but  I  should  esteem  the  smaller  number  to  be 
more  tlian  sufficient. 

''■^  Twenty-five  colonies  were  settled  m  Spain,  (see  Plin.  Hist.  Nat 
iii.  3,  4;  iv.  35;)  and  nine  in  Britain,  of  wliich  London,  Colchester, 
Lincoln,  Chester,  Gloucester,  and  Bath  still  remain  considerable 
cities.  (See  Richard  of  Cirencester,  p.  36,  and  Whittaker's  History 
of  Manchester,  1.  i.  o.  3.) 

^'  Aul.  Gel.  Noctes  Atticae,  xvL  13.  The  Emperor  Hadrian  ex- 
pressed his  surprise,  that  the  cities  of  Utica,  Gades,  and  ItaUca,  which 
already  enjoyed  the  rights  of  Municipia,  should  sohcit  the  title  of 
eclvnics.  Their  example,  however,  became  fashionable,  and  the  empirt 
w/is  filled  with  honorary  colonies.  See  Spanheim,  de  Usu  Numisma- 
tum  Dissertat.  xiii. 

*  The  right  of  Latium  conferred  an  exemption  from  the  govern  nent  of 
the  Itoman  praefect.  Strabo  states  this  distinctly,  1.  iv.  p.  295,  edit.  Cubvk 
gee  also  Wdther,  p.  2^3.— M 


44  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

magistrates  only,  at  the  expiration  of  their  office,  assunied  tha 
quality  of  Roman  citizens ;  but  as  those  offices  were  annual, 
iu  a  few  years  they  circulated  round  the  principal  families." 
Those  of  the  provincials  who  were  permitted  to  bear  arras  in 
the  legions  ;^*  those  who  exercised  any  civil  employment ; 
all,  in  a  word,  who  performed  any  public  service,  or  displayed 
any  personal  talents,  were  rewarded  with  a  present,  whose 
valuQ  was  continually  diminished  by  the  increasing  liberality 
of  the  emperore,  Yet  even,  in  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  when 
the  freedom  of  the  city  had  been  bestowed  on  the  greater 
number  of  their  subjects,  it  was  still  accompanied  with  very 
solid  advantages.  The  bulk  of  the  people  acquired,  with  that 
title,  the  benefit  of  the  Roman  laws,  particularly  in  the  inter- 
esting articles  of  marriage,  testaments,  and  inheritances ;  and 
the  road  of  fortune  was  open  to  those  whose  pretensions  were 
seconded  by  favor  or  merit.  The  grandsons  of  the  Gauls, 
who  had  besieged  Julius  Caesar  in  Alcsia,  commanded  legions, 
governed  provinces,  and  were  admitted  into  the  senate  of 
Rome.**  Their  ambition,  instead  of  disturbing  the  tranquillity 
of  the  state,  was  intimately  connected  with  its  safety  and 
greainess. 

-  So  sensible  were  the  Romans  of  the  influence  of  language 
/over  national  manners,  that  it  was  their  most  serious  care  to 
extend,  with  the  progress  of  their  arras,  the  use  of  the  Latin 
tongue."''  The  ancient  dialects  of  Italy,  the  Sabine,  the 
Etruscan,  and  the  Venetian,  sunk  into  oblivion ;  but  in  the 
provinces,  the  east  was  less  docile  than  the  west  to  the  voice 
of  its  victorious  preceptors.  This  obvious  difference  marked 
the  two  portions  of  the  empire  with  a  distinction  of  colors, 
which,  though  it  was  in  some  degree  concealed  during  the 
meridian  splendor  of  prosperity,  became  gradually  more  visi- 
ole,  as  the  shades  of  night  descended  upon  the  Roman  woi'ld. 
The  western  countries  were  civilized  by  the  same  hands 
which  subdued  thera.  As  soon  as  the  barbarians  were  recon- 
ciled to  obedience,  their  minds  were  open  to  any  new  im- 
pressions of  knowledge  and  politeness.  The  language  of 
Virgil  and  Cicero,  though  with  some  inevitable  mixture  of 
'Sorruption,  was  so  universally  adopted  in  Africa,  Spain,  Gaul 

**  Spanheim,  Orbis  Roman,  c.  8,  p.  62. 
"  Aj-istid.  in  Romas  Encomio.  torn.  i.  p.  218,  edit.  Jebb. 
"  Tacit.  Annal.  xi.  23,  24.     Hist.  iv.  74. 

*''  See  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  iii.  5.     Augustin.  de  Civitate  Dei,  sis  1 
Lijjeiua  de  Pronunciatione  Lingufe  Latinae,  c.  3. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  46 

Britain,  and  Pannonia,"  that  the  faint  traces  of  the  Punic  or 
Celtic  idioms  were  preserved  only  n  the  mountains,  or  among 
the  peasants.'*  Education  and  study  insensibly  inspired  the 
natives  of  those  countries  with  the  sentiments  of  Romans; 
and  Italy  gave  fashions,  as  well  as  laws,  to  her  Latin  provin- 
eialri.  They  solicited  with  more  ardor,  and  obtained  with 
more  facility,  the  freedom  and  honors  of  the  state ;  sup- 
ported the  national  dignity  in  letters  *"  and  in  arms ;  and  at 
length,  in  the  person  of  Trajan,  produced  an  emperor  whom 
the  Scipios  would  not  have  disowned  for  their  countryman. 
The  situation  of  the  Greeks  w:xs  very  different  from  that  of  the 
barbarians.  The  former  had  been  long  since  civilized  and 
corrupted.  They  had  too  much  taste  to  relinquish  their  lan- 
guage, and  too  much  vanity  to  adopt  any  foreign  institutions. 
Still  preserving  the  prejudices,  after  they  had  lost  the  virtues, 
of  their  ancestors,  they  aflected  to  despise  the  unpolished 
manners  of  the  Roman  conquerors,  whilst  they  were  com- 
pelled to  respect  their  superior  wisdom  and  power.*'  Nor 
was  the  influence  of  the  Grecian  language  and  sentiments 
confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  that  once  celebrated  country. 
Their  empire,  by  the  progress  of  colonies  and  conquest,  had 
been  diffused  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Nile.     Asia   was   covered   with    Greek    cities,    and    the   long 

'*  Apuleius  and  Augustin  will  answer  for  Africa ;  Strabo  for  Spain 
aad  Gaul ;  Tacitus,  in  the  life  of  Agricola,  for  Britain ;  and  Velleius 
Paterculus,  for  Pannonia.  To  them  we  may  add  the  language  of  the 
Inscriptions.* 

'"  The  Celtic  was  preserved  in  the  mountains  of  Wales,  Cornwall, 
and  Armorica.  We  may  observe,  that  Apuleius  reproaches  an  Afri- 
can youth,  who  lived  among  the  populace,  with  the  use  of  the  Funic 
whilst  he  had  almost  forgot  Greek,  and  neither  could  nor  would  speak 
Latin,  (Apolog.  p.  596.)  The  greater  part  of  St.  Austin's  congrega- 
tions were  strangers  to  the  Punic. 

■'°  Spain  alone  produced  Columella,  the  Senecas,  Lucan,  Martial, 
and  Quintilian. 

*'  There  is  not,  I  believe,  from  Dionysius  to  Libanus,  a  single  Greek 
critic  who  mentions  Virgil  or  Horace.  They  seem  ignorant  that  the 
Romans  had  any  good  writers. 

*  Mr.  Hallam  contests  this  assertion  as  regards  Britain.  "Nor  did  the 
Romans  ever  establish  their  language — I  know  not  wliether  they  wished 
io  do  so — in  this  island,  as  we  perceive  by  that  stubborn  British  tongiio 
which  has  survived  two  conquests."  In  his  note.  Mr.  Hallam  examiues  the 
passage  from  Tacitus  (Agric.  xxi.)  to  which  Gil)bon  refers.  It  merely 
asserts  the  progress  ot  Latin  studies  among  the  higher  orders.  (MiddL 
Agee.  iii.  ?A4^  Probably  it  was  a  kind  of  court  language,  and  that  of  psl> 
IJo  affairs,  ajid  prevailed  in  the  Roman  <  olonies.- -M. 


46  THE    DECLINE    AND    TALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

reign  of  the  Macedonian  kiiiu's  bad  introduced  a  silent  revolu- 
tion  into  Syria  und  Egypt.  In  their  pompous  courts,  those 
princes  united  the  elegance  of  Athens  with  the  luxury  of  the 
East,  and  the  example  of  the  court  was  imtated,  at  an  hum- 
ble distance,  by  the  higher  raniis  of  their  subjects.  Such  was 
he  general  division  of  the  Roman  empire  into  the  Latin  and 
jrreek  languages.  To  these  we  may  add  a  third  distinction 
for  the  body  of  the  natives  in  Syria,  and  especially  in  Egypt, 
the  use  of  their  ancient  dialects,  by  secluding  them  from  the 
commerce  of  mankind,  checked  the  improvements  of  those 
barbarians.**  The  slothful  effeminacy  of  the  former  exposed 
them  to  the  contempt,  the  sullen  ferociousness  of  the  latter 
excited  the  aversion,  of  the  conquerors."  Those  nations  had 
submitted  to  the  Roman  power,  but  they  seldom  desired  or 
deserved  the  freedom  of  the  city :  and  it  was  remarked,  that 
more  than  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  elapsed  after  the 
ruin  of  the  Ptolemies,  before  an  Egyptian  was  adniitted  int<? 
Jihe  senate  of  Rome." 

It  is  a  just  though  trite  observation,  that  victurioui  Rome 
was  herself  subdued  by  the  arts  of  Greece.  Those  immortal 
writers  who  still  command  the  admiration  of  modern  Europe, 
soon  became  the  favorite  object  of  study  and  imitation  in 
Italy  and  the  western  provinces.  Bat  the  elegant  amusements 
of  the  Romans  were  not  suffered  to  interfere  with  their  sound 
maxims  of  policy.  Whilst  they  acknowledged  the  charms  of 
the  Greek,  they  asserted  the  dignity  of  the  Latin  tongue,  and 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  latter  was  inflexibly  maintained  in 
the  administration  of  civil  as  well  as  military  government.'" 
The  two  languages  exercised  at  the  same  time  their  separate 
jurisdiction  throughout  the  empire :  the  former,  as  the  natural 
idiom  of  science ;  the  latter,  tis  the  legal  dialect  of  public 
transactions.     Those  who   united  letters   with    business    wera 

<*  The  curious  reader  may  see  in  Dupin,  (Bibliotlieque  Ecclesias 
tique,  torn.  xix.  p.  1,  c.  8,)  how  much  the  use  of  the  Syriac  and  Egyp 
tian  languages  was  still  preserved. 

<3  See  Juvenal,  Sat.  iii.  and  xv.     Amniian.  Marcellin.  xxiL  16. 

«^  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1275.  The  first  instance  happcuea 
under  tJie  roign  of  Septimius  Severus. 

<5  See  Valerius  Maximus,  1.  ii.  c.  2,  n.  2.  The  emperor  Clauoiui 
disfranchised  an  eminent  Grecian  for  not  understanding  Latin.  H* 
was  probably  in  some  public  office.     Suetonius  in  Claud,  c.  lu.* 


•  Causos  seem  to  have  be(ni   pleaded,  even  in  the  senate,   ia  botk 
g»Ages.     Val.  Max.  /oc.  cit.     Dion.  1.  Ivii.  c.  1-5. — M 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRK.  41 

equally  conversant  with  both ;  and  it  was  almost  imj)ai3ible, 
in  any  province,  to  find  a  Roman  subject,  of  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, who  was  at  once  a  stranger  to  the  Greek  and  to  th« 
Latin  language. 

It  was  by  such  institutions  that  the  nations  of  the  empire 
insensibly  melted    away  into    the    Roman  name  and  people. 
But   there   still   remained,  in   the    centre    of   every  province         j 
and    of  every    family,    an   unhappy    condition    of  men    who       / 
endured  the  weight,  without  sharing  the  benefits,  of  society.        y* 
lu   the    free    states    of  antiquity,    the    domestic  slaves   were        ^-o 
exposed  to  the  wanton  rigor  of  despotism.     The  perfect  set- 
tlement  of  the    Roman    empire    was    preceded   by    ages   of 
violence  and  rapine.     The  slaves  consisted,  for  the  most  part, 
of  barbarian  captives,*  taken  in  thousands  by  the  chance  of 
war,  purchased  at  a  vile  price,'"  accustomed  to  a  life  of  inde- 
pendence, and  impatient  to  break  and  to  revenge  their  fetters. 

<s  In  tbe  camp  of  Luculhis,  an  ox  sold  foi-  a  drachma,  and  a  slave 
for  four  drachmae,  or  about  three  shillings.  Plutarch,  in  LucuU.  p. 
580.t 

*  It  was  tliis  whicli  rendered  the  wars  so  sangninaiy,  and  the  battles  so 
obstinate.  The  immortal  Itobertson.  in  an  excellent  discourse  on  the  stajO 
of  the  world  at  the  period  of  the  establishment  of  Clu-istianity,  has  traced  a 
picture  of  tbe  melancholy  effects  of  slavery,  in  which  we  find  all  the  depth 
of  bis  vie^vs  and  the  strength  of  his  mind.  I  shall  oppose  successively  some 
passages  to  tbe  reflections  of  Gibbon.  The  reader  wiU  see,  not  without 
interest,  the  tniths  which  Gibbon  appears  to  iiave  mistaken  or  voluntarily 
DCglected,  developed  by  one  of  the  best  of  modern  historians.  It  is  important 
to  call  them  to  mind  here,  in  order  to  establish  the  facts  and  their  co-ise- 
cjuences  with  accuracy.  I  shall  more  than  once  have  occasion  to  employ,  f'T 
this  purpose,  the  discourse  of  Robertson. 

"Captives  taken  in  war  were,  in  all  probability,  the  first  persons  sub- 
jected to  perpetual  servitude ;  and,  when  the  necessities  or  luxury  of  man- 
kind increased  the  demand  for  slaves,  every  new  war  recruited  their  num- 
ber, by  reducing  the  vanquished  to  that  wretched  condition.  Hence  pro- 
ceeded the  fierce  and  desperate  spirit  with  ^^■hich  wars  were  carried  on 
among  ancient  nations.  While  chains  and  slavery  were  the  certain  lot  of 
the  conquered,  battles  were  fought,  and  towns  defended  with  a  rage  and 
obstinacy  which  nothing  but  horror  at  such  a  fate  could  have  ins[iired ;  but, 
putting  an  end  to  the  cruel  institution  of  slavery,  Christianity  extended  its 
mild  influences  to  the  practice  of  war,  and  that  barbarous  art,  softened  by  ita 
humane  spirit,  ceased  to  be  so  destructive.  Secure,  in  every  event,  of  per 
Bonal  liberty,  the  resistance  of  the  vanquished  became  less  obstinate,  and  th« 
triumph  of  the  victor  less  cruel.  Thus  humanity  was  introduced  into  the 
exercise  of  \var,  v^'ith  which  it  appears  to  be  almost  incompatible ;  and  it  i( 
to  the  merciful  maxims  of  Christianity,  much  more  than  to  any  ether  causti, 
thkit  we  must  ascribe  the  little  ferocity  and  bloodshed  whicli  accompany 
modem  victories." — G. 

t  Above  100,000  prisoners  were  taken  in  the  .lewisl.  war. — Q.  Hi.st  oA 
Jews,  iii.  71.  According  lo  a  tradition  preserved  by  S.  .Jerom,  allor  ihl 
'UM&rrectioD  in  the  time  of  Hadrian,  they  were  eold  as  cheap  as  horetw 


48  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  03-180. 

Against  such  internal  enemies,  whose  desperate  insurrections 
had  more  than  once  reduced  the  repubhc  to  the  brink  of 
destruction,*^  the  most  severe*  regulations,"  and  the  most 
cruel  treatment,  seemed  almost  justified  by  the  great  law  of 

*''  Diodorus  Siculus  in  Eclog.  Hist.  1.  xxxir.  and  xxrvi    Flcrus,  iii 
19,  20. 
*^  See  a  remarkable  instance  of  severity  in  Cicero  in  Verrem,  v.  3. 


Ibid.  124.  Compare  Blair  on  Roman  Slavery,  p.  19. — M.,  and  Dureau  de  la 
Msdle,  Economie  Politique  des  Romains,  1.  i.  c.  15.  But  I  cannot  think  that 
this  v^Titer  has  made  out  his  ease  as  to  the  common  price  of  an  agricultural 
slave  being  from  2000  to  2oOO  francs,  (80Z.  to  100^.)  He  has  overlooked  the 
passages  which  show  the  ordinary  prices,  (i.  e.  Hor.  Sat.  ii.  vii.  45,)  and 
argued  fi-om  extraordinary  and  exceptional  cases. — M.  1845. 

*  The  following  is  the  example :  we  shaD  see  whether  the  word  "  severe" 
is  here  in  its  place.  "  At  the  time  in  which  L.  Domitius  was  prtEtor  in 
Sicily,  a  slave  killed  a  wild  boai'  of  extraordinary  size.  The  prsetor,  struck 
by  tlie  dexterity  and  courage  of  the  man,  desired  to  see  him.  The  poor 
wretch,  highly  gratified  with  the  distmction,  came  to  present  himself  before 
t)ie  prator.  in  hopes,  no  doubt,  of  praise  and  re'W'ai'd ;  but  Domitius,  on 
leaniuig  that  he  had  only  a  javelin  to  attack  and  kill  the  boar,  ordered  him 
to  be  iustimtly  cnicitied,  under  the  barbarous  pretext  that  the  law  prohibited 
the  use  of  this  weapon,  as  of  all  others,  to  slaves."  Perhaps  the  crueltj'  of 
Domitius  is  less  astonishing  than  the  indiflerence  with  which  the  Roman 
orator  relates  this  circumstance,  which  afi'ccts  him  so  little  that  he  thus 
expresses  himself:  "  Duram  hoc  fortasse  vidcatur,  neque  ego  in  uUam 
partem  dispute."  "  Tliis  may  appear  harsh,  nor  do  1  give  any  opinion  ou 
the  subject."  And  it  is  the  same  orator  v^^ho  exclaims,  la  the  same  oration, 
■'  Faciuus  est  craciare  civem  Romanum ;  scelus  verberare ;  prope  pan-i- 
ridiuui  nccare:  quid  dicam  in  crucem  tollere?"  "  It  is  a  crime  to  imjirison 
a  Roman  citizen;  wickedness  to  scourge;  next  to  parricide  to  put  to  death, 
what  shall  I  call  it  to  ciiicify  V 

In  general,  this  passage  of  Gibbon  on  slavery,  is  full,  not  only  of  blamable 
inditiereuce,  but  of  an  exaggeration  of  impartiality  which  resembles  di.i- 
honesty.  He  endeavors  to  extenuate  all  that  is  appaUiug  in  the  condition 
and  treatment  of  the  slaves ;  he  would  make  us  consider  those  cnaelties  aa 
possibly  "justified  by  neceasity."  He  then  describes,  with  minute  accuracy, 
the  slightest  mitigations  of  their  deplorable  condition ;  he  attributes  to  the 
virtue  or  the  policy  of  the  emperors  the  progressive  amelioration  m  the  lot 
of  the  slaves;  and  he  passes  over  in  silence  the  most  iuHuential  cause,  thai 
which,  after  rendering  the  slaves  less  miserable,  has  contributed  at  length 
entirely  to  enfranchise  them  from  their  sufferings  and  their  chains, — Christi- 
anity. It  would  be  easy  to  accumulate  the  most  frightful,  the  most  agoni- 
zing details,  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Romans  treated  their  slaves; 
whole  works  have  been  devoted  to  the  description.  I  content  myself  with 
referring  to  them.  Some  retlcctions  of  Robertson,  taken  from  the  discourse 
already  quoted,  will  make  us  feel  that  Gibbon,  in  tracing  the  mitigation  cf 
the  condition  of  the  slaves,  up  to  a  period  little  later  than  that  which  wit- 
nessed the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  could  not  have  avoided 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  influence  of  that  beneficent  cau.se,  if  he  had  not 
aJruadj'  detennined  not  to  speak  of  it. 

"Upon  e.stablisliing  despotic  government  in  the  Roman  empire,  domestic 
tyranny  rose,  in  a  short  time,  to  an  astonishing  height.  In  that  rank  soil, 
BTery  vice,  which  power  nouiishes  in  the  g"eat,  or  oppression  engenders  in 
the  Paean,  tlirived  and  grew  up  apace.  *  *  *  It  is  not  the  authority  of  anj 

jgle  detached   pre;ept  in  the  gospel,  but  the  t-pirit  and  genioa  of  tti« 


A.  D.  98-180. J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMTIRE.  40 

jelf-preservation.  But  when  the  principal  nations  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa  were  united  under  the  laws  of  one  sovereign, 
the  source  of  foreign  supplies  flowed  with  much  less  abun- 
dance, and  the  Romans  were  reduced  to  the  milder  but  more 
tedious  method  of  propagation.*  lu  their  numerous  families, 
ind  particularly  in  their  country  estates,  they  encouraged  the 
narriage    of   their  slaves.f     Tlie   sentiments   of  nature,    the 


Christian  religion,  more  powerful  than  any  particular  command,  which  hath 
ibolished  the  practice  oi  slavery  throughout  the  world.  The  temper  which 
Christianity  inspired  v.  as  mild  und  gentle;  and  the  doctrines  it  taught 
added  such  dignity  and  lustre  to  human  nature,  as  rescued  it  from  the  dis- 
honorable servitude  into  which  it  was  sunk." 

It  is  iu  vain,  then,  that  Gibbon  pretends  to  attribute  solely  to  the  desire 
of  keeping  up  the  number  of  slaves,  the  milder  conduct  which  the  Romans 
began  to  adopt  in  their  favor  at  the  time  of  the  emperors.  This  cause  had 
hitherto  acted  in  an  opposite  direction  ;  how  came  it  on  a  sudden  to  have 
a  different  influence  ?  "  The  masters,"  he  says,  "  encouraged  the  mar- 
riage of  their  slaves  ■  *  *  *  the  sentiments  of  nature,  the  habits  of  edu- 
cation, contributed  to  alleviate  the  hardships  of  servitude."  The  children 
of  slaves  w^ero  the  property  of  their  master,  who  could  dispose  of  or 
alienate  them  like  the  rest  of  his  property.  Is  it  in  such  a  situation,  with 
such  notions,  that  the  sentiments  of  nature  unfold  themselves,  or  habits 
of  education  become  mild  and  peaceful  ?  We  must  not  attribute  to  causes 
inadequate  or  altogether  without  force,  effects  which  require  to  explain 
them  a  reference  to  more  influential  causes ;  and  even  if  these  slighter 
causes  had  in  effect  a  manifest  influsnce,  we  must  not  forget  that  they  are 
th<;mselves  the  effect  of  a  primary,  a  higher,  and  more  extensive  cause, 
which,  in  giving  to  the  mind  and  to  the  character  a  more  disinterested  and 
more  humane  bias,  disposed  men  to  second  or  themselves  to  advance,  by 
their  conduct,  and  by  the  change  of  manners,  the  happy  results  which 
it  tended  to  produce. — G. 

I  have  retained  the  whole  of  M.  Guizot's  note,  though,  in  his  zeal  for  the 
invaluable  blessings  of  freedom  and  Christianity,  he  has  done  Gibbon 
injustice.  The  condition  of  the  slaves  was  undoubtedly  impi-oved  under 
the  emperors.  What  a  great  authority  has  said,  "  The  condition  of  a  slave 
is  better  under  an  arbitrary  than  under  a  free  govenmieut,"  (Smith's 
Wealth  of  Nations,  iv.  7,)  is,  I  believe,  supported  by  the  history  of  all  ages 
and  nations.  The  protecting  edicts  of  Hadrian  and  the  Antonines  are  his- 
torical facts,  and  can  as  little  be  attributed  to  the  influence  of  Christianity, 
as  the  milder  language  of  heathen  writers,  of  Seneca,  (particularly  Ep.  47,j 
of  Pliny,  and  of  Plutarch.  The  latter  influence  of  Christianity  is  admitted 
by  Gibbon  liimself  The  subject  of  Roman  slavery  has  recently  been  iu 
vestigated  with  great  diligence  in  a  very  modest  but  valuable  volume,  by 
Wm.  Blair,  Esq.,  Edin.  1833.  May  we  be  permitted,  while  on  the  sub- 
ject, to  refer  to  the  most  splendid  passage  extant  of  Mr.  Pitt's  eloquence,  the 
description  of  the  Roman  slave-dealer  on  the  .shores  of  Britain,  condemning 
•he  island  to  irreclaimable  barbarism,  as  a  perpetual  and  prolific  nursery  oi 
slaves  ?     Speeches,  vol.  ii.  p.  80. 

Gibbon,  it  should  be  added,  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  consistent  op 
ponents  of  the  African  slave-trade.  (See  Hist.  ch.  xxv.  and  Letters  to  Lor 
Sheffield.  Mi.sc.  Works  )— M. 

"  An  active  slave-trade,  which  w^as  carried  on  in  many  quarters,  particn- 
larly  the  Euxinc,  the  eastern  provinces,  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  Britafu  must 
be  taken  into  the  account.     Blair,  23 — 32. — M. 

t  The   Romans,  as  well  in  the  first  ages  of  the  repulic  as  later,  allowed 
VOL.  I. C 


60  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  93-1801 

habits  of  education,  and  the  possession  of  a  dependent  species 
of  property,  contributed  to  alleviate  the  liaixlships  of  servi- 
tude.*" The  existence  of  a  slave  became  an  object  of  greater 
value,  and  though  his  happiness  still  depended  on  the  temper 
and  circumstances  of  the  master,  the  humanity  of  the  latter, 
instead  of  being  restrained  by  fear,  was  encouraged  by  tlT5"~ 
sense  of  his  own  interest.  The  progress  of  manners  was  accel- 
erated by  the  virtue  or  policy  of  the  emperors ;  and  by  the 
edicts  of  Hadrian  and  the  Antonines,  the  protection  of  the  laws 
was  extended  to  the  most  abject  part  of  mankind.  The  juris- 
diction of  life  and  death  over  the  slaves,  a  power  long  exercised 
and  often  abused,  was  taken  out  of  private  hands,  and  reserved 
to  the  magistrates  alone.  The  subterraneous  prisons  were 
abolished  ;  and,  upon  a  just  complaint  of  intolerable  treatment, 
the  injured  slave  obtained  either  his  deliverance,  or  a  less  cruel 
master.'" 

Hope,  the  best  comfort  of  our  imperfect  conditioji,  was  not 
denied  to  the  Eoman  slave  ;  and  if  he  had  any  opportunity 
of  rendering  himself  either  useful  or  agreeable,  he  might  very 
naturally  expect  that  the  diligence  and  fidelity  of  a  few  years 
would  be  rewarded  with  the  inestimable  gift  of  freedom.  The 
benevolence  of  the  master  was  so  frequently  prompted  by  the 
meaner  suggestions  of  vanitj'  and  avarice,  that  the  laws  found 
it  more  necessary  to  restrain  than  to  encourage  a  profuse  and 
undistinguishing  liberality,  which  might  degenerate  into  a  very 
dangerous  abuse."     It  was  a  maxim  of  ancient  jurisprudence. 


*'  See  in  Gruter,  and  the  other  collectors,  a  great  number  of  inscrip- 
tions addressed  by  slaves  to  their  wives,  children,  fellow- servants, 
masters,  &c.     They  are  all  most  probably  of  the  Imperial  age. 

'°  See  the  Augustan  History,  and  a  Di^ertation  of  M.  de  Burigiiy, 
in  the  xxxvth  volume  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions,  upon  the  Roman 
slaves. 

'''  See  another  Dissertation  of  M.  dc  Burigny,  in  the  xxxviith  vol 
ume,  on  the  Roman  freedmen. 


to  their  slaves  a  kind  of  marriage,  (contubernium :)  notwithstanding  this, 
Uixury  made  a  greater  number  of  slaves  in  demand.  The  increase  in  their 
po|)ulation  was  not  sufficient,  and  recourse  was  bad  to  the  purchase  of 
slaves,  which  was  made  even  in  the  provinces  of  the  East  subject  to  the 
Romans.  It  is,  moreover,  known  that  slavery  is  a  state  little  favorable  to 
population.  (See  Hume's  Essay,  and  Malthu.'*  on  population,  i.  3.34. — G.) 
The  testimony  of  Appian  (B.  C.  1.  i.  c.  7)  is  decisive  in  favor  of  the  rapid  niul- 
liplication  of  the  agricultural  slaves  ;  it  is  confirmed  by  the  numbers  engaged 
In  the  servile  wars.  Compai'e  also  Blair,  p.  119  ;  likewise  Columella  de  Ra 
RuBt.  1.  viii.— M. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  61 

that  a  slave  had  not  any  country  of  his  own  ;  he  acquired 
with  his  hberty  an  admission  into  the  political  society  of  which 
his  patron  was  a  member.  The  consequences  of  this  maxim 
■would  have  prostituted  the  privileges  of  the  Roman  city  to  a 
mean  and  promiscuous  multitude.  Some  seasonable  excep- 
tions were  therefore  provided ;  and  the  honorable  distinction 
was  confined  to  such  slaves  only  as,  for  just  causes,  and  with 
the  approbation  of  the  magistrate,  should  receive  a  solemn  and 
legal  manumission.  Even  these  chosen  freedmen  obtained  no 
more  than  the  private  rights  of  citizens,  and  were  rigorously 
excluded  from  civil  or  military  honors.  Whatever  might  bo 
the  merit  or  fortune  of  their  sons,  ihej/  likewise  were  esteemed 
unworthy  of  a  seat  in  the  senate ;  nor  were  the  traces  of  a 
servile  origin  allowed  to  be  completely  obliterated  till  the  third 
or  fourth  generation."  AVithout  destroying  the  distinction  of 
ranks,  a  distant  prospect  of  freedom  and  honors  was  presented, 
even  to  those  whom  pride  and  prejudice  almost  disdained  to 
number  among  the  human  species. 

It  was  once  proposed  to  discriminate  the  slaves  by  a  peculiar 
habit ;  but  it  was  justly  apprehended  that  there  might  be  some 
danger  in  acquainting  them  with  their  own  numbers."  With- 
out interpreting,  in  their  utmost  strictness,  the  liberal  appella- 
tions of  legions  and  myriads,"  we  may  venture  to  pronounce, 
that  the  proportion  of  slaves,  who  were  valued  as  property, 
was  more  considerable  than  that  of  servants,  who  can  be 
computed  only  as  an  expense."  The  youths  of  a  promising 
genius  were  instructed  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  their  price 
was  ascertained  by  the  degree  of  their  skill  and  talents." 
Almost  every  profession,  either  liberal "  or  mechanical,  might 

.    '^  Spanheim,  Orbis  Roman.  1.  i.  c.  16,  p.  124,  &c. 

^^  Seneca  de  dementia,  1.  i.  c.  24.  The  original  is  much  stronger, 
"Quantum  periculum  immineret  si  servi  nostri  numerare  nos  ccepis- 
Bcnt." 

'*  See  Pliny  (Hist.  Natur.  1.  xxxiii.)  and  Athenffius  (Ddpnosophist. 
L  vi.  p.  272.)  The  latter  boldly  asserts,  that  he  knew  very  many 
(iro/iTrciAXoi)  Romans  who  possessed,  not  for  use,  but  ostentation,  ten 
and  even  twenty  thousand  slaves. 

^^  In  Paris  tliere  are  not  more  than  43,000  domestics  of  every  sort, 
and  not  a  twelfth  part  of  the  inhabitants.  Mcssange,  Recherclies  sui 
la  Population,  p.  186. 

*"  A  learned  slave  sold  for  many  hundred  pounds  sterling :  Atticuj 
always  bred  and  taught  them  himself.  Cornel.  Nepos  in  Vit.  c  13, 
[on  the  prices  of  ."laves.     Blair,  140.] — M. 

"  Many  of  tlie  Roman  physicians  weie  slaves.  S«€  Dr  Middleton't 
Dis.sertation  and  Defence. 


52  THE   DECLINE    AJfD    FALL         [A,  D. 

be  found  in  the  household  of  an  opulent  senator.  The  mini*- 
ters  of  pomp  and  sensuaHty  were  multipHed  beyond  the  con- 
ception of  modern  hixury.^*  It  was  more  for  the  interest  of 
the  mercliant  or  manufacturer  to  purchase,  than  to  hire  hia 
workmen ;  and  in  the  country,  slaves  were  employed  as  the 
cheapest  and  most  laborious  instruments  of  agriculture.  To 
confirm  the  general  observation,  and  to  display  the  multitude 
of  slaves,  we  might  allege  a  variety  of  particular  instances. 
It  was  discovered,  on  a  very  melancholy  occasion,  that  four 
hundred  slaves  were  maintained  in  a  single  palace  of  Rome." 
The  same  number  of  four  hundred  belonged  to  an  estate  which 
an  African  widow,  of  a  very  private  condition,  resigned  to  her 
son,  whilst  she  reserved  for  herself  a  much  larger  share  of  her 
property.*"  A  freedman,  under  the  name  of  Augustus,  though 
his  fortune  had  suffered  great  losses  in  the  civil  wars,  left  be- 
hind him  three  thousand  six  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  head  of  smaller  cattle,  and  what  was 
almost  included  in  the  description  of  cattle,  four  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  slaves.*' 

The  number  of  subjects  who  acknowledged  the  laws  of 
Rome,  of  citizens,  of  provincials,  and  of  slaves,  cannot  now 
be  fixed  with  such  a  degree  of  accuracy,  as  the  importance  of 
the  object  would  /"-^serve.  We  are  informed,  that  when  the 
Emperor  Claudius  exercised  the  office  of  censor,  he  took  an 
account  of  six  millions  nine  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand 
Roman  citizens,  who,  with  the  proportion  of  women  and 
children,  must  have  amounted  to  about  twenty  millions  of 
souls.  The  multitude  of  subjects  of  an  inferior  rank  Avas 
uncertain  and  fluctuating.  But,  after  weighing  with  attention 
every  circumstance  which  could  influence  the  balance,  it 
Seems  probable  that  there  existed,  in  the  time  of  Claudius, 
about  twice  as  many  provincials  as  there  were  citizens,  of 
either  sex,  and  of  every  age ;  and  that  the  sla'"es  were  at 
least  equal  in  number  to  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  Roman 

**  Their  ranks  and  oflSces  are  very  copiously  enumerated  by  Kg- 
Borius  de  Servis. 

'"  Tacit.  AnnaL  xiv.  43.  They  were  all  executed  fcx  not  preven* 
sag  their  master's  murder.* 

'"'  Aj)uleius  in  Apolog.  p.  548.  edit.  Delphin 

"  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  1.  xxxiii.  47. 


•  The  remarkable  speech  of  Cassius  shows  the  prouj  yet  appreWBllrt 
faelinge  of  the  liomau  aristocracy  on  this  subject. — M 


A.  D.  98-180.1  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRIC.  'S8 

world.*  The  totil  amount  of  this  imperfect  calculation 
would  rise  to  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  per- 
sons ;  a  degree  of  population  which  possibly  exceeds  that  of 
modern  Europe,'"  and  forms  the  most  numerous  society  that 
has  ever  been  united  under  the  same  system  of  government. 


«*  Compute  twenty  millions  in  France,  twenty-two  in  Germany, 
four  in  Hungary,  ten  in  Italy  with  its  islands,  eight  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  eiglit  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  ten  or  twelve  in  the  Euro- 
pean Russia,  six  in  Poland,  six  in  Greece  and  Turkey,  four  in  Sweden, 
three  in  Denmark  and  Norway,  four  in  the  Low  Countries.  The  whole 
would  amount  to  one  hundred  and  five,  or  one  hundred  and  seven 
mJIUons.     See  Voltaire,  de  I'Histoire  Generale.f 


*  According  to  Robertson,  there  were  twice  as  many  slaves  as  ft-ee  citi- 
zens.— G.  Mr.  Blair  (p.  15)  estimates  three  slaves  to  one  freeman,  be- 
tween the  conquest  of  Greece,  B.  G.  146,  and  the  reign  of  Alexander 
Scverus,  A.  D.  222,  235.  The  proportion  was  probably  larger  in  Italy  than  in 
the  provinces. — M.  .  On  the  other  hand,  Zumpt,  in  his  Dissertation  quoted 
below,  (p.  86,)  asserts  it  to  be  a  gross  error  in  Gibbon  to  i-eckon  the 
number  of  slaves  equal  to  that  of  the  free  population.  The  luxury  and 
magniticence  of  the  great,  (he  observes,)  at  the  commencement  of  the 
empire,  must  not  be  taken  as  the  groundwork  of  calculations  for  the  whole 
Roman  world.  The  agricultural  laborer,  and  the  artisan,  in  Spain,  Gaul, 
Britain,  Syria,  and  Egypt,  maintained  himself  as  in  the  present  day,  by 
his  own  labor  and  that  of  his  household,  without  possessing  a  single 
slave."  The  latter  part  of  my  note  was  intended  to  suggest  this  consid- 
eration. Yet  so  completely  was  slavery  rooted  in  the  social  system,  both 
in  the  east  and  the  %vest,  that  in  the  great  dilfusion  of  wealth  at  this  time, 
eveiy  one,  I  doubt  not,  who  could  afford  a  domestic  slave,  kept  one ;  and 
generally,  the  number  of  slaves  was  in  proportion  to  the  vs'ealth.  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  slaves  was  confined  to  Italy;  the 
holders  of  large  estates  in  the  provinces  would  probably,  either  from  choice  i 
or  necessity,  adopt  the  same  mode  of  cultivation.  The  latifundia,  saya 
Pliny,  had  ruined  Italy,  and  had  begun  to  ruin  the  provinces.  Slaves  were 
no  doubt  employed  in  agricultural  labor  to  a  great  extent  in  Sicily,  and 
were  the  estates  of  those  six  enormous  landholders  who  were  said  to  have 
possessed  the  whole  province  of  Africa,  cultivated  altogether  by  free  coloni  ? 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  case  in  the  rural  districts,  in  the  towns  and 
cities  the  household  duties  were  almost  entirely  discharged  by  slaves, 
and  vast  numbers  belonged  to  the  public  establishments.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, differ  so  far  from  Zumpt,  and  from  M.  Durcau  de  la  Malle,  as  to 
adopt  the  higher  and  bolder  estimate  of  Robertson  and  Mr.  Blair,  rather 
than  the  more  cautious  suggestions  of  Gibbon.  I  would  reduce  rather  than 
increase  the  proportion  of  the  slave  population.  The  very  ingenious  and 
elaborate  calculations  of  the  French  writer,  by  \vhich  he  deduces  the 
amount  of  the  populution  from  the  produce  and  consumption  of  corn  in 
Italy,  appear  to  me  neither  precise  nor  satisfactory  bases  for  such  compli- 
cated political  arithmetic.  I  am  least  satisfied  with  his  views  as  to  the 
population  of  the  city  of  Itorae ;  but  this  point  will  be  more  fitly  reserved 
tor  a  note  on  the  tliirty-fir.st  chapter  of  Gibbon.  The  work,  however,  of 
M.  Bureau  de  la  Malic  is  very  curious  and  full  on  some  of  the  minuter 
points  of  Roman  statistics. — M.  1845. 

t  The  present  population  of  Europe  is  estimated  at  227,700,000.      Malt* 
Bran,   Seogr.   Trans   edit.    1832,      See  details   in    the   ditfereut  volume* 


64  TUE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

Domes'jc  peace  and  union   were  tlie  natural  consequences 
of  the  moderate  and  comprehensive  pohcy  embraced  by  th« 

Another  authority,  (Almanach  de  Gotha,)  quoted  in  a  recent  English  pub- 
Ucation,  gives  the  fbllowmg  details : — 

Prance 32,897,521 

Genaany,  (including  Hungary,  Prussian  and  Austrian  Poland,)  .  56,136,213 

Italy, 20,548  616 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 24,002,947 

c     •          -I  D     ,        1                                                                                 <  13,953,959 

Spain  and  Poftugal, |  3a44!oOO 

Ruisia,  including  Poland, 44,220,600 

Cracow, 128,480 

Turkey,  (including  Pachalic  of  Dschesair,) 9,545,300 

Greece, 637,700 

Ionian  Islands, 208,100 

Sweden  and  Norway 3,914,963 

Denmark 2,012,998 

Belgium 3,533,538 

Holland, 2,444,550 

Switi-srland, 1,985,000 

— M.  Total,  219,344,116 

Since  the  publication  of  my  first  annotated  edition  of  Gibbon,  the  sub- 
'ect  of  the  population  of  the  Roman  empire  has  been  investigated  by  two 
writers  of  gi-eat  industry  and  learuing;  Mons.  Bureau  de  la  Malle,  in  his 
Economie  Politique  des  Remains,  liv.  ii.  c.  1  to  8,  and  M.  Zumpt,  in  a  dis- 
sertation printed  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  1840.  M. 
Bureau  de  la  Malle  confines  his  inquiry  almost  entirely  to  the  city  of 
Rome,  and  Roman  Italy.  Zumpt  examines  at  greater  length  the  axiom, 
which  he  supposes  to  have  been  assumed  by  Gibbon  as  unquestionable, 
"  that  Italy  and  the  Roman  world  was  never  so  populous  as  in  the  time 
of  the  Antonines."  Though  this  probably  was  Gibbon's  opinion,  he  has 
not  stated  it  so  peremptorily  as  asserted  by  M.  Zumpt.  It  had  before  been 
expressly  laid  down  by  Hume,  and  his  statement  was  controverted  by 
Wallace  and  by  Malthus.  Gibbon  says  (p.  84)  that  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  the  country  fof  Italy)  less  populous  in  the  age  of  the  Antonines, 
than  in  that  of  Romulus;  and  Zumpt  acknowledges  that  we  have  no  sat- 
kfactory  knowledge  of  the  state  of  Italy  at  that  early  age.  Zumpt,  in  my 
opinion  w^ith  some  reason,  takes  the  period  just  before  the  first  Punic  war, 
as  that  in  which  Roman  Italy  (all  south  of  the  Rubicon)  vi'as  most  pop- 
ulous. From  that  time,  the  numbers  began  to  diminish,  at  first  from  the 
enormous  waste  of  life  out  of  the  free  population  in  the  foreign,  and  after- 
wards in  the  civil  wars ;  from  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  slaves ;  towards 
the  close  of  the  republic,  fi-om  the  repugnance  to  marriage,  which  resisted 
alike  the  dread  of  legal  punishment  and  the  offer  of  legal  immunity  and 
privUege;  and  fi-om  the  depravity  of  manners,  which  interfered  with  the 
procreation,  the  birth,  and  the  rearing  of  children.  The  arguments  and 
the  authorities  of  Zumpt  ai-e  equally  conclusive  as  to  the  decline  of  popula- 
tion in  Greece.  Still  the  details,  which  he  himself  adduces  as  to  the 
prosperity  and  populousness  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  whole  of  the  Roman 
East,  with  the  advancement  of  the  European  provinces,  especially  Gaul, 
Spain,  and  Britain,  in  civilization,  and  therefore  in  populousness,  (for  1 
bave  no  confidence  in  the  vast  numbers  sometimes  assigned  to  the  bar- 
barous inhabitants  of  these  countries,)  may,  I  think,  fairly  compensate  for 
any  deduction  to  be  made  from  Gibbon's  general  estimate  on  account  of 
Greece  and  Italy.  Gibbon  himself  acknowledges  his  own  estimate  to  be 
vague  and  conjectural ;  and  I  may  venture  to  recommend  the  dissertatioa 
of  Zumpt  OS  deserving  rcspeclful  consideration. — M  1815. 


-^ 


A.  D.  98-iaO.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  66 

Romans.     If  we  turn   cur  eyes  towards  the  monarchies  of 
A.sia,  we  shall  behold  despotism  in  the  centre,  and  weakness 
in  the  extremities ;  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  or  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  enforced  by  the  presence  of  an  army ; 
hostile    barbarians  established   in   the   heart  of  the   country, 
hereditary  satraps  usurping  the  dominion    of  the  provinces, 
and  .subjects  inclined  to  rebellion,  though   incapable  of  free- 
dom.    But  the  obedience  of  the  Roman  world  was  uniforiiv  ' 
roluntary,  and  permanent.     The  vanquished  nations,  blended—/^ 
into  one  great  people,  resigned  the  hope,  nay,  even  the  wish,      j.    ' 
of  resuming  their  independence,  and  scarcely  considered  their        XJ^ 
own  existence  as  distinct  from  the  existence  of  Rome.     The   ckj  C^ 
established  authority  of  the  emperors  pervaded  without  ^^     A    ^ 
effort  the  wide  extent  of  their  dominions,  and  was  exercised     j^ 
with  the  same  facihty  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  or  of  the"/; 
Nile,  as  on  those  of  the  Tyber.     The  legions  were  destined      y 
to  serve  against  the  public  enemy,  and  the  civil  magistrate 
seldom  required  the  aid  of  a  military  force."^     In  this  state  of 
general  security,  the  leisure,  as  well  as  opulence,  both  of  the 
prince  and  people,  were  devoted  to  improve  and  to  adorn  the 
Roman  empire. 

Among  the  innumerable  monuments  of  architecture  con- 
structed by  the  Romans,  how  many  have  escaped  the  notice 
of  history,  how  few  have  resisted  the  ravages  of  time  and 
barbarism !  And  yet,  even  the  majestic  ruins  that  are  still 
scattered  over  Italy  and  the  provinces,  would  be  sufficient  to 
prove  that  those  countries  were  once  the  seat  of  a  polite  and 
powerful  empire.  Their  greatness  alone,  or  their  beauty, 
might  deserve  our  attention :  but  they  are  rendered  more  iu- 
teresting,  by  two  important  circumstances,  which  coimect  the 
agreeable  history  of  the  arts  with  the  more  useful  history  of 
human  manners.  Many  of  those  works  were  erected  at  pr 
vate  expense,  and  almost  all  were  intended  for  public  benefit. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  greatest  number,  as  well  as 
the  most  considerable  of  the  Roman  edifices,  were  raised  by 
the  emperors,  who  possessed  so  unbounded  a  command  both 
of  men  and  money.  Augustus  was  accustomed  to  boast  that 
he  had  found  his  capital  of  brick,  and  that  he  had  left  it  of 
inarble.**     The  strict  economy  of  Vespasian  was  the  sourct 

"  Joseph,  de  Bell.  Judaico,  1.  ii.  c.  16.  The  oration  of  Agripja,  or 
rather  of  the  historian,  is  a  fine  picture  of  the  Roman  empire. 

'*  Sueton.  in  August,  c.  28.  Augustus  built  in  Rome  the  temple 
mud  forum  of  Ma;s  the  Avenger ;  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Tonaas  in 


tH  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  ±J.  »!^ldO 

of  bis  mao-nificence.  The  works  of  Trajan  bear  the  stamp 
of  bis  g'enius.  Tbe  pubbc  monuments  with  Avbicb  Hadrian 
adorned  every  province  of  the  empire,  were  executed  not 
only  by  his  orders,  but  under  his  immediate  inspection.  He 
was  himself  an  artist ;  and  he  loved  the  arts,  as  they  con- 
laced  to  the  glory  of  the  monarch.  They  were  encouraged 
)Y  the  Antonines,  as  they  contributed  to  the  happiness  of  the 
l^eople.  But  if  the  emperors  were  the  first,  they  were  not  the 
ir.ly  architects  of  their  dominions.  Their  example  was  uni- 
versal ly  imitated  by  their  principal  subjects,  who  were  not 
afraid  of  declaring  to  the  world  that  they  bad  spirit  to  con- 
ceive, and  wealth  to  accomplish,  the  noblest  undertakings. 
Scarcely  had  the  proud  structure  of  the  Coliseum  been  dedi- 
cated at  Rome,  before  the  edifices,  of  a  smaller  scale  indeed, 
but  of  tbe  same  design  and  materials,  were  erected  for  the 
use,  and  at  the  expense,  of  the  cities  of  Capua  and  Verona." 
The  inscription  of  the  stupendous  bridge  of  Alcantara  attests 
that  it  was  thrown  over  the  Tagus  by  the  contribution  of  a 
few  Lusitanian  communities.  "When  Pliny  was  intrusted  with 
the  government  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus,  provinces  by  no 
means  the  richest  or  most  considerable  of  the  empire,  he 
found  the  cities  within  his  jurisdiction  striving  with  each  other 
in  every  useful  and  ornamental  work,  that  might  deserve  the 
curiosity  of  strangers,  or  the  gratitude  of  their  citizens.  It 
was  the  duty  of  the  proconsul  to  supply  their  deficiencies,  to 
direct  their  taste,  and  sometimes  to  moderate  their  emula- 
tion.** The  ©pulent  senators  of  Rome  and  the  provinces 
esteemed  it  an  h®n®r,  and  almost  an  obligation,  to  adorn  the 
splendor  of  their  age  and  country ;  and  the  influence  of  fash- 
ion very  frequently  supplied  the  want  of  taste  or  generosity. 
Among  a  crowd  of  these  private  benefoctors,  we  may  select 
Herodes  Atticus,  an  Athenian  citizen,  who  lived  in  the  age 

the  Capitol ;  that  of  Apollo  Palatine,  with  public  libraries  •  the  portico 
and  basilica  of  Caius  and  Lucius;  the  porticos  of  Livia  and  Octavia; 
and  the  theatre  of  Marcellus.  The  example  of  the  sovereign  was  imi- 
tated by  liis  ministers  and  generals ;  and  his  friend  Agvippa  left  behind 
him  the  immortal  monument  of  the  Pantheon. 

•^^  See  Maffei,  Veroni  Illustrata,  1.  iv.  p.  68. 

^°  See  the  xth  book  of  Pliny's  Epistles.  He  mentions  the  following 
works  carried  on  at  the  expense  of  the  cities.  At  Nicomedia,  a  new 
forum,  an  acjueduct,  and  a  canal,  left  unfinished  by  a  king ;  at  Mce,  a 
gyinnasmm,  and  a  theatre,  which  had  already  cost  near  ninety  tbon 
sand  pounds ;  baths  at  Prusa  and  Claudiopolis,  and  an  aquedurt  af 
tistfcn  miles  in  length  for  the  use  of  Sinnpe. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OP    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRK.  61 

of  the  Antonines.  Whatever  might  be  the  motive  of  his  con- 
duct, his  magnificence  would  have  been  worthy  of  the  greatesf 
kings. 

The  family  of  Herod,  at  least  after  it  had  been  favored  by 
fortune,  was  lineally  descended  from  Cimon  and  Miltiades, 
Theseus  and  Cecrops,  ^acus  and  Jupiter.  But  the  posterity 
of  so  many  gods  and  heroes  was  fallen  into  the  most  abject 
i^tate.  Ilis  grandfather  had  suffered  by  the  hands  of  justice, 
and  Juluis  Atticus,  his  father,  must  have  ended  his  life  in 
poverty  and  contempt,  had  he  not  discovered  an  immense 
treasure  buried  under  an  old  house,  the  last  remains  of  his 
patrimony.  According  to  the  rigor  of  the  law,  the  emperor 
might  have  asserted  his  claim,  and  the  prudent  Atticus  pre- 
vented, by  a  frank  confession,  the  officiousness  of  informers. 
But  the  equitable  Nerva,  who  then  filled  the  throne,  refused 
to  accept  any  part  of  it,  and  commanded  him  to  use,  without 
scruple,  the  present  of  fortune.  The  cautious  Athenian  still 
insisted,  that  the  treasure  was  too  considerable  for  a  subject, 
and  that  he  knew  not  how  to  use  it.  Abuse  it  then,  replied 
the  monarch,  with  a  good-natured  peevishness;  for  it  is  your 
own.^'  Many  will  be  of  opinion,  that  Atticus  literally  obeyed 
the  emperor's  last  instructions ;  since  he  expended  the  greatest 
part  of  his  fortune,  which  was  much  increased  by  an  advan- 
tageous marriage,  in  the  service  of  the  public.  He  had 
obtained  for  his  son  Herod  the  prefecture  of  the  free  cities  of 
Asia ;  and  the  young  magistrate,  observing  that  the  town  of 
Troas  was  indifferently  supplied  with  water,  obtained  from  the 
munificence  of  Hadrian  three  hundred  myriads  of  drachms, 
(about  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,)  for  the  construction  of  a 
new  aqueduct.  But  in  the  execution  of  the  work,  the  charge 
amounted  to  more  than  double  the  estimate,  and  the  ofBcers 
of  the  revenue  began  to  murmur,  till  the  generous  Atticus 
silenced  their  complaints,  by  requesting  that  he  might  be  per- 
mitted to  take  upon  himself  the  whole  additional  expense.** 

The  ablest  preceptors  of  Greece  and  Asia  had  been  invited 
by  liberal  rewards  to  direct  the  education  of  young  Herod. 
Their  pupil  soon  became  a  celebrated  orator,  according  to  the 
useless  rhetoric  of  that  age,  which,  confining  itself  to  the 
tchoolfl,  disdained  to  visit  either  the   Forum   or  the  Senate. 

•"  Ho'lrian  afterwards  made  a  very  equitable  regulation,  which 
divided  all  treasm-e-trove  between  the  right  of  property  aud  that  <4 
discovery.     Hist.  August,  p.  9. 

•*  Fhilostrat.  in  Vit.  Sophist.  I.  ii.  p.  548. 
c* 


68  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180 

He  was  lionored  with  the  consulship  at  Rome  :  but  the  gieat 
est  part  of  his  hfe  was  spent  in  a  philosophic  retirement  at 
Athens,  and  his  adjacent  villas ;  perpetually  surrounded  by 
sophists,  who  acknowled^'ed,  without  reluctance,  the  superior- 
ity of  a  rich  and  generous  rival."*  The  monuments  of  his 
genius  have  perished ;  some  considerable  ruins  still  preserve 
the  fame  of  his  taste  and  munificence :  modern  travellers 
have  measured  the  remains  of  the  stadium  which  he  con- 
structed at  Athens.  It  was  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  built 
entirely  of  white  marble,  capable  of  admitting  the  whole 
body  of  the  people,  and  finished  in  four  years,  whilst  Herod 
was  president  of  the  Athenian  games.  To  the  memory  of 
his  wife  Regilla  he  dedicated  a  theatre,  scarcely  to  be  paral- 
leled in  the  empire :  no  wood  except  cedar,  very  curiously 
carved,  was  employed  in  any  part  of  the  building.  The 
Odeum.^*  designed  by  Pericles  for  musical  performances,  and 
the  rehearsal  of  new  tragedies,  had  been  a  trophy  of  the  vic- 
tory of  the  arts  over  barbaric  greatness ;  as  the  timbers  em- 
ployed in  the  construction  consisted  chiefly  of  the  masts  of 
the  Persian  vessels.  Notwithstanding  the  repairs  bestowed 
on  that  ancient  edifice  by  a  king  of  Cappadocia,  it  was  again 
fallen  to  decay.  Herod  restored  its  ancient  beauty  and  mag- 
nificence. Nor  was  the  liberality  of  that  illustrious  citizen 
confined  to  the  walls  of  Athens.  The  most  splendid  orna- 
ments bestowed  on  the  temple  of  Neptune  in  the  Isthmus,  a 
theatre  at  Corinth,  a  stadium  at  Delphi,  a  bath  at  Thermopylae, 
and  an  aqueduct  at  Canusium  in  Italy,  were  insufliicient  to 
exhaust  his  treasures.  The  people  of  Epirus,  Thessaly,  Euboea, 
BoBotia,  and  Peloponnesus,  experienced  his  favors ;  and  many 
inscriptions  of  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Asia  gratefully  style 
Herodes  Atticus  their  patron  and  benefactor." 

In  the  commonwealths  of  Athens  and  Rome,  the.  modest 

«9  Aulus  Gellius,  in  Noct.  Attic,  i.  2,  ix.  2,  xviii.  10,  xix.  12.  Phil 
ostrat  p.  564. 

■"  See  Philostrat.  1.  ii.  p.  548,  560.  Pausanias,  1.  i.  and  vii.  10.  ITie 
life  of  Herodes,  in  the  xxxtli  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy 
of  liiecriptions. 

*  The  Odeum  served  for  the  reliearsal  of  ne%v  comedies  as  well  as  trage- 
dies; they  were  read  or  repeated,  before  represemation,  without  music  or 
docoratioua.  &c.  No  piece  could  be  represented  in  the  theatre  if  it  had  not 
been  previously  approved  by  judges  for  this  purpose.  The  king  of  Cappa- 
docia who  restored  the  Odeum,  v^'hich  liad  been  burnt  by  Sylla,  was  Arao. 
barzanes.  See  Martini,  Dissertation  on  the  Odeons  of  the  Ancients,  Leipsic^ 
1767,  p.  10  -91.— W. 


A..  L>.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  66 

simplicity  of  private  houses  aiinouuced  the  equal  condition  of 
freedom ;  whilst  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was  represented 
in  the  majestic  edifices  designed  to  the  public  use;'"  nor  was 
this  republican  sj>irit  totally  extinguished  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  wealth  and  monarchy.  It  was  in  works  of  national 
honor  and  benefit,  that  the  most  virtuous  of  the  emperors 
affected  to  display  their  magnificence.  The  golden  palace 
of  Nero  excited  a  just  indignation,  but  the  vast  extent  of 
ground  which  had  been  usurped  by  his  selfish  luxury  was 
more  nobly  filled  under  the  succeeding  reigns  by  the  Coli- 
seum, the  baths  of  Titus,  the  Claudian  portico,  and  the  temples 
dedicated  to  the  goddess  of  Peace,  and  to  the  genius  of 
R-ome."  These  monuments  of  architecture,  the  property  of 
the  Roman  people,  were  adorned  with  the  most  beautiful  pro- 
ductions of  Grecian  painting  and  sculpture ;  and  in  the  temple 
of  Peace,  a  very  curious  library  was  open  to  the  curiosity  of 
the  learned.^'  At  a  small  distance  from  thence  was  situated 
the  Forum  of  Trajan.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  lofty  portico, 
in  the  form  of  a  quadi'angle,  into  which  four  triumphal  arches 
opened  a  noble  and  spacious  entrance :  in  the  centre  arose  a 
column  of  marble,  whose  height,  of  one  hundred  and  ten  feet, 
denoted  the  elevation  of  the  hill  that  had  been  cut  away. 
This  column,  which  still  subsists  in  its  ancient  beauty,  exhib- 
ited an  exact  representation  of  the  Dacian  victories  of  its 
founder.  The  veteran  soldier  contemplated  the  story  of  his 
own  campaigns,  and  by  an  easy  illusion  of  national  vanity, 
the  peacefiil  citizen  associated  himself  to  the  honors  of  the 
triumph.  All  the  other  quarters  of  the  capital,  and  all  the 
provinces  of  the  empire,  were  embellished  by  the  same  liberal 

7'  It  is  particularly  remarked  of  Athens  by  Dicaearchus,  de  Statu 
Grseciae,  p.  8,  inter  Geograplios  Minores,  edit.  Hudson. 

''^  Donatus  de  Roma  Vetere,  1.  iii.  c.  4,  5,  6.  Nardini  Roma  An- 
tica,  1.  iii.  11,  12,  13,  and  a  MS.  description  of  ancient  Rome,  by 
Bernardus  Oricellarius,  or  Rucellai,  of  which  I  obtained  a  copy  from 
the  library  of  the  Canon  Ricardi  at  Florence.  Two  celebrated  pic- 
tures of  Timantlics  and  of  Protogenes  are  mentioned  by  Pliny,  as  in 
the  Temple  of  Peace;  and  the  Laocoon  was  found  in  the  baths  of 
Titus.  

*  The  Emperor  Vespasian,  who  had  caused  the  Temple  of  Peace  to  be 
built,  transported  to  it  the  gi-eatest  part  of  the  pictures,  statues,  and  other 
works  of  art  wliich  had  escaped  the  civil  tumults.  It  was  there  that  every 
day  the  artists  and  the  learned  of  Rome  assembled ;  and  it  is  on  the  site  of 
ids  temple  that  a  multitude  of  antiques  have  been  dug  up.  See  notei  o/ 
Eleimar  on  Dion  Cassius,  Lxvi.  c.  15,  p.  1083. — W. 


60  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D,  96-180 

spirit  of  public  magnificence,  and  were  filled  with  amphi 
theatres,  theatres,  temples,  porticoes,  triumphal  arches,  baths 
and  aqueducts,  all  variously  conducive  to  the  health,  the  devo 
tion,  and  the  pleasures  of  tlie  meanest  citizen.  The  las< 
mentioned  of  those  edifices  deserve  our  peculiar  attention. 
The  boldness  of  the  enterprise,  the  solidity  of  the  execution, 
and  the  uses  to  which  they  were  subservient,  rank  the  aque- 
ducts among  the  noUest  monuments  of  Roman  genius  and 
power.  The  aqueducts  of  the  capital  claim  a  just  preemi- 
nence ;  but  the  curious  traveller,  who,  without  the  hght  of 
history,  should  examine  those  of  Spoleto,  of  Metz,  or  of  Se- 
govia, would  very  naturally  conclude  that  those  provincial 
towns  had  formerly  been  the  residence  of  some  potent  mon- 
arch. The  solitudes  of  Asia  and  Africa  were  once  covered 
with  flourishing  cities,  whose  populousness,  and  even  whose 
existence,  was  derived  from  sucla  artificial  supphes  of  a  peren- 
nial stream  of  fresh  water." 

We  have  computed  the  inhabitants,  and  contemplated  the 
public  works,  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  observation  of  the 
number  and  greatness  of  its  cities  will  serve  to  confirm  the 
former,  and  to  multiply  the  latter.  It  may  not  be  unpleasing 
to  collect  a  few  scattered  instances  relative  to  that  subjectj. 
without  forgetting,  however,  that  from  the  vanity  of  nations 
and  the  poverty  of  language,  the  vague  appellation  of  city  has 
been  indifferently  bestowed  on  Rome  and  upon  Laurentum. 

I.  Ancient  Italy  is  said  to  have  contained  eleven  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  cities  ;  and  tor  whatsoever  ?era  of  antiquity 
the  expression  might  be  intended,'^  there  is  not  any  reason  to 
believe  the  country  less  populous  in  the  age  of  the  Antonines, 
than  in  that  of  liomulus.  The  petty  states  of  Latium  wero 
contained  within  the  metropolis  of  the  empire,  by  whose  supe- 
rior influence  they  had  been  attracted.*  Those  parts  of  Italy 
which  have  so  long   languished  under  the  lazy  tyranny  of 


73  Montfaucon  I'Antiquite  Expliquee,  torn.  iv.  p.  2, 1.  i.  c.  9.  Fabretti 
has  composed  a  very  learned  treatise  on  the  aqueducts  of  Rome. 

^*  ^Ijan.  Hist.  V.ar.lib.  ix.  c.  16.  He  lived  in  the  time  of  Alexander 
fieverus.     See  Fabricius,  Biblioth.  Grceca,  1.  iv.  c.  21. 


'  This  may  in  some  degree  account  for  the  difficulty  started  by  Livy,  ai 
to  the  incredibly  numerous  annies  raised  by  the  small  states  around  Rome, 
where,  in  his  time,  a  scanty  stock  of  free  soldiers  amona^  a  larger  population 
of  Roman  slaves  broke  tbe  .solitude.  Vix  seminario  exigno  mililum  reUcto 
eervitia  Romana  ab  solitudinc  vindicaut,  Liv.  vi.  vii.  Compare  Appian  BaJ 
Civ.  i  7— M.  siibsf.  for  a 


A.  D,  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMriRE  •! 

priests  and  viceroys,  had  been  afflicted  only  by  the  more  tol- 
erable calamities  of  war ;  and  the  first  symptoms  of  decay 
which  they  experienced,  were  amply  compensated  by  the 
rapid  improvements  of  the  Cisalpine  Ganl.  The  splendor  of 
Verona  may  be  traced  in  its  remains :  yet  Vei'ona  was  less  cel- 
ebrated than  Aquileia  or  Padua,  Milan  or  Ravenna.  II.  The 
Rpirit  of  improvement  had  passed  the  Alps,  and  been  felt 
even  in  the  woods  of  Britain,  which  were  gradually  cleared 
away  to  open  a  free  space  for  convenient  and  elegant  hab- 
itations, York  was  the  seat  of  government ;  London  was 
already  enriched  by  commerce ;  and  Bath  was  celebrated 
for  the  salutary  effects  of  its  inedicinal  waters.  Gaul  could 
boast  of  her  twelve  hundred  cities;'^  and  though,  in  the 
northern  parts,  many  of  them,  without  excepting  Paris  itself, 
were  little  more  than  the  rude  and  imperfect  townships  of  a 
rising  people,  the  southern  provinces  imitated  the  wealth  and 
elegance  of  Italy.'"  Many  were  the  cities  of  Gaul,  Marseilles, 
Aries,  Nismes,  Narbonne,  Thoulouse,  Bourdeaux,  Autun, 
Vienna,  Lyons,  Langres,  and  Treves,  whose  ancient  condition 
might  sustain  an  equal,  and  perhaps  advantageous  comparison 
with  their  present  state.  With  regard  to  Spain,  that  country 
flourished  as  a  province,  and  has  declined  as  a  kingdom.  Ex- 
hausted by  the  abuse  of  her  strength,  by  America,  and 
by  superstition,  her  pride  might  possibly  be  confounded,  if  we 
required  such  a  list  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  cities,  as  Pliny 
has  exhibited  under  the  reign  of  Vespasian."  III.  Three  hun- 
dred African  cities  had  once  acknowledged  the  authority  of 
Carthage,"  nor  is  it  likely  that  their  numbers  diminished  under 
the  administration  of  the  emperors  :  Carthage  itself  rose  with 
new   splendor  from  its    ashes ;  and    that  capital,  as   well  as 

TS  Joseph,  de  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  16.  The  number,  however,  is  mentioned, 
and  should  be  received  with  a  degree  of  latitude.* 

78  Plin.  Hist.  jSTatur.  iii.  o. 

"  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  iii.  ",  4,  iv.  35.  The  list  seems  authentic  and 
accurate  ;  the  division  of  the  provinces,  and  the  different  condition  of 
the  cities,  arc  minutely  distini^'uishcd. 

'•^  Strabou.  GeograplL  1.  xvii.  p.  1189. 

*  Without' doubt  no  reliance  can  be  placed  on  this  passage  of  Joscphus. 
The  historiaa  makes  Agi-ippa  give  advice  to  the  Jews,  as  to  tlie  power  of 
the  lloniaus ;  and  the  speech  is  full  of  declaiuatioa  which  can  furnish  no 
conclusions  to  history.  While  enumerating  the  nations  subject  to  the 
liomaus,  he  speaks  of  the  Gauls  as  submitting  to  VZOO  soldier.s,  (which  ia 
false,  as  there  were  eight  legions  in  Gaul,  Tac.iv.  5.)  while  there  are  nearly 
twelve  hundred  cities. — G.  .Tosephus  {itifrn)  places  these  eight  legion*  oa 
the  Rliiiie,  as  Tacitus  does. — M. 


#2  TEiE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  98-l8(X 

Capua  and  Corintb,  soon  recovered  all  the  advantages  which 
can  be  separated  from  independent  sovereignty.  IV.  The 
provinces  ol'  the  East  present  the  contrast  of  Roman  mag- 
nificence with  Turkish  barbarism.  The  ruins  of  antiquity 
scattered  over  uncultivated  fields,  and  ascribed,  by  ignorance 
to  the  power  of  magic,  scarcely  afford  a  shelter  to  th 
oppressed  peasant  or  wandering  Arab.  Under  the  reign  of  the 
Caesars,  the  proper  Asia  alone  contained  five  hundred  populous 
cities,"*  enriched  with  all  the  gifts  of  nature,  and  adorned  with 
all  the  refinements  of  art.  Eleven  cities  of  Asia  had  once 
disputed  the  honor  of  dedicating  a  temple  to  Tiberius,  and 
their  respective  merits  were  examined  by  the  senate.*"  Four 
of  them  were  immediately  rejected  as  unequal  to  the  burden ; 
and  among  these  was  Laodicea,  whose  splendor  is  still  dis- 
played in  its  ruins.*^  Laodicea  collected  a  very  considerable 
revenue  from  its  flocks  of  sheep,  celebrated  for  the  fineness 
of  their  wool,  and  had  received,  a  little  before  the  contest,  a 
legacy  of  above  four  hundred  thousand  pounds  by  the  testa- 
ment of  a  generous  citizen.*^  If  such  was  the  poverty  of 
Laodicea,  what  must  have  been  the  wealth  of  those  cities, 
whose  claim  appeared  preferable,  and  particularly  of  Per- 
gamus,  of  Smyrna,  and  of  Ephesus,  who  so  long  disputed 
with  each  other  the  titular  primacy  of  Asia  ?  *'  The  capitals 
of  Syria  and  Egypt  held  a  still  superior  rank  in  the  empire ; 
Antioch  and  Alexandria  looked  down  with  disdain  on  a  crowd 
of  dependent  cities,**  and  yielded,  with  reluctance,  to  the 
majesty  of  Rome  itself. 

™  Joseph,  de  Bell.  Jud.  il  16.     Philostrat.  in  Vit.  Sopliist.  1.  ii.  p 

548,  edit.  Olear. 

8"  Tacit.  Annal.  iv.  55.  I  have  taken  some  pains  in  consulting 
and  comparing  modern  travellers,  with  regard  to  the  fate  of  those 
eleven  cities  of  Asia.  Seven  or  eight  are  totally  destroyed :  Hypsepe, 
Tralles,  Laodicea,  Ilium,  Hahcarnassus,  Miletus,  Ephesus,  and  we  may 
add  Sardes.  Of  the  remaining  three,  Pergamus  is  a  straggling  village 
of  two  or  three  thousand  inhabitants ;  Magnesia,  under  the  name  of 
Guzelhissar,  a  town  of  some  consequence ;  and  Smyrna,  a  great 
city,  peopled  by  a  hundred  thousand  souLs.  But  even  at  Smyrna 
while  the  Franks  have  maintained  a  commerce,  the  Turks  have  ruined 
the  arts. 

s-  See  a  very  exact  and  pleasing  description  of  the  rilins  of  Laodi 
eea,  in  Chandler's  Travels  through  Asia  Minor,  ]).  225,  &c. 

8S  Strabo,  1.  xii.  p.  866.     He  had  studied  at  Tralles. 

^^  See  a  Dissertation  of  M.  de  Boze,  Mem.  de  I'Academie,  lom, 
rviiL  Aristides  pronounced  an  oration,  which  is  still  extant,  to 
recommend  concord  to  the  rival  cities. 

**  The  iuliabitants  of  Egypt,  exclusive  of  Alexandria,  amounted  ta 
KTen  millions  and  a  half,  (Joseph,  de  BelL  Jud.  ii  16.)     Under  iha 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    TUE    ROMAN    EMPIRE  68 

All  these  cities  were  connected  wiih  each  other,  and  with 
the  capital,  by  the  public  highways,  which,  issuing  from  the 
Forum  of  Rome,  traversed  Italy,  pervaded  the  provinces,  and 
were  terminated  only  by  the  frontiers  of  the  empire.  __K  we ' 
carefully  trace  the  distance  from  the  wall  of  Antoninus  to 
Rome,  and  from  thence  to  Jerusalem,  it  will  be  found  that  th&' 
great  chain  of  communication,  from  the  north-west  to  the 
iouth-east  point  of  the  empire,  was  drawn  out  to  the  length 
;f  four  thousand  and  eighty  Romaa  miles."  The  publicv 
oads  \vere  accurately  divided  by  mile-stones,  and  ran  in  a 
(lirect  line  from  one  city  to  another,  with  very  little  respect  for 
the  obstacles  either  of  nature  or  private  property.  Mountains 
were  perforated,  and  bold  arches  thrown  over  the  broadest  and  • 
most  rapid  streams.'"  The  ^  middle  jpavt  of  .the  road  was 
raised  into  a  terrace  which  commanded  the  adjacent  country, 
consisted  of  several  strata  of  sand,  gravel,  and  cement,  and 
was  paved  with  large  stones,  or,  iu  some  places  near  the 
capital,  with  granite."  Such  was  the  solid  construction  of 
the  Roman  highways,  whose  firmness  has  not  entirely  yielded 
to  the  effort  of  fifteen  centuries.  They  united  the  subjects  of 
;he  most  distant  provinces  by  an  easy  and  familiar  intercourse ; 
out  their  primary  object  had  been  to  facilitate  the  marches  of 
the  legions ;  nor  was  any  country  considered  as  completely 
subdued,  till  it  had  been  rendered,  in  all  its  parts,  pervious  to 
the  arms  and  authority  of  the  conqueror.  The  advantage  of 
receiving  the  earliest  intelligence,  and  of  conveying  their 
order£s  with  celerity,  induced  the  emperors  to  establish,  through- 
out their  extensive  dominions,  the  regular  institution  of  posts.** 

military  governmeut  of  the  Mamelul:es,  Syria  was  supposed  to  con- 
tain sixty  thousand  villages,  (Histoire  de  Tiinur  Bee,  I.  v.  c.  20.) 

**  The  following  Itineraiy  may  serve  to  convey  some  idea  of  the 
ilirection  of  the  road,  and  of  the  distance  between  the  principal 
towns.  I.  From  the  wall  of  Antoninus  to  York,  222  Roman  miles. 
II.  London,  227.  III.  Rhutupiaj  or  Sandwich,  G7.  IV.  The  naviga- 
tion to  Boulogne,  45.  V.  Rheims,  174.  VI.  Lyons,  330.  VII.  Mi- 
lan, 324.  VIIL  Rome,  426.  IX.  Brundusium,  300.  X.  The  navi 
gation  to  Dyrrachium,  40.  XL  Byzantium,  711.  XII.  Ancyra,  283. 
XIIL  Tarsus,  301.  XIV.  Antiorh,  141.  XV.  Tyre,  252.  XVL  Jeru- 
salem, 1G8.  In  all  4080  Roman,  or  3740  Englisli  miles.  See  the  Itin 
eraries  published  by  Wesseling,  his  annotations ;  Gale  and  Stukeley  fot 
Britain,  and  M.  dAnville  for  Gaul  and  Italy. 

^  Montfaucon,  lAntiquite  Expliquee,  (torn.  4,  p.  2,  L  i.  c.  5,)  has 
described  the  bridges  of  Narni,  Alcantara,  Nismes,  itc. 

^''  Bergier,  Histoire  des  grauds  Chemins  de  TEmpire  Remain,  L  ii 
e.  1—28. 

*'  Procopius  in  Hist.   Arcana,   c.   30.    Bergier,    Hist,   des  grands 


64  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  i).  98-180. 

Houses  were  every  where  erected  at  the  distauce  only  of  five 
or  six  miles;  each  of  them  was  constantly  provided  with  forty 
horses,  and  by  the  help  of  these  relays,  it  was  easy  to  travel  a 

hundred  miles  in  a  day  along  the  Roman  roads.***     The  use 

#f  the  posts  was  allowed  to  those  who  claimed  it  by  an  Im- 
perial mandate ;  but  though  originally  intended  for  the  public 
eorvice,  it  was  sometimes  indulged  to  the  busine&s  or  con- 
reniency  of  private  citizens.""  Nor.  w-as  the  communicatioiH' 
>f  the  Roman  empire  less  free  and  open  by  sea  than  it  was  by 
iand.  The  provinces  surrounded  and  enclosed  the  Med  iter " 
ranean  :  and  Italy,  in  the  shape  of  an  immense  promontory^ 
advanced  into  the  midst  of  that  great  lake.  The  coasts  of 
Italy  are,  in  general,  destitute  of  safe  harbors ;  but  huuiaD 
industry  had  corrected  the  deficiencies  of  nature ;  and  the 
artificial  port  of  Ostia,  in  particular,  situate  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tyber,  and  formed  by  the  emperor  Claudius,  was  a  useful 
monument  of  Roman  greatness."*  From  this  port,  which 
was  only  sixteen  miles  from  the  capital,  a  favorable  breeze 
frequently  carried  vessels  in  seven  days  to  the  columns  of " 
Hercules,  and  in  nine  or  ten,  to  Alexandria  in  Egypt."^ 

Chemins,  1.  iv.  Codex  Theodosian.  L  viil  tit.  v.  vol.  ii.  p.  506 — 563 
with  Godefroy's  learned  commentary. 

89  In  the  time  of  Theodosius,  Caesarius,  a  magistrate  of  high  rank, 
went  post  from  Antioch  to  Constantinople.  He  began  his  jom-ney  at 
night,  was  in  Cappadocia  (165  miles  from  Antioch)  the  ensuing  evening, 
and  arrived  at  Constantinople  the  sixth  day  about  noon.  The  whole 
distance  was  725  Roman,  or  665  English  miles.  See  Libanius,  Orat 
xxii.,  and  the  Itineraria,  p.  5*72 — 581. f 

^  Pliny,  though  a  favorite  and  a  minister,  made  an  apology  for 
granting  post-horses  to  his  wife  on  the  most  urgent  business.  Epist. 
X.  121,  122. 

91  Bergier,  Hist,  des  grands  Chemins,  1.  iv.  c.  49. 

92  Pliu.  Hist.  Natur.  xix.  i.  [In  ProcEm.]  X 

*  Posts  for  the  conveyance  of  intelligence  were  established  by  Augustus. 
Suet.  Aug.  49.  The  couriers  travelled  with  amazing  speed.  Blair  on  Ro- 
man Slavery,  note,  p.  2G1.  It  is  probable  that  the  posts,  from  the  time  of 
Augustus,  were  confined  to  the  public  service,  and  supplied  by  impressment 
Nerva,  as  it  appears  fi'om  a  coin  of  his  reign,  made  an  important  change ;  "  hn 
established  posts  upon  aU  the  public  roads  of  Italy,  and  made  the  sei-vice 
chargeable  upon  his  own  excheijuer.  *  *  Hadrian,  perceiving  the  advan 
Cage  of  this  improvement,  extended  it  to  all  the  provinces  of  the  em])ire.'' 
Cardwcll  on  Coins,  p.  220. — M. 

t  A  courier  is  mentioned  in  Walpole's  Travels,  ii.  335,  who  was  to  travel 
fix)m  Aleppo  to  Constantinople,  more  than  700  miles,  La  eight  days,  an  un 
usually  short  joaniey. — M. 

t  Pliny  says  Putcoli,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  usual  landingplao* 
piom  the  East.  See  the  voyages  of  St.  Pau'.,  Act*  xxviii.  13,  and  of  Jose 
phus,  Vit»,  c.  3    -M. 


A.  D.  98-1.80.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    FMPIRE.  <l8 

Whatever  evils  either  reason  or  declrrmation  have  iinputevJ 
to  extensive  empire,  the  power  of  Komo  was  altendcd  with 
Bome  beneficial  consequences  to  mankind ;  and  the  same 
freedom  of  intercourse  which  extended  the  vices,  dilfusQjd 
likewise  the  improvements,  of  social  life.  In  the  more  remote 
ages  of  antiquity,  the  world  v?as  unequally  divided.  The 
East  was  in  the  immemorial  possession  of  arts  and  luxury; 
whilst  the  West  was  inhabited  by  rude  and  warlike  barbarians,  . 
who  either  disdained  agriculture,  or  to  whom  it  was  totally  • ' 
unknown.  Under  the  protection  of  an  established  goverii-_^' 
ment,  the  productions  of  happier  climates,  and  the  industry  of  — O 
more  civihzed  nations,  were  gradually  introduced  into  the 
western  countries  of  Europe ;  and  the  natives  were  encouraged, 
hy  an  open  and  profitable  commerce,  to  multiply  the  former, 
as  well  as  to  improve  the  latter.  It  would  be  almost  impos- 
sible to  enumerate  all  the  articles,  either  of  the  animal  or  the 
vegetable  reign,  which  were  successively  imported  into  Europe 
from  Asia  and  Egypt  :*^  but  it  will  not  be  unworthy  of  the 
dignity,  and  much  legs  of  the  utility,  of  an  historical  work, 
slightly  to  touch  on  a  few  of  the  principal  heads.  1.  Almost 
all  the  flowers,  the  herbs,  and  the  fruits,  that  grow  in  our 
European  gardens,  are  of  foreign  extraction,  which,  in  many 
cases,  is  betrayed  even  by  their  names :  the  apple  was  a 
native  of  Italy,  and  when  the  Romans  had  tasted  the  richer 
flavor  of  the  apricot,  the  peach,  the  pomegranate,  the  citron, 
and  the  orange,  they  content-ed  themselves  with  applying  to 
all  these  new  fruits  the  com?7ion  denomination  of  apple,  dis- 
criminating them  from  each  oth^sr  by  the  additional  epithet  of 
their  country.  2.  In  the  time  of  Homer,  the  vine  grew  wild 
in  the  island  of  Sicily,  and  most  probably  in  the  adjacent  con- 
tinent; but  it  was  not  improved  by  the  skill,  nor  did  it  afford 
a  liquor  grateful  to  the  taste,  of  th«  savage  inhabitants.**  A 
thousand  years  afterwards,  Italy  coul4  boast,  that  of  the  four- 
score most  generous  and  celebrate<l  wines,  more  than  two 
thirds  were  produced  from  her  soil."  The  blessing  wra  soon 
commimicated  to  the  Narbonneso  p>-ovince  of  GauI  ;  b  it  so 
intense  was  the  cold  to  the  north  of  the.  Cevenncs,  that,  in  the 
time  of  Strabo,  it  was  thought  impossible  to  ripen  Uie  grapes 

*3  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Greeks  and  PhcEnicians  introduced 
some  ne-w  arts  and  productions  into  the  pei^hborh(M>d  of  Mar?eillea 
and  Gades. 

M  See  Homer,  Odyss.  1.  ix.  v.  358. 

•8  Plia  Hist.  Natur.  L  xiv. 


M  THF    RECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

in  those  parts  tf  Gaul.""  This  difficulty,  however,  waa 
gradually  ranquished ;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe, 
that  the  vineyards  of  Burgundy  are  as  old  as  the  age  of  the 
Antonines."  3.  The  olive,  in  the  western  world,  followed 
the  progress  of  peace,  of  which  it  v/as  considered  as  the  sym- 
bol. Two  centuries  after  the  foundation  of  Rome,  both  Italy 
and  Africa  were  strangers  to  that  useful  plant :  it  was  natural- 
ized in  those  countries ;  and  at  length  carried  into  the  heart 
of  Spain  and  Gaul.  The  timid  errors  of  the  ancients,  that  it 
required  a  certain  degree  of  heat,  and  could  only  flourish  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  sea,  were  insensibly  exploded  by 
industry  and  experience."^  4.  The  cultivation  of  flax  was 
transported  from  Egypt  to  Gaul,  and  enriched  the  whole 
country,  however  it  might  impoverish  the  particular  lands  on 
which  it  was  sown."*  5.  The  use  of  artificial  grasses  became 
familiar  to  the  farmers  both  of  Italy  and  the  provinces,  par- 
ticularly the  Lucerne,  which  derived  its  name  and  origin  from 


*  Strab.  Geograph.  1.  iv.  p.  269.  Tlie  intense  cold  of  a  Gallic  winter 
waa  almost  proverbial  among  tlie  ancients.* 

37  In  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  orator  Eujneniua 
(Panegyr.  Veter.  viii.  6,  edit.  Delphin.)  speaks  of  the  vines  in  the  terri 
tory  of  Autun,  which  were  decayed  through  age,  and  the  first  planta- 
tion of  wliich  was  totally  unknown.  The  Pagus  Arebrignus  is  supposed 
by  M.  d'Anville  to  be  the  district  of  Beaune,  celebrated,  even  at  present 
for  one  of  tlie  first  growths  of  Burgundy.f 

««  PUn.  Hist.  Natur.  1.  xv. 

»  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  1.  xix. 


■*  Strabo  only  says  that  the  grape  does  not  ripen,  fi  ajnrcXoi  oi  paSUoi  rcXcir 
^opu.  Attempts  had  been  made  in  the  time  of  Augustus  to  naturalize 
the  vine  in  the  north  of  Gaul ;  but  the  cold  was  too  great.  Diod.  Sic, 
edit.  Rhodom.  p.  304. — ^V.  Diodorus  (lib.  v.  2(1)  gives  a  curious  picture  of 
the  Italian  traders  baitering,  with  the  savages  of  Gaul,  a  cask  of  wine  for  a 
slave. — M. 

It  appears  fi-om  the  newly  discovered  treatise  of  Cicero  de  Republica,  that 
there  was  a  law  of  the  republic  proliibiting  the  culture  of  the  vine  and  olive 
beyond  the  Alps,  in  order  to  keep  up  the  value  of  those  in  Italy.  Nos  jus- 
tissimi  homines,  qui  transalpinas  gentes  oleam  ct  vitem  serere  non  sinimus, 
quo  pluris  sint  no.=tra  oliveta  nostrajque  vineaB.  Lib.  iii.  9.  The  restrictive 
law  of  Domitian  was  veiled  under  the  decent  pretext  of  encouraging  the 
ealtivation  of  gi-ain.  Suet.  Dom.  vii.  It  was  repealed  by  Probus  Vopis 
Frobus,  ]8. — M. 

t  This  is  proved  by  a  passage  of  Pliny  the  Elder,  where  he  speaks  of  a 
jeriain  kind  of  grape  (vitis  picata.  vinum  picatum)  which  grows  naturaUy 
hi  the  district  of  Vienne,  and  had  recently  been  trajisplanted  into  ths 
country  of  the  Arvemi,  (Auvergne,)  of  the  Helvii,  (the  Vi^  araisj  the  Se- 
%uaiu,  (Burgundy  and  Tranche  Compto.^  Pliny  wrote  A  D.  77.  Hist.  Nat 
«iT.  ] .-  -W.' 


A.  D.   98-180.]         OF   THH    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  61 

Media.""  The  assured  supply  of  wholesome  anc'.  plentiful  food 
for  the  cattle  during  winter,  multiplied  the  number  of  the 
docks  and  herds,  which  in  their  turn  contributed  to  the  fertility 
of  the  soil.  To  all  these  improvements  may  be  added  an 
assiduous  attention  to  mines  and  fisheries,  which,  by  employing 
a  multitude  of  laborious  hands,  serve  to  increase  the  pleiisures 
of  the  rich  and  the  subsistence  of  the  poor.  The  elegant 
treatise  of  Columella  describes  the  advanced  state  of  the 
Spanish  husbandry  under  the  reign  of  Tiberius ;  and  it  may 
be  observed,  that  those  famines,  which  so  frequently  afflicted 
the  infant  republic,  were  seldom  or  never  experienced  by  the 
extensive  empire  of  Rome.  The  accidental  scarcity,  in  any 
single  province,  was  immediately  relieved  by  the  plenty  of  its 
more  fortunate  neighbors. 

Agi'iculture  is  the  foundation  of  manufactures ;  since  the 
productions  of  nature  are  the  materials  of  art.  Under  the 
Roman  empire,  the  labor  of  an  industrious  and  ingenious 
people  was  variously,  but  incessantly,  employed  in  the  service 
of  the  rich.  In  their  dress,  their  table,  their  houses,  and  the'r 
furniture,  the  favorites  of  fortune  united  every  refinement  of 
conveniency,  of  elegance,  and  of  splendor,  whatever  could 
soothe  their  pride  or  gratify  their  sensuality.  Sucb  refine- 
ments, under  the  odious  name  of  luxury,  have  been  severely 
arraigned  by  the  moralists  of  every  age ;  and  it  might  perhaps 
be  more  conducive  to  the  virtue,  as  well  as  happiness,  of  man- 
kind, if  all  possessed  the  necessaries,  and  none  the  super- 
fluities, of  life.  But  in  the  present  imperfect  condition  of 
society,  luxury,  though  it  may  proceed  from  vice  or  folh'^, 
seems  to  be  the  only  means  that  can  correct  the  unequal  dis- 
tribution of  property.  The  diligent  mechanic,  and  the  skilful 
•U'tist,  who  have  obtained  no  share  in  the  division  of  the  earth, 
receive  a  voluntary  tax  from  the  possessors  of  land  ;  and  the 
latter  are  prompted,  by  a  sense  of  interest,  to  improve  those 
estates,  with  whose  produce  they  may  purchase  additional 
pleasures.  This  operation,  the  particular  effects  of  which  are 
felt  in  every  society,  acted  with  much  more  difl'usive.  energy 
in  the  Romau  world.  The  provinces  would  soon  have  been 
exhausfcd  of  their  wealth,  if  the  manufactures  and  commerce 
of  luxury  had  not  insensibly  restored  to  the  industrious  sub- 
jects the  sums  which  were  exacted  from  them  by  the  arraa 

"*  See  the  agreeable  Essays  on  Agriculture  by  Mr.  Hsirte,  in 
which  he  has  collected  all  that  the  ancients  and  modems  liave  Raid  of 
Lucerne. 


68  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  U.  98-180 

and  autliority  of  Rome.  As  long  as  the  circulation  was.  con- 
fined within  the  bounds  of  the  empire,  it  impressed  the  political 
machine  with  a  new  degree  of  activity,  and  its  consequcnc£sJ 
sometimes  beneficial,  could  r-ever  become  pernicious. 

But  it  is  no  easy  task  to  confine  luxury  within  the  \\rm^ 
of  an  empire.  The  most  remote  countries  of  the  ancient 
world  were  ransacked  to  supply  the  pomp  and  delicacy 
of  Rome.  The  forests  of  Scythia  afforded  some  valuable 
furs.  Amber  was  brought  over  land  from  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic  to  tlie  Danube ;  and  the  barbarians  were  astonished  at 
the  price  which  they  received  in  exchange  for  so  useless  a 
commodity-"'  There  was  a  considerable  demand  for  Baby- 
lonian carpets,  and  other  manufectures  of  the  East ;  but  the 
most  important  and  unpopular  branch  of  foreign  trade  was 
carried  on  with  Arabia  and  India.  Every  year,  about  the  time 
of  the  summer  solstice,  a  fleet  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  ves- 
sels sailed  from  Myos-hormos,  a  port  of  Egypt,  on  the  Red 
Sea.  By  the  periodical  assistance  of  the  monsoons,  they 
traversed  the  ocean  in  about  forty  days.  The  coast  of  Malabar, 
or  the  island  of  Ceylon,""  was  the  usual  term  of  their  naviga- 
tion, and  it  was  in  those  markets  that  the  merchants  from 
the  more  remote  countries  of  Asia  expected  their  arrival.  The 
return  of  the  fleet  of  Egypt  was  fixed  to  the  months  of 
December  or  January  ;  and  as  soon  as  their  rich  cargo  had 
been  transported  on  the  backs  of  camels,  from  the  Red  Sea  to 
the  Nile,  and  had  descended  that  river  as  far  as  Alexandria,  it 
was  poured,  without  delay,  into  the  capital  of  the  empire.*" 
The  objects  of  oriental  trafllc  were  splendid  and  trifling ;  silk, 
a  pound  of  which  was  esteemed  not  inferior  in  value  to  a  pound 
of  gold ;  *"  precious  stones,  among  which  the  pearl  claimed 
he  first  rank  after  the  diamond ; '"  and  a  variety  of  aromatics, 

•"  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  45.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvii.  13.  The  lattci 
observed,  with  some  humor,  that  even  fashion  had  not  yet  fov.i'l 
out  the  use  of  amber.  Nero  sent  a  Roman  knight  to  purchase 
great  quantities  on  the  spot  where  it  was  produced,  tlie  coast  of 
modern  Prussia. 

•"2  Called  Taprobana  by  the  Romans,  and  Serindib  by  the  Arabs. 
It  was  discovered  under  the  reign  of  Claudius,  and  gradually  became 
th(!  prir  cipal  mart  of  the  E.ast. 

'02  Piin.  Hist.  Natur.  1.  vi.     Strabo,  1.  xvii. 

^1  Hist.  August,  p.  224.  A  silk  garment  was  considereii  as  an 
trcament  to  a  woman,  but  as  a  disgrace  to  a  man. 

'"*  The  two  great  pearl  fisheries  were  the  same  as  at  jjresent, 
Ormuz  and  Cane  Comorin.     As  well  as  we  can  compare  ancient  with 


A.  D.  98-180.]         OF    THE    ROMAJT    EMPIRE.  69 

that  were  consumed  in  religious  worship  and  the  pomp  of 
funerals.  Tlie.  labor  and  risk  of  the  vojage  was  rewarded 
with  almost  incredible  profit ;  but  the  profit  was  made  upon 
Roman  subjects,  and  a  few  individuals  were  enriched  at  tlio 
expense  of  the  public.  As  the  natives  of  Arabia  and  India 
were  contented  with  the  productions  and  manufactures  of  their 
own  country,  silver,  on  the  side  of  the  Romans,  was  the  prin- 
cipal, if  not  the  only  *'  instrument  of  commerce.  It  was  a  com- 
plaint AYorthy  of  the  gravity  of  the  senate,  that,  in  the  purchase 
of  female  ornaments,  the  wealth  of  the  state  was  irrecoverably 
given  away  to  foreign  and  hostile  nations."'  The  annual  loss 
is  computed,  by  a  writer  of  an  inquisitive  but  censorious  tem- 
per, at  upwards  of  eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling."^ 
Such  was  the  style  of  discontent,  brooding  over  the  dark  pros- 
pect of  approaching  poverty.  And  yet,  if  we  compare  the 
proportion  between  gold  and  silver,  as  it  stood  in  the  time  of 
Plinj^,  and  as  it  was  fixed  in  the  reign  of  Constantine,  we  shall 
discover  within  that  period  a  very  considerable  increase."* 
There  is  not  the  least  reason  to  suppose  that  gold  was  become 
more  scarce ;  it  is  therefore  evident  that  silver  was  grown 
more  common ;  that  whatever  might  be  the  amount  of  the 
Indian  and  Arabian  exports,  they  were  far  from  exhausting 

modern  geography,  Rome  was  supplied  with  diamonds  from  the  mine 
of  Jumelpur,  in  Bengal,  which  is  described  in  the  Voyages  de  Ta- 
vernier,  tom.  ii.  p.  281. 

"•^  Tacit.  Annal.  iii.  5.5.     In  a  speech  of  Tiberius. 

"'  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  xii.  18.  In  another  place  he  computes  half 
that  sum ;  Quingenties  H.  S.  for  India  exclusive  of  Arabia. 

"*  The  proportion,  which  was  1  to  10,  and  122",  rose  to  lif,  the 
legal  regulation  of  Constantine.  See  Arbuthuot's  Tables  of  ancient 
Coins,  c.  5. 

*  Certainly  not  tlio  only  one.  The  Indians  were  not  so  contented  with 
regard  to  foreign  productions.  Arrian  has  a  long  list  of  European  ^vares, 
which  they  received  in  exchange  for  their  own ;  Italian  and  other  wines, 
brass,  tin,  lead,  coral,  clirysolith,  storax,  glass,  dresses  of  one  or  many 
colors,  zones,  &c.  See  Periplus  Maris  Erythrsei  in  Hud.'^on,  Geogr.  Min.  i. 
p.  27. — W.  Tlie  Gcnnan  translator  observes  that  Gibbon  has  confined  the 
ase  of  aromatics  to  rehgious  worship  and  funerals.  His  error  seems  the 
omission  of  other  spices,  of  which  the  Romans  must  have  consumed  great 
quantities  in  their  cookery.  Weuck,  however,  admits  that  silver  was  the 
^lief  article  of  exchange. — M. 

In  1787,  a  peasant  (near  Ncllore  in  the  Carnatic)  struck,  in  digging,  ou 
iie  remains  of  a  Hindu  temple ;  he  found,  also,  a  pot  which  contained 
Roman  coins  and  medals  of  tlie  second  century,  mostly  Trajnns,  Adrians, 
and  Faustinas,  all  of  gold,  many  of  tlieni  Irtish  and  beautiful,  others  de- 
&«ed  or  perfdratcd,  ;is  if  llioy  had  bcuu  worn  as  ornaments.  (Asiatic  U* 
•earcnes,  ii.  19.) — M. 


To  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

the  wealth  of  tlie  Roman  world ;  and  that  the  produce  of  tli« 
mines  abundantly  supplied  the  demands  of  commerce. 

Notwithstanding  the  propensity  of  mankind  to  exalt  the 
past,  and  to  depreciate  the  present,  the  tranquil  and  pros- 
perous state  of  the  empire  was  warmly  felt,  and  honestlj 
confessed,  by  the  provincials  as  well  as  Romans.  "  They 
acknowledged  that  the  true  principles  of  social  life,  laws, 
agriculture,  and  science,  which  had  been  first  invented  by  the 
wisdom  of  Athens,  were  now  firmly  established  by  the  power 
of  Rome,  imder  whose  auspicious  influence  the  fiercest  bar- 
barians were  united  by  an  equal  government  and  common 
language.  They  affirm,  that  with  the  improvement  of  arts, 
the  human  species  were  visibly  multiplied.  They  celebrate 
the  increasing  splendor  of  the  cities,  the  beautiful  face  of  the 
country,  cultivated  and  adorned  like  an  immense  garden ;  and 
the  long  festival  of  peace  which  was  enjoyed  by  so  many  na 
tions,  forgetful  of  the  ancient  animosities,  and  delivered  from 
the  apprehension  of  future  danger." '"'  Whatever  suspicions 
may  be  suggested  by  the  air  of  rhetoric  and  declamation,  which 
seems  to  prevail  in  these  passages,  the  substance  of  them  j'» 
perfectly  agreeable  to  historic  truth. 

It  was  scarcely  possible  that  the  eyes  of  contemporaries 
should  discover  in  the  public  felicity  the  later^t  causes  of 
decay  and  corruption.  This  long  peace,  and  the  uniform 
.;  government  of  the  Romans,  introduced  a  slow  and  secret 
\  poison  into  the  vitals  of  the  empire.  The  minds  of  men 
'  were  gradually  reduced  to  the  same  level,  the  fire  of  genius 
was  extinguished,  and  even  the  military  spirit  evaporated 
The  natives  of  Europe  were  brave  and  robust.  Spain,  Gaul, 
Britain,  and  Illyricum  supplied  the  legions  with  excellent 
soldiers,  and  constituted  the  real  strength  of  the  monarchy. 
Their  personal  valor  remained,  but  they  no  longer  possessed 
that  public  courage  which  is  nourished  by  the  love  of  inde- 
pendence, the  sense  of  national  honor,  the  presence  of  dan 
ger,  and  the  habit  of  command.  They  received  laws  and 
governors  from  the  will  of  their  sovereign,  and  trusted  for 
their  defence  to  a  mercenary  army.  The  posterity  of  their 
boldest  leaders  wsn,  contented  with  the  rank  of  citizens  and 
subjects.  The  most  aspiring  spirits  resorted  to  the  court 
or  standard    of  the  emperors ;    and  the  deserted  provinces, 

"*  Among  many  other  passages,  see  Pliny,  (Hist,  Natur  iii  6J 
Aiifitldes,  (de  Urbo  Roma,)  and  TertuUian,  (de  Animi,  c.  SO.) 


A,  D.  98-180.]  OF   TAE     tOMAN    EMPIRE.  71 

deprived  of  political  strength  or  union,  insensibly  sunk  into  th« 
ianguid  indifference  of  private  life. 

The  love  of  letters,  almost  inseparable  from  peace  and 
refinement,  Avas  fashionable  among  the  subjects  of  Hadrian 
»nd  the  Antonines,  who  were  themselves  men  of  learning  and 
curiosity.  It  was  diffused  over  the  whole  extent  of  their  em- 
pire ;  the  most  northern  tribes  of  Britons  had  acquired  a  tasto 
for  rhetoric ;  Homer  as  well  as  Virgil  were  transcribed  and 
studied  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube  ;  and  the  mosf 
liberal  rewards  sought  out  the  feintest  glimmerings  of  literati 
merit.'"  The  sciences  of  physic  and  astronomy  were  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  by  the  Greeks ;  the  observations  of  Ptole- 
my and  the  writings  of  Galen  are  studied  by  those  wlio  have 
improved  their  discoveries  and  corrected  their  errors  ;  but  if  we 
except  the  inimitable  Lucian,  this  age  of  indolence  passed  away 
without  having  produced  a  single  writer  of  original  genius, 
or  who  excelled  in  the  arts  of  elegant  composition.|  The 
authority  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  of  Zeno  and  Epicurus,  still 
reigned  in  the  schools ;  and  their  systems,  transmitted  with 
blind   deference  from  one  generation  of  disciples  to  another, 

""  Herodes  Atticus  gave  the  sophist  Polemo  above  eight  thousand 
pounds  for  three  declamations.  See  Pliilostrat.  1.  i.  p.  538.  The 
Antonines  founded  a  school  at  Athens,  in  which  professors  of  gram- 
mar, rhetoric,  politics,  and  the  four  great  sects  of  philosophy  wcr* 
maintained  at  the  public  expense  for  the  instruction  of  youth.*  Tlw? 
salary  of  a  philosopher  was  ten  thousand  drachma,  between  three  and 
foiir  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Similar  establishments  were  formed  in 
the  other  great  cities  of  the  empire.  See  Lucian  in  Eunuch,  torn.  ii.  p 
352,  edit.  Reitz.  Philostrat.  L  ii.  p.  566.  Hist.  August,  p.  21.  Dion 
Cassius,  1.  Ixxi.  p.  1195.  Juvenal  himself,  in  a  morose  satu'e,  wliich 
in  every  line  betrays  liis  own  disappointment  and  envy,  is  obliged, 
howover,  to  say, — 

" O  Juvene.s,  circumspioit  et  stimulat  vos 

Materiamque  sibi  Duels  indulgcntia  quserit." — Satii-.  vii.  20. 


"  Vespasian  first  gave  a  salary  to  professors  :  he  assigned  to  each  profes- 
sor of  rhetoric,  Greek  and  Roman,  centena  sestertia.  (Sueton.  in  Vcsp.  16. 
Hadrian  and  the  Antonines,  though  still  liberal,  were  less  profuse. — G.  from 
W.     Suetonius  wrote  annua  centena  L.  807,  5,  10. — M. 

t  This  judgment  is  rather  severe  :  besides  the  physicians,  astronomer.s, 
ml  gi-anunarians,  among  whom  there  were  some  very  distinguished  men, 
thOre  were  still,  under  Hadrian,  Suetonius,  Floras,  Plutarch  ;  under  the 
Antonines,  An-ian,  Pausanias,  Appian,  Marcus  Aurelius  himself,  Soxtun 
Empiricus,  &c.  Jurisprudence  gained  mucfc  by  the  labors  of  Salvias 
Julianus,  Julius  Cclsus,  .So.x.  Pomponius,  Caius,  j.nd  others. — G.  from  W 
Yet  where,  among  these,  is  the  writer  of  original  f.'»:ni  is,  unless,  perhaps 
Plutarch  ?  or  even  of  a  style  really  elegant  ? — M. 


T8  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  98-i80t 

precluded  every  generous  attempt  to  exercise  the  powers,  oi 
enlarge  the  limits,  of  the  human  raind.  The  beauties  of  the 
poets  and  orators,  instead  of  kindling  a  fire  like  their  owHj 
inspired  only  cold  and  servile  mitations  :  or  if  any  ventured  tu 
deviate  from  those  models,  they  deviated  at  the  same  time 
from  good  sense  and  propriety.  On  the  revival  of  letters,  the 
Vouthful  vigor  of  the  imagination,  after  a  long  repose,  national 
emulalion,  a  new  religion,  new  languages,  and  a  new  world, 
called  forth  the  genius  of  Europe.  But  the  provincials  of 
Rome,  trained  by  a  uniform  artificial  foreign  education,  were 
engaged  in  a  very  unequal  competition  with  those  bold  an- 
cients, who,  by  expressing  their  genuine  feelings  in  their  native 
tongue,  had  already  occupied  every  place  of  honor.  The  name 
of  Poet  was  almost  forgotten ;  that  of  Orator  was  usurped 
by  the  sophists.  A  cloud  of  critics,  of  compilers,  of  commenta- 
tors, darkened  the  face  of  learning,  and  the  decline  of  genius 
was  soon  followed  by  the  corruption  of  taste. 

The  sublime  Longinus,  who,  in  somewhat  a  later  period,  and 
in  the  court  of  a  Syi-ian  queen,  preserved  the  spirit  of  ancient 
Athens,  observes  and  laments  this  degeneracy  of  his  contempo- 
raries, which  debased  their  sentiments,  enervated  their  courage, 
and  depressed  their  talents.  "  In  the  same  manner,"  says  he, 
"  as  some  children  always  remain  pygmies,  whose  infant  limbs 
have  been  too  closely  confined,  thus  our  tender  minds,  fettered 
by  the  prejudices  and  habits  of  a  just  servitude,  are  unable  to 
expand  themselves,  or  to  attain  that  well-proportioned  great- 
ness which  we  admire  in  the  ancients ;  Avho,  living  under  a 
popular  government,  wrote  with  the  same  freedom  as  they 
acted." '"  This  diminutive  stature  of  mankind,  if  we  pursue 
the  metaphor,  was  daily  sinking  below  the  old  standard,  and 
the  Roman  world  was  indeed  peopled  by  a  race  of  pygmies ; 
when  the  fierce  giants  of  the  north  broke  in,  and  mended  the 
puny  breed.  They  restored  a  manly  spirit  of  freedom ;  and 
after  the  revolution  of  ten  centuries,  freedom  became  the  happy 
parent  of  taste  and  science. 

'"  Longin.  de  St.blim.  c.  44,  p.  229,  edit.  Toll.  Here,  too,  we  may 
aay  of  Longinus,  "  his  own  example  strengthens  all  his  laws."  Instead 
of  proposing  his  sentiments  with  a  manly  boldness,  he  insinuates  them 
Trith  the  most  guarded  caution ;  put?  them  into  the  mouth  of  a  friend, 
«Jid  as  far  as  we  can  collect  from  a  (crrupted  text,  makes  a  show  of 
rg'-^ting  them  himself. 


A.  1).  98-180.1  OF    THE    KOMAN    EMPIRE.  78 


CHAPTER  Hi. 

OF     THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE,    IN    THE    ASK 
OF    THE    ANTONINES. 

The  obvious  definition  of  a  monarcliy  seems  to  be  that  of 
a  state,  in  which  a  single  [>erson,  by  whatsoever  name  he  may 
be  distinguished,  is  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
the  management  of  the  revenue,  and  the  command  of  the 
army.  But,  unless  public  liberty  is  protected  by  intrepid  and 
vigilant  guardians,  the  authority  of  so  formidable  a  magistrate 
will  soon  degenerate  into  despotism.  The  influence  of  the 
clergy,  in  an  age  of  superstition,  might  be  usefully  employed 
to  assert  the  rights  of  mankind ;  but  so  intimate  is  the  con- 
nection between  the  throne  and  the  altar,  that  the  banner 
of  the  church  has  very  seldom  been  seen  on  the  side  of  the 
people.*  A  martial  nobility  and  stubborn  commons,  possessed 
of  arms,  tenacious  of  property,  and  collected  into  constitutional 
assemblies,  form  the  only  balance  capable  of  preserving  a  free 
constitution  against  enterprises  of  an  aspiring  prince. 

Every  barrier  of  the  Roman  constitution  had  been  levelled 
by  the  vast  ambition  of  the  dictator ;  every  fence  had  been 
extirpated  by  the  cruel  hand  of  the  triumvir.  After  the 
victory  of  Actium,  the  fate  of  the  Roman  world  depended  on 
the  will  of  Octavianus,  surnamed  C;esar,  by  his  uncle's  adop- 
tion, and  afterwards  Augustus,  by  the  flattery  of  the  senate. 
The  conqueror  was  at  the  head  of  forty-four  veteran  legions,' 
conscious  of  their  own  strength,  and  of  the  weakness  of  the 
sonstitution,  habituated,   during   twenty  years'    civil    war,  to 

'  Orosius,  vi.  18.f 


•  Often  enough  in  the  ages  of  superstition,  but  not  in  tlie  interest  ol'  the 
people  or  tlie  state,  but  in  that  of  the  church  to  wliich  all  others  were  suii- 
ordinate.  Yet  the  power  of  the  pope  has  often  been  of  great  service  in  ^^- 
pressing  the  excesses  of  sovereigns,  and  in  softening  manners. — W.  The 
history  of  the  Italian  republics  proves  the  error  of  Gibbon,  and  the  justice  of 
his  German  translator's  comment. — M. 

t  Dion  says  twenty -five,  (or  three,)  (Iv.  23.)     The  united  triumvirs  had  but 
forty-three.     (Appian.  Bell.  Civ.  iv.  :).)     The  testimony  of  Orosius  is  of  littlo 
value  when  more  certain  may  be  had. — W.     But  all  the  legions,  donbiloe* 
•abmitled  to  Augustus  after  the  battle  of  Actium. — M. 
VOL.    I.--1) 


74  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-1801 

every  act  of  blood  and  violence,  and  passionately  devoted  to 
the  house  of  Caesar,  from  whence  alone  they  had  received, 
and  expected  the  most  lavish  rewards.  The  pro\inces,  lone; 
oppressed  by  the  ministers  of  the  republic,  sighed  for  the 
government  of  a  single  person,  who  would  be  the  master,  not 
the  accomplice,  of  those  petty  tyrants.  The  people  of  Rome, 
viewing,  with  a  secret  pleasure,  the  humiliation  of  the  aristoc- 
racy, demanded  only  bread  and  public  shows ;  and  were 
supplied  with  both  by  the  liberal  hand  of  Augustus.  The 
rich  and  pohte  Italians,  who  had  almost  universally  embrace(? 
the  philosophy  of  Epicurus,  enjoyed  the  present  blessings  of 
ease  and  tranquillity,  and  suftered  not  the  pleasing  dream  to 
be  interrupted  by  the  memory  of  their  old  tumultuous  freedom. 
With  its  power,  the  senate  had  lost  its  dignity ;  many  of  the 
most  noble  families  were  extinct.  The  republicans  of  spirit 
and  abihty  had  perished  in  the  field  of  battle,  or  in  the-  pro- 
scription. The  door  of  the  assembly  had  been  designedly  left 
open,  for  a  mixed  multitude  of  more  than  a  thousand  persons, 
who  leflected  disgrace  upon  their  rank,  instead  of  deriving 
honor  from  it." 

The  reformation  of  the  senate  was  one  of  the  first  steps  in 
which  Augustus  laid  aside  the  tyrant,  and  professed  himself 
the  father  of  his  country.  He  was  elected  censor ;  and.  Id 
concert  with  his  faithful  Agrippa,  he  examined  the  list  of  tho 
senators,  expelled  a  few  members,*  whose  vices  or  whosp 
obstinacy  required  a  public  examj^le,  persuaded  near  two 
hundred  to  prevent  the  shame  of  an  expulsion  by  a  voluntary 
retreat,  raised  the  qualification  of  a  senator  to  about  ten 
thousand  pounds,  created  a  sufficient  number  of  patrician 
families,  and  accepted  for  himself  the  honorable  title  of  Prince 
of  the  Senate,f  which  had   always   been    bestowed,   by   the 

'  Julius  Caesar  introduced  soldiers,  strangjers,  and  half-barbarians 
into  the  senate  (Sueton.  in  Caesar,  c.  77,  80.)  The  abuse  became  still 
more  scandalous  after  his  death. 


*  Of  these  Dion  and  Suetonius  knew  nothing. — W.  Dion  says  the  con- 
trary, avToi  f/iv  ov&iva  avTwv  aTrfiXciipt. — M. 

t  But  Augiistus,  then  Octavius,  was  censor,  and  in  virtue  of  that  office, 
even  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  free  repubhc,  could  reform  thfi 
senate,  expel  un\vorthy  members,  name  the  Princeps  Senatiis,  &c.  That 
was  called,  as  is  ^vell  known,  Senatum  legere.  It  was  customary,  during 
the  free  republic,  for  the  censor  to  be  named  Princeps  Seuatiis,  (S.  Liv.  1. 
xxvii.  c.  11,  1.  xl.  c.  51;)  and  Dion  expressly  says,  that  this  was  done 
according  to  ancient  usage.  He  \vas  empo\^  cred  by  a  decree  of  the  senate 
(AovAns  hriTfitpaarii)  to  admit  a  number  of  families  among  the  patriciaoa 
Finally;  tV/3  seaate  was  not  the  legislative  power. — W 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    TUE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  76 

censors,  on  the  citizen  the  most  eminent  for  his  honcra  and 
services.'  But  whilst  he  thus  restored  the  dignity,  he  de- 
stroyed the  independence,  of  the  senate.  The  principles  of  a 
fi'ee  constitution  are  irrecoverably  lost,  when  the  legislative  powei 
Is  nominated  by  the  executive. 

Before  an  assembly  thus  modelled  and  prepared,  Augustas 
pronounced  i  studied  oration,  which  displayed  his  patriotism, 
and  disguisy.-d  his  ambition.  "  He  lamented,  yet  excused,  his 
past  conduct.  Filial  piety  had  required  at  his  hands  the 
revenge  of  his  father's  murder ;  the  humanity  of  his  own 
nature  had  sometimes  given  way  to  the  stern  laws  of  necessity, 
and  to  a  forced  connection  with  two  unworthy  colleagues :  as 
long  as  Antony  lived,  the  republic  forbade  him  to  abandon  her 
to  a  degenerate  Roman,  and  a  barbarian  queen.  He  was 
now  at  liberty  to  satisfy  his  duty  and  his  inclination.  He 
solemnly  restored  the  senate  and  people  to  all  their  ancient 
rights  ;  and  wished  only  to  mingle  with  the  crowd  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  to  share  the  blessings  which  he  had  obtained  for 
his  country."* 

It  would  require  the  pen  of  Tacitus  (if  Tacitus  had  assisted 
at  this  assembly)  to  describe  the  various  emotions  of  the  senate  , 
those  that  were  suppressed,  and  those  that  were  affected.  Il 
was  dangerous  to  trust  the  sincerity  of  Augustus ;  to  seem  tc 
distrust  it  was  still  more  dangerous.  The  respective  advan- 
tages of  monarchy  and  a  republic  have  often  divided  specula 
live  inquirers ;  the  present  greatness  of  the  Roman  state,  tht 
corruption  of  manners,  and  the  license  of  the  soldiers,  supplied 
new  arguments  to  the  advocates  of  monarchy  ;  and  these 
general  views  of  government  were  again  warped  by  the  hopes 
and  fears  of  each  individual.  Amidst  this  confusion  of  senti- 
ments, the  answer  of  the  senate  was  unanimous  and  decisive. 
They  refused  to  accept  the  resignation  of  Augustus  ;  they 
conjured  him  not  to  desert  the  republic,  which  he  had  saved. 
After  a  decent  resistance,  the  crafty  tyrant  submitted  to  the 
orders  of  the  senate ;  and  consented  to  receive  the  govern- 
ment of  the  provinces,  and  the  general  command  of  the 
Roman  armies,  under  the  well-known  names  of  Proconsul 
and  Imperator.''     But  he  would  receive   them  only  for  ten 

'  Dion  Cassius,  1.  liii.  p.  693.     Suetonius  in  August,  c.  35. 

*  Dion  (1.  liii.  p.  608)  gives  us  a  prolix  and  bombast  speech  on  Hum 
great  occasion.  I  have  borrowed  from  Suetonius  and  Tacitus  Ihe  gen^ 
ral  hmguage  of  Augustus. 

*  hxperator  (from  wliich  we  have  deriyed  Emperor)  signified  unde» 


YO  THE    IJECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

years.  Even  before  the  expiration  of  that  period,  he  hopel 
that  the  wounds  of  civil  discord  would  be  completely  healed, 
and  that  the  republic,  restored  to  its  pristine  health  and  vigor, 
would  no  longer  require  the  dangerous  interposition  of  so 
extraordinary  a  magistrate.  The  memory  of  this  comedy, 
repeated  several  times  during  the  life  of  Augustus,  was  pre- 
served to  the  last  ages  of  the  empire,  by  the  peculiar  pomp 
with  which  the  perpetual  mouarchs  of  Rome  always  solem 
sized  the  tenth  years  of  their  reign.^ 

Without  any  violation  of  the  principles  of  the  constitution, 
the  general  of  ihe  Roman  armies  might  receive  and  exercise 
an  authority  aUnost  despotic  over  the  soldiers,  the  enemies, 
and  the  subject',  of  the  republic.  With  regard  to  the  soldiers, 
the  jealousy  ol'  freedom  had,  even  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
Rome,  given  v.  s.v  to  the  hopes  of  conquest,  and  a  just  sense 
of  military  discipline.  The  dictator,  or  consul,  had  a  right  to 
command  tho,  service  of  the  Roman  youth ;  and  to  punish  au 
obstinate  or  cowardly  disobedience  by  the  most  severe  and 
ignominious  oenalties,  by  striking  the  offender  out  of  the  list 
of  citizens,  ly  confiscating  his  property,  and  by  selling  his 
j)erson  intf  slavery.*  The  most  sacred  rights  of  freedom, 
eonfirmed  ',7  the  Porcian  and  Sempronian  laws,  were  sus- 
pended oy  ihe  military  engagement.  In  his  camp  the  general 
fxercistJ  an  absolute  j>)wer  of  life  and  death;  his  jurisdiction 
flra.*  'lot  confined  by  an^  forms  of  trial,  or  rules  of  proceeding, 
«*nd  che  execution  of  tlie  sentence  was  immediate  and  without 
appeal.'  The  cbiiice  of  the  enemies  of  Rome  was  regularly 
decided  by  the  leei^^lative  authority.  The  most  important 
resolutions  of  pe;ice  and  war  were  seriously  debated  in  the 
feenate,  and  solemnly  ratified  by  the  people.  But  when  the 
arms  of  the  legions  were  carried  to  a  great  distance  from 
rtaly,  the  general  assumed  the  liberty  of  directing  them 
against  whatever  people,  and  in  whatever  manner,  they  judged 

Jie  republic  no  more  than  general,  and  was  emphatically  bestowed  by 
><ie  soldiers,  when  on  tlic  field  of  battle  they  proclauned  their  victori- 
lus  leader  worthy  of  that  title.  When  the  Roman  emperors  assumed 
it  in  that  sense,  tij.;y  placed  it  after  Uieir  name,  and  marked  how  :>ften 
they  had  taken  it. 

«  Dion.  1.  nii.  p.  nm,  (fee. 

'  Livy  Epitom.  1.  xiv.  [c.  27.]     Valer.  Maxim,  vi.  3. 

*  See,  in  the  viiith  book  of  Livy,  tlie  conduct  of  Manlius  Torquatus 
and  Papirius  Cursor.  They  violated  the  laws  of  nature  and  humanity, 
but  they  asserted  those  of  military  discipUne ;  and  the  people,  who 
abhorred  the  action,  was  olAiged  to  respect  tlie  principle. 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMriRE.  17 

most  advantageciiis  for  the  pub'.ic  service.  It  wjvs  from  tho 
success,  not  from  the  justice,  of  their  enterprises,  that  thev 
expected  the  honors  of  a  triumpb.  In  tlie  use  of  victory,  es- 
pecially after  they  were  no  longer  controlled  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  senate,  they  exercised  the  most  unbounded  des 
potism.  AVhen  Poinpey  commanded  in  the  Ejist,  he  rewarded 
his  soldiers  and  allies,  dethroned  princes,  divided  kingdoms, 
founded  colonies,  and  distributed  the  treasures  of  Mithridates. 
On  his  return  to  Rome,  he  obtained,  by  a  single  act  of  the 
senate  and  people,  the  universal  ratification  of  all  his  proceed- 
ings." Such  was  the  power  over  the  soldiers,  and  over  the 
enemies  of  Rome,  which  was  either  granted  to,  or  assumed 
by,  the  generals  of  the  rejuiblic.  They  were,  at  the  same 
lime,  the  governors,  or  rather  monarchs,  of  the  conquered 
provinces,  united  the  civil  with  the  military  character,  admin- 
istered justice  as  well  as  the  finances,  and  exercised  both  the 
executive  and  legislative  power  of  the  state. 

From  what  has  already  been  observed  in  the  first  chapter 
of  this  work,  some  notion  may  be  formed  of  the  armies  and 
provinces  thus  intrusted  to  the  ruling  hand  of  Augustus.  But 
is  it  was  impossible  that  he  could  personally  command  the 
iJegions  of  so  many  distant  frontiers,  he  was  indulged  by  the 
senate,  as  Pompey  had  already  been,  in  the  permission  of 
devolving  the  execution  of  his  great  office  on  a  sufficient 
number  of  lieutenants.  In  rank  and  authority  these  officers 
seemed  not  inferior  to  the  ancient  proconsuls  ;  but  their  station 
was  dependent  and  precarious.  They  received  and  held  theii 
commissions  at  the  will  of  a  superior,  to  whose  auspicious 
influence  the  merit  of  their  action  was  legally  attributed." 
They  were  the  representatives  of  the  emperor.     The  emperor 

°  By  the  lavish  but  unconstrained  suffrages  of  the  people,  Pompey 
had  obtained  a  military  command  scarcely  infciior  to  tliat  of  Augus- 
tus. Among  the  extraordinary  acts  of  power  executed  by  the  former, 
we  may  remark  the  foundation  of  twenty-nine  cities,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  three  or  four  millions  sterling  to  his  troops.  The  ratifica- 
tion of  his  acts  met  with  some  opposition  and  delays  in  the  senate 
See  Plutarch,  Appian,  Dion  Cassius,  and  the  first  book  of  the  epistles 
to  Atticus. 

'"  Under  the  commonwealth,  a  triumpli  could  only  be  claimed  by 
the  general,  who  was  authorized  to  take  the  Auspices  in  the  name 
of  the  people.  Ey  an  exact  consequence,  drawn  from  this  principle 
of  policy  and  religion,  the  triumph  was  reserved  to  the  emperor ;  and 
Ids  most  successful  lieutenants  were  satisfied  with  some  marks  of  difl- 
tinetion,  which,  under  the  name  of  triumphal  honor?,  were  inveuted  in 
their  favor. 


78  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALl  [A.  1).  98-180 

alone  was  the  general  of  tlie  republic,  and  Lis  jurisdiction,  civil 
as  well  as  military,  extended  over  all  the  conquests  of  Home. 
It  was  some  satisfaction,  however,  to  the  senate,  that  he  always 
delegated  his  power  to  the  members  of  their  body.  The  im- 
perial lieutenants  were  of  consular  or  praetorian  dignity  ;  the 
legions  were  commanded  by  senators,  and  the  prsefecture  of 
Egypt  was  the  only  important  trust  committed  to  a  Roman 
kiiight. 

Within  six  days  after  Augustus  had  been  compelled  to 
accept  so  very  liberal  a  grant,  he  resolved  'o  gratify  the  pride 
of  the  senate  by  an  easy  sacrifice.  He  represented  to  them, 
that  they  had  enlarged  his  powers,  even  beyond  that  degree 
which  might  be  required  by  the  melancholy  condition  of  the 
times.  They  had  not  permitted  him  to  refuse  the  laborious 
command  of  the  armies  and  the  frontiers ;  but  he  must  insi&l 
on  being  allowed  to  restore  the  more  peaceful  and  secure 
provinces  to  the  mild  administration  of  the  ci\il  magistrate. 
In  the  division  of  the  provinces,  Augustus  provided  for  his 
own  power  and  for  the  dignity  of  the  republic.  The  procon- 
suls of  the  senate,  particularly  those  of  Asia,  Greece,  and 
Africa,  enjoyed  a  more  honorable  character  than  the  lieuten- 
ants of  the  emperor,  who  commanded  in  Gaul  or  Syria.  The 
former  were  attended  by  lictors,  the  latter  by  soldiers.*  A 
law  was  passed,  that  wherever  the  emperor  was  present,  his 
extraordinary  commission  should  supersede  the  ordinary  juris- 
diction of  the  governor ;  a  custom  was  introduced,  that  the 
new  conquests  belonged  to  the  imperial  portion ;  and  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  the  authority  of  the  Frtnce,  the  favorite 
epithet  of  Augustus,  was  the  same  in  every  part  of  the  empire. 

In  return  for  this  imaginary  concession,  Augustus  obtained 
an  important  privilege,  which  rendered  him  master  of  Rome 
and  Italy.  By  a  dangerous  exception  to  the  ancient  maxims, 
he  was  authorized  to  preserve  his  military  command,  sup- 
ported by  a  numerous  body  of  guards,  even  in  time  of  peace, 
and  in  the  heart  of  the  capital.     His  command,  indeed,  was 

•  Tliis  distinction  is  witbout  foundation.  The  lieutenants  of  the  emperor, 
wbo  were  called  Propraetors,  whether  they  had  been  praetors  or  consuls, 
were  attended  by  six  lictors  ;  those  who  had  the  right  of  the  sword,  (of  life 
ind  death  over  the  soldiers. — M.)  bore  the  military  habit  (paludanientum) 
Mid  tlie  sword.  The  provincial  governors  commissioned  by  the  senate,  -who, 
whether  they  had  been  consuls  or  not,  were  called  Pronconsula,  had  twelve 
lictors  when  they  had  been  consuls,  and  six  only  when  they  had  but  been 

§ra;tors.     The  provinces  of  Africa  and  Asia  were  only  given  to  ex-coiisol* 
ee,  on  the  Organization  of  the  Provinces,  Dion,  liii.  12,  ]6     Slrabo,  xvii 
840.    -W 


A.D.  98~180.J  OP    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  Tl 

confined  to  those  citizens  who  were  engaged  m  the  service  by 
the  mihtaiy  oath  ;  but  such  was  tlie  propensity  of  the  Romans 
to  servitude,  tliat  the  oath  was  voluntarily  taken  by  the  magis- 
trates, the  senators,  and  the  equestrian  order,  till  the  homage.' 
of  flattery  was  insensibly  converted  into  an  annual  and  solemn 
protestation  of  fidelity. 

Although  Augustas  considered  a  military  force  as  the  firm 
est  foundation,  he  wisely  rejected  it,  as  a  very  odious  instru- 
ment of  government.  It  was  more  agreeable  to  his  temper, 
as  well  as  to  his  policy,  to  reign  under  the  venerable  names 
of  ancient  magistracy,  and  artfully  to  collect,  in  his  own  per- 
son, all  the  scattered  rays  of  civil  jurisdiction.  Wi'^h  this  view, 
he  permitted  the  senate  to  confer  upon  him,  for  his  life,  the 
powers  of  the  consular"  and  tribunitian  offices,"  which  were, 
in  the  same  manner,  continued  to  all  his  successors.  The 
consuls  had  succeeded  to  the  kings  of  Rome,  and  represented 
the  dignity  of  the  state.  They  superintended  the  ceremonies 
of  religion,  levied  and  commanded  the  legions,  gave  audience 
to  foreign  ambassadors,  and  presided  in  tlie  assembhes  both 
of  the  senate  and  people.  The  general  control  of  the  finances 
was  intrusted  to  their  care ;  and  though  they  seldom  had 
leisure  to  administer  justice  in  person,  they  were  considered 
^  the  supreme  guardians  of  law,  equity,  and  the  puHic  peace. 
Such  was  their  ordinary  jurisdiction  ;  but  whenever  the  senate 
empowered  the  first  magistrate  to  consult  the  safety  of  the 
commonwealth,  he  was  raised  by  that  decree  above  the  laws, 
and  exercised,  in  the  defence  of  liberty,  a  temporaiy  despot- 
ism." The  character  of  the  tribunes  was,  in  every  respect, 
Iififerent  from  that  of  the  consuls.     The  appearance  of  the 


"  Cicero  (de  Legibus,  iii.  3)  gives  the  consular  office  the  name  of 
""effia  potestas;  and  Polybius  (1.  vi.  c.  3)  observes  three  powers  in  the 
Aoinar  constitution.  The  monarchical  was  represented  and  exercised 
by  ih  •    '^suls. 

'^  As  the  tribunitian  power  (distinct  from  the  annual  office)  was  first 
invented  by  the  dictator  Ciesar,  (Dion,  1.  xliv.  p.  38-1,)  we  may  easily 
conceive,  that  it  was  given  as  a  reward  for  having  so  nobly  asserted, 
by  arms,  the  sacred  rights  of  the  tribunes  and  people.  See  his  own 
Commentaries,  de  Bell.  Civd.  1.  i. 

"  Augustus  exercised  nine  annual  consulships  without  iuterruptio3- 
He  then  most  artfully  refused  the  magistracy,  as  well  as  the  dictator- 
ship, absented  himself  from  Rome,  and  waited  till  the  fatal  eftects  of 
tumult  and  faction  forced  the  senate  to  invest  him  with  a  perpetual 
consulship.  Augustus,  as  well  as  his  successors,  affected,  however,  t€ 
eoDceal  bo  invidious  a  title. 


80  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

former  was  modest  and  humble  ;  but  their  persons  were  sacred 
and  inviolable.  Their  force  was  suited  rather  for  oppositioh 
than  for  action.  They  were  instituted  to  defend  the  oppressed, 
to  pardon  ofiences,  to  arraign  the  enemies  of  the  people,  and, 
when  they  judged  it  necessary,  to  stop,  by  a  single  word,  the 
»vhole  machine  of  government.  As  long  as  the  republic  sub- 
isted,  the  dangerous  influence,  which  either  the  consul  or  the 
ribune  might  derive  from  their  respective  jurisdiction,  was 
iiminished  by  several  important  restrictions.  Their  authority 
expired  with  the  year  in  which  they  were  elected ;  the  former 
office  was  divided  between  two,  the  latter  among  ten  persons ; 
and,  as  both  in  their  private  and  public  interest  they  were 
averse  to  each  other,  their  mutual  conflicts  contributed,  for  the 
most  part,  to  strengthen  rather  than  to  destroy  the  balance  of 
the  constitution.*  But  when  the  consular  and  tribunitian  powers 
were  united,  when  they  were  vested  for  life  in  a  single  person, 
when  the  general  of  the  array  was,  at  the  same  time,  the  min- 
ister of  the  senate  and  the  representative  of  the  Roman  peojjle, 
it  was  impossible  to  resist  the  exercise,  nor  was  it  easy  to 
define  the  hraits,  of  his  imperial  prerogative. 

To  these  accumulated  honors,  the  policy  of  Augustus  soon 
added  the  sjilendid  as  well  as  important  dignities  of  supreme 
pontiff,  and  of  censor.  By  the  former  he  acquired  the  man- 
agement of  the  religion,  and  by  the  latter  a  legal  inspection 
over  the  manners  and  fortunes,  of  the  Roman  people.  If  so 
many  distinct  and  independent  powers  did  not  exactly  unite 
with  each  other,  the  complaisance  of  the  senate  was  prepared 
1/0  supply  every  deficiency  by  the  most  ample  and  extraordinary 
concessions.  The  emperors,  as  the  first  ministers  of  the 
republic,  were  exempted  from  the  obligation  and  penalty  of 
many  inconvenient  laws :  they  were  authorized  to  convoke 
the  senate,  to  make  several  motions  in  the  same  day,  to 
recommend  candidates  for  the  honors  of  the  state,  to  enlarge 
the  bounds  of  the  city,  to  employ  the  revenue  at  their  discre- 
tion, to  declare  peace  and  war,  to  ratify  treaties ;  and  by  a 
most  comprehensive  clause,  they  were  empowered  to  execute 
'jvhatsoever  they  should  judge  advantageous  to  the  empire,  and 


*  The  uote  of  M.  Guizot  on  the  tribunitian  power  applies  to  the  French 
uranslntion  rather  than  to  the  original.  The  fonner  has,  maintcnir  la  balance 
Umjours  ogale,  which  implies  much  more  tlian  Gibbon's  general  expression 
The  note  belongs  rather  to  the  liistory  of  the  Republic  thau  that  of  tbt 


A..  IX  98-180.J         OB'    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  li] 

agreeable  to  the  majesty  of  things  private  or  public,  humaa.  oi 
divine." 

When  all  the  various  powers  of  executive  government  wer« 
committed  to  the  Imperial  magistratt  the  ordinary  magis- 
trates of  the  commonwealth  laiigiiishod  in  obscurity,  without 
vigor,  and  almost  without  business.  The  names  and  forma 
of  the  ancient  administration  were  preserved  by  Augustus 
with  the  most  anxious  care.  The  usual  number  of  consuls, 
pffletors,  and  tribunes,"  were  annually  invested  with  their  re* 
■  epective  ensigns  of  office,  and  continued  to  dischaige  some  of 
their  least  important  functions.  Those  honors  still  attracted 
the  vain  ambition  of  the  Romans ;  and  the  emperors  them- 
selves, though  invested  for  life  with  the  powers  of  the  consul 
ship,  frequently  aspired  to  the  title  of  that  annual  dignity, 
which  they  condescended  to  share  with  the  most  illustrious  of 
their  fellow-citizens."  In  the  election  of  these  magistrates, 
the  people,  during  the  reign  of  Augustus,  were  permitted  to 
expose  all  the  inconveniences  of  a  wild  democracy.  That 
artful  prince,  instead  of  discovering  the  least  symptom  of  im- 
patience, humbly  solicited  their  suffrages  for  himself  or  his 
fi'iends,  and  scrupulously  practised  all  the  duties  of  an  ordinary 


'*  See  a  fragment  of  a  Decree  of  the  Senate,  conferring  on  the 
emperor  Vespasian  all  the  powers  granted  to  his  predecessors,  Au- 
gustus, Tiberius,  and  Claudius.  This  curious  and  important  monument 
is  published  in  Grutcr's  Inscriptions,  No.  ccxlii.* 

'*  Two  consuls  were  created  on  the  Calends  of  January ;  but  in 
the  course  of  the  year  others  were  substituted  in  their  places,  till  the 
annual  number  seems  to  have  amounted  to  no  less  than  twelve.  The 
prjEtors  were  usually  sixteen  or  eighteen,  (Lipsius  in  Excurs.  D.  ad 
Tacit.  Annal.  1.  i.)  I  have  not  mentioned  the  .(Ediles  or  Quaestors 
Officers  of  the  police  or  revenue  easily  adapt  themselves  to  any  form 
of  government.  In  the  time  of  Nero,  the  tribunes  legally  possessed 
the  right  of  intercession,  though  it  might  be  dangerous  to  exercise  it 
(Tacit.  AnnaL  xvi.  26.)  In  the  time  of  Trajan,  it  was  doubtful 
whether  the  tribuneship  was  an  office  or  a  name,  (Plin.  Epist.  L 
23.) 

"  Tlie  tyrants  themselves  were  ambitious  of  the  consul.'^hip.  The 
vu'tuous  princes  were  moderate  in  the  pursuit,  and  exact  in  the  dis- 
charge of  it.  Trajan  revived  the  ancient  o.ath,  and  swore  before  the 
cori-sul's  tribunal  tliat  he  would  observe  the  laws,  (Plin.  Panegyri". 
e.  64.)  

"  It  is  also  in  the  editions  of  Tacitus  by  Ryck,  (Annal.  p.  420,  421,)  and 
Emesti,  (Excurs.  ad  lib.  iv.  6 ;)  but  this  fragment  contains  so  many  incon. 
nstencies.  both  in  matter  and  form,  that  its  authenticity  may  be  doubted 
— W. 


82  THE    DECLINE    AKD    FALL  [A.  D.  98-18(X 

candidate*  But  we  may  venture  to  ascribe  to  his  councUi 
the  first  measure  of  the  succeeding  reign,  by  which  the  elec- 
tions were  transferred  to  the  senate.'*  The  assembhes  of  the 
people  were  forever  abolished,  and  the  emperors  were  deliv- 
ered from  a  dangerous  multitude,  who,  without  restoring  lib- 
erty, might  have  disturbed,  and  perhaps  endangered,  the  estab- 
lished government. 

By  declaring  themselves  the  protectors  of  the  people, 
Marius  and  Caesar  had  subverted  the  constitution  of  their 
country.  But  as  soon  as  the  senate  had  been  humbled  and 
disarmed,  such  an  assembly,  consisting  of  five  or  six  hundred 
persons,  was  found  a  much  more  tractable  and  useful  instru- 
ment of  dominion.  It  was  on  the  dignity  of  the  senate  that 
Augustus  and  his  successors  founded  their  new  empire ;  and 
they  affected,  on  every  occasion,  to  adopt  the  language  and 
principles  of  Patricians.  In  the  administration  of  their  own 
powers,  they  frequently  consulted  the  great  national  council, 
and  seemed  to  refer  to  its  decision  the  most  important  concerns 
of  peace  and  war.  Rome,  Italy,  and  the  internal  provinces, 
were  subject  to  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  senate. 
With  regard  to  civil  objects,  it  was  the  supreme  court  of 
appeal ;  wth  regard  to  criminal  matters,  a  tribunal,  constitut- 
ed for  the  trial  of  all  offences  that  were  committed  by  men 
in  any  public  station,  or  that  affected  the  peace  and  majesty 
of  the  Roman  people.  The  exercise  of  the  judicial  power 
became  the  most  frequent  and  serious  occupation  of  the 
senate  ;  and  the  important  causes  that  were  pleaded  before 
them  afforded  a  last  refuge  to  the  spirit  of  ancient  eloquence. 
As  a  council  of  state,  and  as  a  court  of  justice,  the  senate  pos- 
sessed very  considerable  prerogatives  ;  but  in  its  legislative 
capacity,  in  which  it  was  supposed  virtually  to  represent  th<» 


*'  Quoties  Msigistratuum  Comitiis  interesset.  Tribus  ciim  candida- 
tis  suis  cii-cmbat :  supplicabatqiie  more  solemni.  Ferebat  et  ipse 
Biiffi'agiuni  in  tribubus,  ut  unu3  e  populo.  Suetonius  in  August 
t.56. 

**  Turn  prircum  Comitia  e  campo  ad  patres  translata  sunt.  Tacit. 
Annal.  i.  15.  The  word  primum  seems  to  allude  to  some  faint  and 
unsuccessful  eiforts  which  were  made  towards  restoring  them  to  the 
people,* 

*  The  emperor  Caligiila  made  the  attempt :  he  rest  red  the  Comitia  to  the 
people,  but,  in  a  short  time,  took  them  a^vay  agaia  Suet,  in  Caio.  c.  16. 
Dion.  lix.  9,  20.  Nevertheless,  at  the  time  of  Dion,  they  presen'ed  still  the 
form  of  the  Comitia.    Dion.  Iviii.  20. — W. 


A.D.  98-180.J  01;    THE    EOMAN    EMPIRE.  88 

people,  the  rights  of  sovereignty  were  acknowledged  to  reside 
in  that  assembly.  Every  power  was  derived  from  their  au- 
thority, every  law  was  ratified  by  their  sanction.  Their  regu- 
lar meetings  were  held  on  three  stated  days  in  -^very  month, 
the  Calends,  the  Nones,  and  the  Ides.  The  debates  were  con- 
ducted with  decent  freedom ;  and  the  emperors  themselves, 
who  gloried  in  the  name  of  senators,  sat,  voted,  and  divided 
with  their  equals. 

To  resume,  in  a  few  words,  the  system  of  the  Imperial 
government ;  as  it  was  instituted  by  Augustus,  and  main- 
tained by  those  princes  who  understood  their  own  interest  and 
that  of  the  people,  it  may  be  defined  an  absolute  monarchy 
disguised  by  the  forms  of  a  commonwealth.  The  masters  of 
the  Roman  world  surrounded  their  throne  with  darkness,  con- 
cealed their  irresistible  strength,  and  humbly  professed  them- 
selves the  accountable  ministers  of  the  senate,  whose  supreme 
decrees  they  dictated  and  obeyed." 

The  face  of  the  court  corresponded  with  the  forms  of  the 
administration.  The  emperors,  if  we  except  those  tyrants 
whose  capricious  folly  violated  every  law  of  nature  and  de- 
cency, disdained  that  pomp  and  ceremony  which  might  ofiend 
their  countrymen,  but  could  add  nothing  to  their  real  power 
In  all  the  offices  of  life,  they  affected  to  confound  themselves 
with  their  subjects,  and  maintained  with  them  an  equal  inter- 
course of  visits  and  entertainments.  Their  habit,  their  palace, 
their  table,  were  suited  only  to  the  rank  of  an  opulent  sena- 
tor. Their  family,  however  numerous  or  splendid,  was  com- 
posed entirely  of  their  domestic  slaves  and  freedmen." 
Augustus  or  Trajan  would  have  blushed  at  employing  the 
meanest  of  the  Romans  in  those  menial  offices,  which,  in  the 


"  Dion  Cassius  (1.  liii.  p.  703 — lli)  has  given  a  very  loose  and 
partial  sketch  of  the  Imperial  system.  To  illustrate  and  often  to  cor- 
rect him,  I  hrtve  meditated  Tacitus,  examined  Suetonius,  and  consulted 
the  following  moderns :  the  Abbe  de  la  Bleterie,  in  the  Memoires  de 
I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  tom.  xix.  xxi.  xxiv.  xxv.  xxvii.  Beaufort, 
Repubhquc  Uomaine,tom.  i.  p.  255 — 275.  The  Dissertations  of  Noodt 
aad  Gronovius  de  lege  Rcgia,  printed  at  Leyden,  in  the  year  1731 
Gravina  de  Imperio  Romano,  p.  479 — 544  of  his  Opuscula.  Maffei, 
Verona  Illustrata,  p.  i.  p.  245,  <fec. 

'"  A  weak  prince  will  always  be  governed  by  his  iomestics.  The 
power  of  slaves  aggravated  the  shame  of  the  Romans ;  and  the  senate 
paid  court  to  a  Pallas  or  a  Narcissus.  There  is  a  chance  that  a  modem 
WTorite  may  be  a  gentleraaa 


84  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180 

houseboU  and  bedchamber  of  a  limited  monarch,  are  so  eagerly 
solicited  by  the  proudest  nobles  of  Britain. 

The  deification  of  the  emperors^'  is  the  only  instance  in 
T^hich  they  departed  from  their  accustomed  prudence  and 
modesty.  The  Asiatic  Greeks  were  the  first  inventors,  the 
successors  of  Alexander  the  first  objects,  of  this  servile  and 
impious  mode  of  adulation.*  It  was  easily  transferred  from 
the  kings  to  the  governors  of  Asia;  and  the  Roman  magis- 
trates very  frequently  were  adored  as  provincial  deities,  with 
the  pomp  of  altars  and  temples,  of  festivals  and  sacrifices.'* 
It  was  natural  that  the  emperors  should  not  refuse  what  the 
proconsuls  had  accepted ;  and  the  divine  honors  which  both 
the  one  and  the  other  received  from  the  provinces,  attested 
rather  the  despotism  than  the  servitude  of  Rome.  But  the 
conquerors  soon  imitated  the  vanquished  nations  in  the  arts 
of  flattery  ;  and  the  imperious  spirit  of  the  first  Caesar  too 
easily  consented  to  assume,  during  his  lifetime,  a  place  among 
the  tutelar  deities  of  Rome.  The  milder  temper  of  his  suc- 
cessor declined  so  dangerous  an  ambition,  which  was  never 
afterwards  revived,  except  by  the  madness  of  Caligula  and 
Domitian.  Augustus  permitted  indeed  some  of  the  provincial 
cities  to  erect  temples  to  his  honor,  on  condition  that  they 
should  associate  the  worship  of  Rome  with  that  of  the  sove- 
reign ;  he  tolerated  private  superstition,  of  which  he  might  be 


^^  See  a  treatise  of  Vandale  de  Consecratione  Principium.  It  would 
be  easier  for  me  to  copy,  than  it  has  been  to  verify,  the  quotations  of 
that  learned  Dutchman. 

''^  See  a  dissertation  of  the  Abbe  Mongault  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  Academy  of  Inscriptions. 


*  This  is  inaccurate.  The  successors  of  Alexander  were  not  the  first 
deified  sovereigns ;  the  Egyptians  had  deified  and  worsliipped  many  of 
their  kings ;  the  Olympus  of  the  Greeks  was  peopled  with  divinities  who 
had  reigned  on  earth ;  finally,  Romulus  himself  had  received  the  honors 
of  an  apotheosis  (Tit.  Li  v.  i.  16)  a  long  time  before  Alexander  and  his 
successors.  It  is  also  an  inaccuracy  to  confound  the  honors  offered  in  tha 
provinces  to  the  Roman  governors,  by  temples  and  altars,  with  the  trua 
apotheosis  of  the  emperors ;  it  was  not  a  religious  worship,  for  it  had 
neither  priests  nor  saci-ificos.  Augustus  was  severely  blamed  for  having 
permitted  himself  to  be  wor.'ihiyjped  as  a  god  in  the  provinces,  (Tac  Ana 
i.  10 :)  he  would  not  have  incun-ed  that  blame  if  he  had  only  done  -wliat 
the  governors  were  accustomed  to  do. — G.  from  W.  M.  Guizot  has  been 
guilty  of  a  still  greater  inaccuracy  in  confounding  the  deification  of  tne 
living  ^^•ith  the  apotheosis  of  the  dead  emperors.  The  nature  of  the  king- 
wor.ship  of  Egj-pt  is  still  very  obscure;  the  hero-worship  of  t'ti,i  Greeks 
very  ditferent  from  the  adoration  of  tlv»  "pnesens  nuraen"  jo  the  roigcing 
•overeign. — M 


A.  D.  98-180.]  OP    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  8i 

the  object;"  but  he  contented  himself  with  being  revered  by 
the  senate  and  the  people  in  his  human  character,  and  wisely 
left  to  his  successor  the  care  of  his  public  deification.  A  reg- 
ular custom  was  introduced,  that  on  the  decease  of  every 
emperor  Avho  had  neither  lived  nor  died  like  a  tyrant,  the 
senate  by  a  solemn  decree  should  place  him  in  the  number  of 
the  gods :  and  the  ceremonies  of  his  apotheosis  were  blended 
mth  those  of  his  funoral.f  This  legal,  and,  as  it  should 
«eem,  injudicious  profanation,  so  abhorrent  to  our  stricter 
principles,  was  received  with  a  very  faint  murmur,^*  by  the 
easy  nature  of  Polytheism  ;  but  it  was  received  as  an  institu- 
tion, not  of  religion,  but  of  policy.  We  should  disgrace  the 
virtues  of  the  Antonines  by  comparing  them  with  the  vices 
of  Hercules  or  Jupiter.  Even  the  characters  of  Csesar  or 
Augustus  were  far  superior  to  those  of  the  popular  deities. 
But  it  was  the  misfortune  of  the  former  to  live  in  an  enlight- 
ened age,  and  their  actions  were  too  faithfully  recorded  to 
admit  of  such  a  mixture  of  fable  and  mystery,  as  the  devotion 
of  the  vulgar  requires.  As  soon  as  their  divinity  was  estab- 
lished by  law,  it  sunk  into  oblivion,  without  contributing  either 
to  their  own  fame,  or  to  the  dignity  of  succeeding  princes. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  Imperial  government,  w^e  have 
frequently  mentioned  the  artful  founder,  under  his  well-known 
title  of  Augustus,  which  was  not,  however,  conferred  upon  him 
till  the  edifice  was  almost  completed.  The  obscure  name  of 
Octavianus  he  derived  from  a  mean  family,  in  the  little  town 
of  Aricia.J     It  was  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  proscription ; 

"*  Jurandasque  tuum  per  nomen  poniimis  aran,  says  Horace  to  the 
.  emperor  himself,  and  Horace  was  well  acquainted  with  the  court  of 
Augustus.* 

'*  See  Cicero  in  Philippic,  i.  C.  Julian  in  Coesaribus.  luque  Deum 
teinplis  jurabit  Roma  per  umbras,  is  the  indignant  expression  of 
Luciin ;  but  it  is  a  patriotic  rather  than  a  devout  indignation. 


*  The  good  pruices  were  not  those  who  alone  obtained  the  honors  of  an 
apotheosis  :  it  was  conferred  on  many  tyrants.  See  an  excellent  treatise  of 
SchoepHin,  de  Consecnitioue  Imperatoram  Romanorum,  in  his  Commenta- 
tiones  historic^  et  criticffi.     Bale,  1741,  p.  184. — W. 

t  The  curious  satire  the  dn-oK(i'Svi/r'.ia(g,  in  the  works  of  Seneca,  is  the 
gtpontrest  remonstrance  of  profiined  religion. — M. 

\  Octavius  was  not  of  an  obscui-e  family,  but  of  a  considerable  one  of 
tlie  equestrian  order.  His  father.  C.  Octavius,  who  possessed  great  prop- 
Brty,  had  been  pra3tor,  governor  of  Macedonia,  adorned  with  the  title  of 
Ixape^ator,  and  was  on  tlie  point  of  becoming  consul  when  he  died.  Hi( 
mother  Attia,  was  daughter  of  M.  Attius  Balbus,  who  ha^  also  been 
^relor.    M.  Anthony  reproached  Octavius  with  having  been  born  in  Arioia 


K6  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

and  he  was  desirous,  had  it  been  possible,  to  erase  all  memory 
of  his  tVmar  life.  The  illustrious  surname  of  Csesar  he  had 
assumed,  as  the  adopted  son  of  the  dictator :  but  he  had  too 
much  good  sense,  either  to  hope  to  be  confounded,  or  to  wish 
to  be  compared  with  that  extraordinary  man.  It  was  proposed 
in  the  senate  to  dignify  their  minister  with  a  new  appellation; 
and  after  a  serious  discussion,  that  of  Augustus  was  chosen, 
among  several  others,  as  being  the  most  expressive  of  the 
eharacter  of  peace  and  sanctity,  which  he  uniformly  affect- 
ed."^ Augustus  was  therefore  a  personal,  Ccesar  a  family 
distinction.  The  former  should  naturally  have  expired  with 
the  prince  on  whom  it  was  bestowed  ;  and  however  the  latter 
was  diffused  by  adoption  and  female  alliance,  Nero  was  the 
last  prince  who  could  allege  any  hereditary  claim  to  the  hon- 
ors of  the  Julian  line.  But,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the 
practice  of  a  century  had  inseparably  connected  those  appel- 
lations with  the  Imperial  dignity,  and  they  have  been  pre- 
served b}'  a  long  succession  of  emperors,  Romans,  Greeks, 
Franks,  and  Germans,  from  the  fall  of  the  republic  to  the 
present  time.  A  distinction  was,  however,  soon  introduced 
The  sacred  title  of  Augustus  was  always  reserved  for  the 
monarch,  whilst  the  name  of  Csesar  was  more  freely  commu- 
nicated to  his  relations  ;  and,  from  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  at 
least,  was  appropriated  to  the  second  person  in  the  state,  whc 
was  considered  as  the  presumptive  heir  of  the  empire.* 

The  tender  respect  of  Augustus  for  a  free  constitutic/n 
which  he  had  destroyed,  can  only  be  explained  by  an  atten- 

"^  Dion.  Cassias,  1.  liii.  y.  710,  with  the  curious  Annotations  of 
Reimar. 

which,  nevertheless,  wa;?  a  congiJerable  municipal  city  :  he  was  vigorously 
refuted  by  Cicero.  Philip,  iii.  c.  6. — W.  Gibbon  probably  meant  that  the 
family  had  but  recently  emerged  into  notice. — M. 

*  The  princes  who  by  their  birth  or  their  adoption  belonged  to  the  family 
of  the  Coesars,  took  the  name  of  Csesar.  After  the  death  of  Nero,  this 
name  designated  the  Imperial  dignity  itself,  and  afterv^'ards  the  appointed 
successor.  The  time  at  which  it  w^as  employed  in  the  latter  sense,  cannot 
be  fixed  with  certainty.  Bach  (Hist.  Jurisprud.  Rom.  304)  afBrms  fi-om 
Tacitus,  H.  i.  15,  and  Suetonius,  G-alba,  17,  that  Galba  confen-ed  on  Piso 
Lccinianus  the  title  of  Casar,  and  fi-om  that  time  the  term  had  tliis  mean- 
ing :  but  these  two  liistorians  simply  say  that  he  appointed  Piso  his  suc- 
cessor, and  do  not  mention  the  word  Cassar.  Aurelius  Victor  (in  Traj.  348, 
ed.  Artzen)  says  that  Hadrian  first  received  this  title  on  his  adoption ;  but 
tB  the  adoption  of  Hadrian  is  still  doubtful,  and  besides  this,  as  Trajan,  on 
his  death-bed,  was  not  likely  to  have  created  a  new  title  for  his  socce» 
•or,  it  is  more  probable  that  .ffihus  Verus  was  the  first  wb:  was  'sa.Ued 
CjBsar  when  adopted  by  Hadrian.     Spart.  in  JE\io  Vero,  102.-    VV. 


\.  D.  98- 180, J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIKE.  87 

tive  consideration  of  the  cbaracter  of  that  subtle  tyrant.  A 
cool  head,  an  unfeeling  heart,  and  a  cowardly  disposition, 
prompted  him  at  the  age  of  nineteen  to  assume  the  mask  of 
hypocrisy,  which  he  never  afterwards  laid  aside.  With  the 
Bame  hand,  and  probably  with  the  same  temper,  he  signed 
the  proscription  of  Cicero,  and  the  pardon  of  Cinna.  His 
virtues,  and  even  his  vices,  were  artificial ;  and  according  to 
the  various  dictates  of  his  interest,  he  was  at  first  the  enemy, 
and  at  last  the  father,  of  the  Roman  world.^*  When  he 
framed  the  artful  system  of  the  Imperial  authorit}'-,  his  mod- 
eration was  inspired  by  his  fears.  He  wished  to  deceive  the 
people  by  an  image  of  civil  liberty,  and  the  armies  by  an 
image  of  civil  government. 

I,  The  death  of  Caesar  was  ever  before  his  eyes.  He  had 
lavished  wealth  and  honors  on  his  adherents ;  but  the  most 
favored  friends  of  his  uncle  were  in  the  number  of  the  con- 
spirators. The  fidelity  of  the  legions  might  defend  his 
authority  against  open  rebellion ;  but  their  vigilance  could 
not  secure  his  person  from  the  dagger  of  a  determined 
republican ;  and  the  Romans,  who  revered  the  memory  of 
Brutus,'"  would  applaud  the  imitation  of  his  virtue.  Csesar 
had  provoked  his  fate,  as  much  by  the  ostentation  of  his 
power,  as  by  his  power  itself.  The  consul  or  the  tribune 
might  have  reigned  in  peace.  The  title  of  king  had  armed 
the  Romans  against  his  life.  Augustus  was  sensible  that  man- 
kind  is  governed  by  names ;  nor  was  he  deceived  m  his  ex- 
l^ectation,  that  the  senate  and  people  would  submit  to  slavery, 
provided  they  were  respectfully  assured  that  they  still  enjoyed 
their  ancient  freedom.  A  feeble  senate  and  enervated  people 
cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  pleasing  illusion,  as  long  as  it 
was  supported  by  the  virtue,  or  even  by  the  prudence,  of  the 

^'  As  Octavianug  advanced  to  the  banquet  of  the  Cajsars,  his  color 
changed  like  that  of  the  chameleon  ;  pale  at  first,  then  red,  afterwards 
black,  he  at  last  assumed  the  mild  livery  of  Venus  and  the  Graces, 
(Caesars,  p  309.)  This  image,  employed  by  Julian  in  his  ingenious 
fiction,  is  just  and  elegant ;  but  when  he  considers  this  change  of 
character  as  real  and  ascribes  it  to  the  power  of  Triiilosophy,  he  does 
too  much  honor  to  philosophy  and  to  Octavianus. 

°'  Two  centuries  after  the  estabhshment  of  monarchy,  the  emperor 
Marcus  Antoninus  recommends  the  character  of  Brutus  as  a  perfect 
model  of  Roman  virtue.* 


*  In  a  very  ingenious  essay,  Gibbon  has  ventured  to  call  in  quesdco  tlM 
preeminent  virtue  of  Bnitus.    Misc  Works,  iv.  95. — M. 


98  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180, 

successors  of  Augustus.  It  was  a  motive  of  self-preserva- 
tion, not  a  principle  of  liberty,  that  animated  the  conspirators 
against  Caligula,  Nero,  and  Domitian.  They  attacked  the 
person  of  the  tyrant,  without  aiming  their  blow  at  the  authority 
of  the  emperor. 

There  appears,  indeed,  one  memorable  occasion,  in  which 
che  senate,  after  seventy  years  of  patience,  made  an  ineffec- 
tual attempt  to  re-assume  its  long-forgotten  rights.  AYhen  the 
throne  was  vacant  by  the  murder  of  Caligula,  the  consuls 
convoked  that  assembly  in  the  Capitol,  condemned  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Cccsars,  gave  the  watchword  liberty  to  the  few 
cohorts  who  faintly  adhered  to  their  standard,  and  during 
eight-and-forty  hours  acted  as  the  independent  chiefs  of  a 
free  commonwealth.  But  while  they  deliberated,  the  praeto- 
rian guards  had  resolved.  The  stupid  Claudius,  brother  of 
Germanicus,  was  already  in  their  camp,  invested  with  the 
Imperial  purple,  and  prepared  to  support  his  election  by  arms. 
The  dream  of  liberty  was  at  an  end ;  and  the  senate  awoke 
to  all  the  horrors  of  inevitable  servitude.  Deserted  by  the 
people,  and  threatened  by  a  military  force,  that  feeble  assem- 
bly was  compelled  to  ratify  the  choice  of  the  praetorians,  and 
to  embrace  the  benefit  of  an  amnesty,  which  Claudius  had 
the  prudence  to  offer,  and  the  generosity  to  observe.'^* 

II.  The  insolence  of  the  armies  inspired  Augustus  with 
fears  of  a  still  more  alarming  nature.  The  despair  of  the 
citizens  could  only  attempt,  Avhat  the  power  of  the  soldiers 
was,  at  any  time,  able  to  execute.  How  precarious  was  his 
own  authority  over  men  whom  he  had  taught  to  violate  every 
^ucial  duty  !  He  had  heard  their  seditious  clamors;  he 
dreaded  their  calmer  moments  of  reflection.  One  revolution 
had  been  purchased  by  immense  rewards ;  but  a  second  revo- 
lution might  double  those  rewards.  The  troops  professed  the 
fondest  attachment  to  the  house  of  Csesar;  but  the  attach- 
ments of  the  multitude  are  capricious  and  inconstant. 
'Augustus  summoned  to  his  aid  whatever  remained  in  those 
fierce  mmds  of  Roman  prejudices ;  enforced  the  rigor  of 
discipline  by  the  sanction  of  law ;  and,  interposing  the 
majesty  of  the  senate  between  the  emperor  and   the  array, 


'*  It  i3  much  to  be  rcgi'etted  that  we  have  lost  the  part  of  Tacitoh 
which  treated  of  that  transaction.  We  arc  forced  to  content  ourselves 
urith  the  popular  rumors  of  Josephu3,  and  the  imperfect  hints  of  Diau 
and  Suetoolijs. 


A.D.  98-180.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  69 

boldly  claimed  their  allegianc«,  as  the  first  magistrate   pf  th« 
republic 

During  a  long  period  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  years 
from  the  establishment  of  this  artful  system  to  the  death  of 
Commodus,  the  dangers  inherent  to  a  military  government 
were,  in  a  great  measure,  suspended.  The  soldiers  were 
seldom  roused  to  that  fatal  sense  of  their  own  strength,  and  of 
the  weakness  of  the  civil  authority,  which  was,  before  and 
afterwards,  productive  of  such  dreadful  calamities.'  Caligula 
and  Domitian  were  assassinated  in  their  palace  by  their  own 
domestics :  *  the  convulsions  which  agitated  Rome  on  the 
ileath  of  the  former,  were  confined  to  the  walls  of  the  city. 
But  Nero  involved  the  whole  empire  in  his  ruin.  In  the 
space  of  eighteen  months,  four  princes  perished  by  the 
sword  ;  and  the  Roman  world  was  shaken  by  the  fury  of  the 
contending  armies.  Excepting  only  this  short,  though  vio- 
lent eruption  of  military  license,  the  two  centuries  from 
Augustus  to  Commodus  passed  away  unstained  with  civil 
blood,  and  undisturbed  by  revolutions.  The  emperor  was 
elected  by  the  authority  of  the  se7iate,  and  the  consent  of  the 
soldiers.^"  The  legions  respected  their  oath  of  fidelity ;  and 
it  requires  a  rninute  inspection  of  the  Roman  annals  to 
discover     three     inconsiderable     rebellions,    which    were    all 

*'  Augustus  restored  the  ancient  severity  of  discipline.  After  the 
civil  wars,  he  dropped  the  endearing  name  of  Fellow-Soldiers,  and 
called  them  only  Soldiers,  (Sueton.  in  August,  c.  25.)  See  the  use 
Tiberius  made  of  the  Senate  in  the  mutiny  of  the  Pannonian  legions. 
(Tacit.  Annal.  i.) 

°"  These  words  seem  to  have  been  the  constitutional  language.  See 
Tacit.  Annal.  xiii.  4.f 

*  Caligula  perLshed  by  a  conspiracy  formed  by  the  officers  of  the  praeto- 
rian troops,  and  Domitian  would  not,  perhaps,  have  been  assassinated 
without  the  participation  of  the  two  chiefs  of  that  guai'd  in  his  death. 
—W. 

t  This  panegyric  on  the  soldiery  is  rather  too  liberal.  Claudius  was 
obliged  to  purchase  their  consent  to  his  coronation :  the  presents  which  ho 
made,  and  those  which  the  praetorians  received  on  other  occasions,  consid- 
erably embarrassed  the  finances.  Moreover,  this  formidable  guard  favored, 
in  general,  the  cruelties  of  the  tyrants.  The  distant  revolts  wore  more 
frequent  than  Gibbon  thinks :  already,  under  Tiberius,  tlie  legions  of  G(!r- 
many  would  have  seditiously  constrained   Gennanicua  to  assume  the  Iio- 

Eerial  purple.  On  the  revolt  of  Claudius  Civilis.  under  Vespasian,  the 
igions  of  Gaul  murdered  their  general,  and  olfiirod  their  assistance  to  tlia 
Qauls  who  were  in  insurrection.  .Julius  Sabinus  made  himself  be  pro- 
claimed emperor,  &c.  The  wars,  the  merit,  and  the  severe  discipline  of 
Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  two  Antoninos,  establislied,  fo*"  some  time,  a  greatet 
degree  of  Bubordination. — W 


90  THE    DECL1\E    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98--180 

nappressed  hi  a  few  months,  and  without  even   the  hazard  of 
a  battle.'' 

In  elective  monarchies,  the  vacancy  of  the  throne  is  a  luo 
ment  big  with  danger  and  mischief.  The  Roman  emperoi-s, 
desirous  to  spare  the  legions  that  interval  of  suspense,  and  the 
temptation  of  an  irregular  choice,  invested  their  designed  suc- 
cessor with  so  large  a  share  of  present  power,  as  should  ena- 
ble him,  after  their  decease,  to  assume  the  remainder,  without 
suffering  the  empire  to  perceive  the  change  of  masters.  Thua 
Augustus,  after  all  his  fairer  prospects  had  been  snatched  from 
him  by  untimely  deaths,  rested  his  last  hopes  on  Tiberius, 
obtained  for  his  adopted  son  the  censorial  and  tribunitian  pow- 
ers, and  dictated  a  law,  by  which  the  future  prince  was  invested 
with  an  authority  equal  to  his  own,  over  the  provinces  and  the 
armies.'^  Thus  Vespasian  subdued  the  generous  mind  of  his 
eldest  son.  Titus  was  adored  by  the  eastern  legions,  which, 
under  his  command,  had  recently  achieved  the  conquest  of 
Judeea.  His  power  was  dreaded,  and,  as  his  virtues  were 
clouded  by  the  intemperance  of  youth,  his  designs  were  sus- 
pected. Instead  of  listening  to  such  unworthy  suspicions,  the 
prudent  monarch  associated  Titus  to  the  full  powers  of  the 
Imperial  dignity ;  and  the  grateful  son  ever  approved  himself 
the  humble  and  faithful  minister  of  so  indulgent  a  father." 

The  good  sense  of  Vespasian  engaged  him  indeed  to  em 
brace  every  measure  that  might  confirm  his  recent  and  preca- 
rious elevation.  The  military  oath,  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
troops,  had  been  consecrated,  by  the  habits  of  a  hundred 
years,  to  the  name  and  family  of  the  Ceesars ;  and  although 
that  family  had  been  continued  only  by  the  fictitious  rite  of 
adoption,  the  Romans  still  revered,  in  the  person  of  Nero,  the 
grandson  of  Germanicus,  and  the  lineal  successor  of  Augus- 
tus. It  was  not  without  reluctance  and  remorse,  that  the  prae- 
torian guards  had  been  persuaded  to  abandon  the  cause  of  the 


•'  The  first  was  Camillus  Scribonianu?,  -who  took  up  arms  in  Dal- 
matia  against  Claudius,  and  was  deserted  by  his  own  troops  in  five  days, 
the  second,  L.  Antonius,  in  Germany,  who  rebelled  against  Domitian ; 
and  the  third,  Avidius  Cassius,  in  the  reign  of  M.  Antoninus.  The  two 
last  reigned  but  a  few  months,  and  were  cut  off  by  their  own  adherenta 
We  may  observe,  that  both  Camillus  and  Cassius  colored  their  ambi 
jiot  with  the  design  of  restoring  the  republic ;  a  task,  said  CassiGS 
peculiarly  reserved  for  his  name  and  family. 

"  Velleius  Paterculus,  1.  ii.  c.  121.     Sueton.  in  Tiber,  c  2f. 

■»  Sueton.  m  Tit  c.  6.     Phn.  in  PrsBfat.  Hist.  Natur, 


A.  D.  98-180,]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  9\ 

tyrant.'*  The  rapid  downfall  of  Galba,  Otho,  and  Vitellua, 
taught  the  armies  to  consider  the  emperors  as  the  creatures  of 
their  will,  and  the  instruments  of  their  license.  The  birth  of 
Vespasian  was  mean  :  his  grandfather  had  been  a  private  sol- 
dier, his  father  a  petty  officer  of  the  revenue  ;  ^*  his  own  merit 
had  raised  him,  in  an  advanced  age,  to  the  empire  ;  but  his 
merit  was  rather  useful  than  shining,  and  his  virtues  were 
disgraced  by  a  strict  and  even  sordid  parsimony.  Such  a 
prince  consulted  his  true  interest  by  the  association  of  a  son, 
whose  more  splendid  and  amiable  character  might  turn  the 
public  attention  from  the  obscure  origin,  to  the  future  glories, 
of  the  Flavian  house.  Under  the  mild  administration  of  Titus, 
the  Roman  world  enjoyed  a  transient  felicity,  and  his  beloved 
memory  served  to  protect,  above  fifteen  years,  the  vices  of  his 
brother  Domitian. 

ISTerva  had  scarcely  accepted  the  purple  from  the  assassins 
of  Domitian,  before  he  discovered  that  his  feeble  age  was 
unable  to  stem  the  torrent  of  public  disorders,  which  had  mul- 
tiplied under  the  long  tyranny  of  his  predecessor.  His  mild 
disposition  was  respected  by  the  good ;  but  the  degenerate  Ro- 
mans required  a  more  vigorous  character,  whose  justice  should 
strike  terror  into  the  guilty.  Though  he  had  several  relations, 
he  fixed  his  choice  on  a  stranger.  He  adopted  Trajan,  then 
about  forty  years  of  age,  and  who  commanded  a  powerful  army 
in  the  Lower  Germany ;  and  immediately,  by  a  decree  of  the 
senate,  declared  him  his  colleague  and  successor  in  the  em- 
pire,'"  It  is  sincerely  to  be  lamented,  that  whilst  we  are 
fatigued  with  the  disgustful  relation  of  Nero's  crimes  and  fol- 
lies, we  are  reduced  to  collect  the  actions  of  Trajan  from  the 
glimmerings  of  an  abridgment,  or  the  doubtful  light  of  a 
panegyric.  There  remains,  however,  one  panegyric  far  removed 
beyond  the  suspicion  of  flattery.  Above  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  death  of  Trajan,  the  senate,  in  pouring  out  the 
customary  acclamations  on  the  accession  of  a  new  emperor, 
wished  that  he  might  surpass  the  felicity  of  Augustus,  and  tho 
virtue  of  Trajan." 

**  This  idea  is  frequently  and  strongly  inculcated  by  Tacitus.  See 
Hist.  i.  5,  16,  ii.  76. 

"*  The  emperor  Vespasian,  with  his  usual  good  sense,  laughed  af 
the  genealogists,  who  deduced  his  family  from  Flavius,  the  founder  of 
Reate,  (his  native  country,)  and  one  of  the  companions  of  Herciilea 
Buet.  in  Vespasian,  c.  12. 

**  Dion,  1.  IxvLii.  p.  1121.     Plin.  Secund.  in  Panegyric, 

*''  Felicior  Augasto,  meliok  Teajano.     Eutrop.  viii.  5. 


92  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98"18(X 

"W-^  may  readily  believe,  tliat  the  father  of  his  coimti-y 
hesitated  whether  he  ought  to  intrust  the  various  and  doubtful 
character  of  his  kinsman  Hadrian  with  sovereign  power.  In 
his  last  moments  the  arts  of  the  empress  Plotina  either  fixed 
the  irresohition  of  Trajan,  or  boldly  supposed  a  fictitious  adop- 
tion ;  ^*  the  truth  of  which  could  not  be  safely  disputed,  and 
rfadrian  was  peaceably  acknowledged  as  his  lawful  successor. 
Under  his  reign,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  empire 
flourished  in  peace  and  prosperity.  He  encouraged  the  arts, 
reformed  the  laws,  asserted  military  discipline,  and  visited  all 
his  provinces  in  person.  His  vast  and  active  genius  wa.s 
equally  suited  to  the  most  enlarged  views,  and  the  minute 
details  of  civil  policy.  But  the  ruling  passions  of  his  soul 
were  curiosity  and  vanity.  As  they  prevailed,  and  as  they 
were  attracted  by  different  objects,  Hadrian  was,  by  turns,  an 
excellent  prince,  a  ridiculous  sophist,  and  a  jealous  tyrant. 
The  general  tenor  of  his  conduct  deserved  praise  for  its  equity 
and  moderation.  Yet  in  the  first  days  of  his  reign,  he  put  to 
death  four  consular  senators,  his  personal  enemies,  and  men 
who  had  been  judged  worthy  of  empire ;  and  the  tediousness 
of  a  painful  illness  rendered  him,  at  last,  peevish  and  cruel. 
The  senate  doubted  whether  they  should  pronounce  him  a  god 
or  a  tyrant ;  and  the  honors  decreed  to  his  memory  were 
granted  to  the  prayers  of  the  pious  Antoninus.'^ 

The  caprice  of  Hadrian  influenced  his  choice  of  a  succes- 
sor. After  revolving  in  his  mind  several  men  of  distinguished 
merit,  whom  he  esteemed  and  hated,  he  adopted  ^lius  Verus. 
a  gay  and  voluptuous  nobleman,  recommended  by  uncommon 
beauty  to  the  lover  of  Antinous.*"  But  whilst  Hadrian  was 
delighting  himself  with  his  own  applause,  and  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  soldiers,  whose  consent  had  been  secured  by  an 

^*  Dion  (L  Ixix,  p.  1249)  affirms  the  whole  to  have  been  a  fiction,  on 
the  authority  of  his  father,  who,  being  governor  of  tlie  jDrovince  where 
Trajan  died,  had  very  good  opportunities  of  sifting  this  mysterious 
transaction.  Yet  Dothvell  (Prselect.  Camden,  xvii.)  has  maintained, 
tliat  Hadrian  was  called  to  the  certain  hope  of  the  empire,  during  the 
lifetime  of  Trajan. 

""  Dion,  (L  Ixx.  p.  1171.)     Am-el.  Victor. 

*"  The  deification  of  Antinous,  his  medals,  his  statues,  temples,  city, 
■Dj.'iclcs,  and  constellation,  are  well  known,  and  still  dishonor  the 
memory  of  Hadrian.  Yet  we  may  remark,  that  of  the  first  fifteen  em- 
perors, Claudius  was  the  only  one  whose  taste  in  love  was  entirely 
correct.  For  the  honors  of  Antinous,  see  Spanheim,  Commentioire  sui 
lea  CffisjiTS  de  Julien,  p.  80. 


A.D    f*H->80.|  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  8»8 

immynse  donative,  the  new  Cajsaf"  was  ravislied  from  his 
embraces  by  an  untimely  death.  He  left  only  one  son.  Ha- 
drian commended  the  boy  to  the  gratitude  of  the  Antonines. 
He  was  adopted  by  Pius;  and,  on  the  accession  of  Marcus, 
was  invested  with  an  equal  share  of  sovereign  power.  Among 
the  many  vices  of  this  younger  Verus,  he  possessed  one  virtue ; 
a  dutiful  reverence  for  his  wiser  colleague,  to  whom  he  willingly 
abandoned  the  ruder  cares  of  empire.  The  philosophic  em- 
peror dissembled  his  follies,  lamented  his  early  death,  and  cast 
a  decent  veil  over  his  memory. 

As  soon  as  Hadrian's  passion  was  either  gratiiied  or  disap- 
pointed, he  resolved  to  deserve  the  thanks  of  posterity,  by 
placing  the  most  exalted  merit  on  the  Roman  throne.  His 
discerning  eye  easily  discovered  a  senator  about  fifty  years  of 
age,  ;lameless  in  all  the  offices  of  life ;  and  a  youth  of  about 
sevenieen,  whose  riper  years  opened  a  fair  prospect  of  every 
virtue  :  the  elder  of  these  was  declared  the  son  and  successor 
of  Hadrian,  on  condition,  however,  that  he  himself  should 
immediately  adopt  the  youngei*.  The  two  Antonines  (for  it 
is  of  them  that  we  are  now  speaking,)  governed  the  Roman 
world  forty-two  years,  with  the  same  invariable  spirit  of  wis- 
dom and  virtue.  Although  Pius  had  two  sons,*^  he  preferred 
the  welfare  of  Rome  to  the  interest  of  his  family,  gave  his 
daughter  Faustina,  in  marriage  to  young  Marcus,  obtained 
from  the  senate  the  tribunitian  and  proconsular  powers,  and, 
with  a  noble  disdain,  or  rather  ignorance  of  jealousy,  associ- 
ated him  to  all  the  labors  of  government.  Marcus,  on  the  other 
hand,  revered  the  character  of  his  benefactor,  loved  him  as  a 
parent,  obeyed  him  as  his  sovereign,**  and,  after  he  was  no 

*■  Hist.  August,  p.  13.     Aurelius  Victor  in  Epitom. 

*^  Without  the  help  of  medals  and  inscriptions,  we  should  be  igno- 
rant of  tills  fact,  so  honorable  to  the  memory  of  Pius.* 

*^  During  the  twenty-three  years  of  Pius's  reign,  Marcus  was  only 
two  nights  absent  from  the  palace,  and  even  those  were  at  different 
times.     Hist.  August,  p.  25. 

*  Gibbon  attinbntes  to  Antoninus  Pius  a  merit  ^vhich  be  cither  did  not 
jiossess,  or  was  not  in  a  situation  to  display.  1.  He  was  adopted  only  on 
the  condition  that  he  would  adopt,  in  his  turn,  Maixus  Aurelius  and  L. 
Vcrus.  2.  His  two  sons  died  children,  and  one  of  them,  M.  Galerius, 
alone,  appears  to  have  survived,  for  a  few  years,  his  father's  coronation. 
Gibbon  is  also  mistaken,  when  he  says  (note  42)  that  "without  the  help 
of  medals  and  inscriptions,  \vc  should  be  ignorant  tbat  Antoninus  had  two 
sons."  Capitolinus  says  expressly,  (c.  1,1  Filii  niiires  duo,  dure  fu'minsB ; 
we  only  owe  tlvnr  names  to  the  medals.  Pagi.  ('out  Huron,  i.  33,  «dit 
Paris— W. 


84  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

more,  regulated  bis  own  administration  by  the  example  and 
maxims  of  liis  predecessor.  Tlieir  united  reigns  are  possibly 
the  only  period  of  history  in  which  the  happiness  of  a  great 
people  was  the  sole  object  of  government. 

Titus  Antoninus  Pius  has  been  justly  denominated  a  secon(? 
Numa.  The  same  love  of  religion,  justice,  and  peace,  waa 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  both  princes.  But  the 
situation  of  the  latter  opened  a  much  larger  field  for  the  exer- 
cise of  those  virtues.  Numa  could  only  prevent  a  few  neigh- 
boring villages  from  plundering  each  other's  harvests.  Anto- 
ninus diffused  order  and  tranquilhty  over  the  greatest  part  of 
the  earth.  His  reign  is  marked  by  the  rare  advantage  of  fur- 
nishing very  few  materials  for  history ;  wuich  is,  indeed,  little 
more  than  the  register  of  the  crimes,  follies,  and  misfortunes  of 
mankind.  In  private  life,  he  was  an  amiable,  as  well  as  a  good 
man.  The  native  simplicity  of  his  virtue  was  a  stranger  to 
vanity  or  affectation.  He  enjoyed  with  moderation  the  con- 
veniences of  his  fortune,  and  the  innocent  pleasures  of  society  ;** 
and  the  benevolence  of  his  soul  displayed  itself  in  a  cheerful 
serenity  of  temper. 

The  virtue  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  Avas  of  a  severer 
and  more  laborious  kind."  It  was  the  well-earned  harvest 
of  many  a  learned  conference,  of  many  a  patient  lecture,  and 
many  a  midnight  lucubration.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
embraced  the  rigid  system  of  the  Stoics,  which  taught  him  to 
submit  his  body  to  his  mind,  his  passions  to  his  reason ;  to 
consider  virtue  as  the  only  good,  vice  as  the  only  evil,  all 
things  external  as  things  indifferent.''®  His  meditations,  com- 
posed in  the  tumult  of  the  camp,  are  still  extant ;  and  he  even 

**  He  was  fond  of  the  theatre,  and  not  insensible  to  the  charnas  of 
the  fair  sex.  Marcus  Antoninus,  i.  16.  Hist.  August,  p.  20,  21.  Julian 
in  Caasar. 

*°  Tlie  enemies  of  Mar  ;u3  charged  him  with  hypocrisy,  and  with  a 
want  of  that  simphcity  which  distinguished  Pius  and  even  Verus, 
(Hist.  August.  6,  34.)  This  suspicion,  unjust  as  it  was,  may  servo 
to  account  for  the  superior  applause  bestowed  upon  personal  qualifi- 
cations, in  preference  to  the  social  virtues.  Even  Marcus  Antoninus 
lias  been  called  a  hypocrite  ;  but  the  wildest  scepticism  never  insinuated 
that  Cajsar  miglit  probalily  be  a  coward,  or  TuUy  a  fool.  Wit  and 
valor  are  qualifications  more  easily  ascertained  than  humanity  ;r  th^ 
lovo  of  justice. 

*'  Tacitus  has  characterised,  in  a  few  words,  the  principles  ci  Iho 
portico ;  Dottores  sapientioe  secutus  est,  qui  sola  bona  quie  honesta,  main 
lautuni  quiE  turpia ;  potentiam,  nobihtatem,  casteraque  extra  ukimiJU. 
oeqiie  bonis  neque  malis  adnump'ant.     Tacit  Hist.  \v.  6. 


A^D.  98-180.J  OF   THE    ROMAN    KMPIRE.  ffB 

condescended  to  give  lessons  of  philosophy,  in  a  more  public 
manner  than  was  perhaps  consistent  with  the  modesty  of  a 
sage,  or  the  dignity  of  an  emperor.'"  But  his  life  was  the 
noblest  commentary  on  the  precepts  of  Zeno.  He  was  severe 
to  himself,  indulgent  to  the  imperfections  of  others,  just  and 
beneficent  to  all  mankind.  He  regretted  that  Avidius  Ccissius, 
who  excited  a  rebellion  in  Syria,  had  disappointed  him,  by  a 
voluntary  death,*  of  the  pleasure  of  converting  an  enemy  into 
a  friend;  and  he  justified  the  sincerity  of  that  sentiment,  by 
moderating  the  zeal  of  the  senate  against  the  adherents  of  the 
traitor.''*  War  he  detested,  as  the  disgrace  and  calamity  of 
human  nature  ;  J  but  when  the  necessity  of  a  just  defence  called 
upon  him  to  take  up  arms,  he  readily  exposed  his  person  to 
eight  winter  campaigns,  on  the  frozen  banks  of  the  Danube, 
the  severity  of  which  was  at  last  fatal  to  the  weakness  of  his 
constitution.  His  memory  was  revered  by  a  grateful  posterity, 
and  above  a  century  after  his  death,  many  j^ersons  preserved 
the  image  of  Marcus  Antoninus  among  those  of  their  household 
gods." 

If  a  man  were  called  to  fix  the  period  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  during  which  the  condition  of  the  human  race  was 
most  happy  and  prosperous,  he  would,  without  hesitation, 
name  that  which  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Dnmitian  to  the 
accession  of  Commodus.  The  vast  extent  of  the  Roman 
empire  was  governed  by  absolute  power,  under  the  guidance 
of  virtue  and  wisdom.  The  armies  were  restrained  by  the 
firm    but   gentle   hand   of  four   successive   emperors,    whose 

*'  Before  he  went  on  the  second  expedition  against  the  Germans,  he 
read  lectures  of  philosophy  to  the  Roman  people,  during  three  daya 
He  had  already  done  the  same  in  tiie  cities  of  Greece  and  Asia.  Hist 
August,  iu  Cassio,  c.  3. 

**  Dion,  1.  Ixxi.  p.  1190.     Hist.  August,  in  Avid.  Cassio.f 

**  Hist.  August,  in  Marc.  Antouin.  c.  18. 


•  Cassius  was  murdered  by  his  own  partisans.  Vulcat.  Gallic,  iu  Cassio 
C.  7.     Dion,  Ixxi.  c.  27.— "W. 

t  See  one  of  the  newly  discovered  passages  of  Dion  Cassius.  Marcus 
\nTOteto  the  senate,  who  urged  the  execution  of  tJie  partisans  of  Cas8iu.s,  in 
these  words :  "  I  entreat  and  beseech  you  to  preserve  my  reign  unstained 
by  senatorial  blood.  None  of  your  order  must  perish  either  by  jour  desire 
or  mine."     Mai.  Fragui.  Vaticau.  ii.  p.  224. — M. 

t  Marcus  would  not  accept  the  services  of  any  of  the  barbarian  allies 
who  crowded  to  his  standard  iu  the  war  against  Avidius  Cassius.  "  Bar 
barians,"  lie  said,  ^vith  wise  but  vain  sagacity,  "mu.st  not  become  ac- 
qnunted  with  the  dissensions  of  the  K/anan  people."  Mai.  Fragm  Vatican 
I  824.— M 


M  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  }  A.  D.  98-1801 

tbaractcrs  and  authority  commanded  involuntary  respect. 
The  forms  of  the  civil  administration  were  carefully  preserved 
by  Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  Antonines,  who  delighted 
in  the  image  of  hberty,  and  were  pleased  with  considering 
themselves  as  the  accountable  ministers  of  the  laws.  Such 
princes  deserved  the  honor  of  restoring  the  republic,  had  the 
Romans  of  their  days  been  capable  of  enjoying  a  rational 
'^eedom. 

The  labors  of  these  mouarchs  were  overpaid  by  the  immense 
reward  that  insepjarably  waited  on  their  success  ;  by  the  honest 
pride  of  virtue,  and  by  the  exquisite  delight  of  beholding  the 
general  happiness  of  which  they  were  the  authors,  A  just 
but  melancholy  reflection  inibittered,  however,  the  noblest  of 
human  enjoyments.  They  must  often  have  recollected  the 
instability  of  a  happiness  which  depended  on  the  character  of 
single  man.  The  fatal  moment  was  perhaps  approaching, 
A'hen  some  licentious  youth,  or  some  jealous  tyrant,  would 
abuse,  to  the  destruction,  that  absolute  power,  which  they 
had  exerted  for  the  benefit  of  their  people.  The  ideal  re- 
straints of  the  senate  and  the  laws  might  serve  to  display  the 
virtues,  but  could  never  correct  the  vices,  of  the  emperor. 
The  military  force  was  a  blind  and  irresistible  instrument  of 
oppression ;  and  the  corruption  of  Eoman  inanners  would 
always  supply  flatterers  eager  to  applaud,  and  ministers  pre- 
pared to  serve,  the  fear  or  the  avarice,  the  lust  or  the  cruelty, 
.  f  their  masters. 

These  gloomy  apprehensions  had  been  already  justified  by 
the  experience  of  the  Romans.  The  annals  of  the  emperors 
exhibit  a  strong  and  various  picture  of  human  nature,  which 
we  should  vainly  seek  among  the  mixed  and  doubtful  charac- 
ters of  modern  history.  In  the  conduct  of  those  monarchs 
we  may  trace  the  utmost  lines  of  vice  and  virtue  ;  the  most 
exalted  perfection,  and  the  meanest  degeneracy  of  our  own 
species.  The  golden  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines  had 
been  preceded  by  an  age  of  iron.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to 
enumerate  the  unworthy  successors  of  Augustus.  Their  un- 
paralleled vices,  and  the  splendid  theatre  on  which  they  were 
acted,  have  saved  them  from  oblivion.  The  dark,  unrelenting 
Tiberius,  the  furious  Caligula,  the  feeble  Claudius,  the  profli- 
gate and  cruel   Nero,  the  beastly  Vitellius,^"  and  the  timid, 


•"  Vitellius  nnsumed  in  mere  eating  at  least  six  millicna  of  ocl 
'  So«j  in  about  seven  'nontbs-     It  is  not  easy  to  expreee  his  TNOl 


J 


i..  i;.  98-180. J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  9t 

•nli'Jinan  Domitian,  are  condemned  to  everlasting  infamy. 
During  fourscore  years  (excepting  only  the  short  and  doubtful 
respite  of  Vespasian's  reign)"  Rome  groaned  beneath  an 
unremitting  tyranny,  which  exterminated  the  ancient  famiUes 
of  the  republic,  and  was  fatal  to  almost  every  nrtue  and 
■every  talent  that  arose  in  that  unhappy  period. 

Under  the  reign  of  these  monsters,  the  slaveiy  of  the  Ro- 
mans was  accompanied  with  two  peculiar  circumstances,  the 
one  occasioned  by  their  former  liberty,  the  other  by  their  ex- 
tensive conquests,  v.bich  rendered  their  condition  more  com- 
pletely wretched  than  that  of  the  victims  of  tyranny  in  any 
other  age  or  country.  From  these  causes  were  derived,  1.  The 
exquisite  sensibility  of  the  sufferers ;  and,  2.  The  impossibility 
of  escaping  from  the  hand  of  the  oppressor. 

I.  When  Persia  was  governed  by  the  descendants  of  Sefi, 
a  race  of  princes  whose  wanton  cruelty  often  stained  their 
divan,  their  table,  and  their  bed,  with  the  blood  of  their  favor- 
ites, there  is  a  saying  recorded  of  a  young  nobleman,  that  he 
never  departed  from  the  sultan's  presence,  without  satisfying 
himself  whether  his  head  was  still  on  his  shoulders.  The 
experience  of  every  da}'  might  almost  justify  the  scepticism 
of  Rustan."  Yet  the  fatal  sword,  suspended  above  him  by  a 
single  thread,  seems  not  to  have  disturbed  the  slumbers,  or 
interrupted  the  tranquillity,  of  the  Persian.  The  monarch's 
frown,  he  well  knew,  could  level  him  with  the  dust ;  but  the 
stroke  of  lightning  or  apoplexy  might  be  equally  fetal ;  and  it 
\yas  the  part  of  a  wise  man  to  forget  the  inevitable  calamities 
of  human  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fleeting  hour.  He  was 
dignified  with  the  appellation  of  the  king's  slave ;  had,  per- 
haps, been  purchased  from  obscure  parents,  in  a  country 
which  he  had  never  known  ;  and  was  trained  up  from  his 
infancy  in  the  severe  discipline  of  the  seraglio."     His  name, 

with  digrnity,  or  even  decency.  Tacitus  fairly  calls  him  a  hog,  but  it 
is  by  substituting  for  a  coarse  word  a  very  fine  image.  "  At  Vitellius, 
umbraculia  hortorum  abditus,  ut  igjiava  animalia,  quibus  si  cihum 
Buggeras,  jacont  torpentquc,  prceterita,  instantia,  futura,  pari  oblivione 
diniLserat.  Atque  ilium  nemore  Aricino  desidem  et  marccntum,"  tfec. 
Tacit.  Hist.  iii.  36,  ii.  95.  Suetou.  in  Vitell.  c.  13.  Dion.  Cassiua,  1 
'av.  p.  1062. 

*'  The  execution  of  Helvidius  Priscus,  and  of  the  virtuous  Eponina, 
iisgraced  the  reign  of  Vespasian. 

'^  Vovage  de  Chardin  en  Perse,  vol.  iii.  p.  293. 

"  Tlie  j.ractice  of  raising  slaves  to  the  great  oflkes  of  state  is  ptiil 
■nore   romnion   am0i.g    the   Turks    than   among   tiie    Persians.     The 

VOL.    I. —  E 


M  THE    DECLINE    AND    TALL  [A.  D.  98-180. 

his  wealth,  his  honors,  were  the  gift  of  a  master,  wlio  might, 
without  injustice,  resume  what  ho  had  bestowed,  liusiau'fi 
knowledge,  if  he  possessed  any,  could  only  serve  to  confirm 
his  habits  by  prejudices.  His  language  aftbrded  not  words 
for  any  form  of  government,  except  absolute  monarchy.  The 
history  of  the  East  informed  him,  that  such  had  ever  been  tho 
condition  of  mankind.^*  The  Koran,  and  the  interpieters  of 
that  divine  book,  inculcated  to  him,  that  the  sultan  was  the 
descendant  of  the  prophet,  and  the  vicegerent  of  heaven ; 
that  patience  was  the  first  virtue  of  a  Mussulman,  and  unhm^ 
iteJ  obedience  the  great  duty  of  a  subject. 

The  minds  of  the  Romans  were  very  differently  prepared 
for  slavery.  Oppressed  beneath  the  weight  of  their  own  cor- 
ruption and  of  military  violence,  they  for  a  long  while  pre- 
served the  sentiments,  or  at  least  the  ideas,  of  their  free-born 
ancestors.  The  education  of  Helvidius  and  Thrasea,  of  Taci- 
tus and  Pliny,  was  the  same  as  that  of  Cato  and  Cicero.  Fi-om 
Grecian  philosophy,  they  had  imbibed  the  justest  and  most 
Hberal  notions  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  and  the  origin 
of  civil  society.  The  history  of  their  own  country  had  taught 
them  to  revere  a  free,  a  virtuous,  and  a  victorious  common- 
wealth ;  to  abhor  the  successful  crimes  of  Cjesar  and  Augus- 
tus ;  and  inwardly  to  despise  those  tyrants  whom  they  adored 
with  the  most  abject  flattery.  As  magistrates  and  senators 
they  Avere  admitted  into  the  great  council,  which  had  onc6 
dictated  laws  to  the  earth,  whose  name  still  gave  a  sanction  to 
the  acts  of  the  monarch,  and  whose  authority  was  so  oftep 
prostituted  to  the  vilest  purposes  of  ty^anny.  Tiberins,  and 
those  emperors  who  adopted  his  maxims,  attempted  to  disguise 
their  murders  by  the  formalities  of  justice,  and  perhaps  en- 
joyed a  secret  pleasure  in  rendering  the  senate  their  accom- 
phce  as  well  as  their  victim.  By  this  assembly,  the  last  of 
the  Romans  were  condemned  for  imaginary  crimes  and  real 
virtues.  Their  infamous  accusers  assumed  the  language  of 
independent  patriots,  who  ai'raigned  a  dangerous  citizen  befoie 
the  tribunal  of  his  country ;  and  the  public  service  was  re- 
warded by  riches  and  honors.**     The  servile  judges  professed 

miserable  countries  of  Georgia  andCircassia  supply  rulers  to  the  great- 
est fart  of  the  East. 

'*  Chardin  says,  that  l^luropean  travellers  liave  diffused  among  th« 
Persians  some  ideas  of  the  freedom  and  mildness  of  our  government* 
They  have  done  them  a  very  ill  office. 

*'  Tliey  alleged  the  example  of  Scipio  and  Cato,  (Tacit.  Annai  iii 


I 


A.  D.  98-180.J  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  99 

to  assert  the  majesty  of  the  commonwealth,  violated  in  the 
person  of  its  first  magistrate,'"  -whose  clemency  they  most 
applauded  when  they  trembled  the  most  at  his  inexorable  and 
imi)ending  cruelty."  The  tyrant  beheld  their  baseness  with 
just  contempt,  and  encountered  their  secret  sentiments  of 
detestation  with  sincere  and  avowed  hatred  for  the  whole  body 
of  the  senate. 

II.  The  division  of  Europe  into  a  number  of  independent 
states,  connected,  however,  with  each  other  by  the  general 
resemblance  of  religion,  language,  and  manners,  is  productive 
of  the  most  beneficial  consequences  to  the  liberty  of  mankind. 
A  modern  tyrant,  who  should  find  no  resistance  either  in  his 
own  breast,  or  in  his  people,  would  soon  experience  a  gentle 
restraint  from  the  example  of  his  equals,  the  dread  of  present 
censure,  the  advice  of  his  allies,  and  the  apprehension  of  his 
enemies.  The  object  of  his  displeasure,  escaping  from  the 
narrow  limits  of  his  dominions,  would  easily  obtain,  in  a  hap- 
pier climate,  a  secure  refuge,  a  new  fortune  adequate  to  his 
merit,  the  freedom  of  complaint,  and  perhaps  the  means  of 
revenge.  But  the  empire  of  the  Romans  filled  the  world,  and 
when  that  empire  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  single  person,  the 
world  became  a  safe  and  dreary  ])rison  for  his  enemies.  The 
slave  of  Imperial  despotism,  whether  he  was  condemned  to 
drag  his  gilded  chain  in  Iiome  and  the  senate,  or  to  wear  out 
a  life  of  exile  on  the  barren  rock  of  Seri})hus,  or  the  frozen 


66.)  Marcelliis  Epirus  and  Crispiis  Vibiiis  had  acquired  two  millions 
.and  a  half  under  Nero.  Their  wealth,  which  aggravated  their  crimes, 
protected  them  under  Vespasian.  See  Tacit.  Hist.  iv.  43.  Dialog,  de 
Orator,  c.  8.  For  one  accusation,  Regains,  the  just  object  of  Pliny'a 
satire,  received  fi-om  the  senate  the  consular  ornaments,  and  a  present 
of  sixty  thousand  pounds. 

"■*  The  crime  of  majesty  was  formerly  a  treasonable  offence  against 
the  Roman  people.  As  tribunes  of  the  people,  Augustus  and  Tibe- 
rius applied  it  to  their  own  persons,  and  extended  it  to  an  iirfinits 
latitude.* 

"  After  the  virtuous  and  unfortunate  widow  of  Germanicus  had 
been  put  to  death,  Tiberi\is  received  the  thanks  of  the  senate  for  hia 
clemency.  She  had  not  been  publicly  strarigled;  nor  was  the  bodj 
drawn  with  a  hook  to  the  Gemonioo,  where  those  of  common  male 
factors  were  exposed.  See  Tacit.  Annid.  vi.  25.  Sueton.  in  Tiberio 
C53. 


•  It -was  Tiberius,  not  Ausiietus,  who  firs'  took  in  tlii.9  sense  the  worda 
crimeD  laisas  majes'.atis.    Bachii  Trajanus,  3i' — W. 


100  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  98-180. 

banks  of  the  Danube,  expected  his  fatei  in  silent  despair."  To 
resist  was  fatal,  and  it  was  impossible  to  fly.  On  every  side 
he  was  encompassed  with  a  vast  extent  of  sea  and  land,  which 
he  could  never  hope  to  traverse  without  being  discovered, 
seized,  and  restored  to  his  irritated  master.  Beyond  the 
frontiers,  his  anxious  view  could  discover  nothing,  except  the 
ocean,  inhospitable  deserts,  hostile  tribes  of  barbarians,  of  tierce 
manners  and  unknown  language,  or  dependent  kings,  who 
would  gladly  purchase  the  emperor's  protection  by  the  sacrifico 
of  an  obnoxious  fugitive.^°  "  Wherever  you  are,"  said  Cicero  to 
the  exiled  Marcellus,  "  remember  that  you  are  equally  within 
the  power  of  the  conqueror."  " 

^*  Seriphus  was  a  small  rocky  island  in  the  ^gean  Sea,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  which  were  despised  for  their  ignorance  and  obscurity.  The 
place  of  Ovid's  exile  is  well  known,  by  his  just,  but  unmanly  lamenta- 
tionf.  It  should  seem,  that  he  only  received  an  order  to  leave  Rome  in 
so  many  days,  and  to  transport  himself  to  Tomi.  Guards  and  jailers 
were  unnecessary. 

*"  Under  Tiberius,  a  Roman  knight  attempted  to  fly  to  the  Par- 
thians.  He  was  stopped  in  the  straits  of  Sicily ;  but  so  little  dangef 
did  there  appear  in  the  example,  that  the  most  jealous  of  tyrants  dia- 
daiued  to  punish  it.     Tacit.  AimaL  vi.  14. 

**  Cicero  ad  Familiares,  iy.  7. 


1 


A.  D.  180.1         OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  101 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TOE    CRUELTY,    FOLLIES,    AND    MURDER     OF    COMMODUS. —  ELiCO- 

TION    OF    PERTINAX HIS    ATTEMPTS    TO    REFORM    THE  STATE 

HIS    ASSASSINATION    BY    THE    PR^TORIAN    GUARDS. 

The  mildness  of  Marcus,  which  the  rigid  disciphne  of  the 
Stoics  was  unable  to  eradicate,  formed,  at  the  same  time,  the 
most  amiable,  and  the  only  defective  part  of  his  character. 
His  excellent  understanding  was  often  deceived  by  the  unsus- 
pecting goodness  of  his  heart.  Artful  men,  who  study  the 
passions  of  princes,  and  conceal  their  own,  approached  his 
person  in  the  disguise  of  philosophic  sanctity,  and  acquired 
riches  and  honors  by  affecting  to  despise  them.'  His  exces- 
sive indulgence  to  his  brother,*  his  wife,  and  his  son,  exceeded 
the  bounds  of  private  virtue,  and  became  a  pubHc  injury,  by 
the  example  and  consequences  of  their  vices. 

Faustina,  the  daughter  of  Pius  and  the  wife  of  Marcus,  has 
been  as  much  celebrated  for  her  gallantries  as  for  her  beauty. 
The  grave  simplicity  of  the  philosopher  was  ill  calculated  to 
engage  her  wanton  levity,  or  to  fix  that  unbounded  passion  for 
variety,  which  often  discovered  personal  merit  in  the  meanest 
of  mankind."  The  Cupid  of  the  ancients  was,  in  general,  a 
very  sensual  deity  ;  and  the  amours  of  an  empress,  as  they 
exact  on  her  side  the  plainest  advances,  are  seldom  suscepti- 
ble of  much  sentimental  delicacy.  Marcus  was  the  only  man 
in  the  empire  who  seemed  ignorant  or  insensible  of  the  irreg- 
ularities of  Faustina ;  which,  according  to  the  prejudices  of 
every  age,  reflected   some   disgrace  on  the    injured  husband, 

1  See  the  complaints  of  AviJius  Cassius,  Hist.  August  p.  45.  Theae 
are,  it  is  true,  the  complaints  of  faction  ;  but  even  faction  exaggerates, 
rather  than  invents. 

2  Faustinam  satis  constat  apud  Cajetam  conditiones  sibi  et  nauticaa 
et  gladiatorias,  eleglsse.  Hist.  August,  p.  30.  Lampridius  explains 
the  sort  of  merit  wliich  Faustina  chose,  and  the  anditions  which  sh« 
exacted.     Hist.  August,  p.  102. 


"•  His  brother  by  adoption,  and  his  colleague,  L.  Venis.     Marcus  Aureliu* 
had  no  other  brother. — W. 


102  THE    DECIJNE    ANU    FALL  [A.  D.  180. 

He  promoted  several  of  her  lovers  to  posts  of  honor  and  profit,' 
and  during  a  connection  of  thirty  years,  invariably  gave  her 
proofs  of  the  most  tender  coutidence,  and  of  a  respect  which 
ended  not  with  her  life.  In  his  Meditations,  he  thanlcs  the 
gods,  who  had  bestowed  on  him  a  wife  so  faithful,  so  gentle, 
and  of  such  a  wonderful  simplicity  of  manners/  The  obse- 
quious senate,  at  his  earnest  request,  declared  her  a  goddess 
She  was  represented  in  her  temples,  with  the  attributes  of 
Juno,  Venus,  and  Ceres ;  and  it  was  decreed,  that,  on  the  day 
of  their  nuptials,  the  youth  of  either  sex  should  pay  their  vows 
before  the  altar  of  their  chaste  patroness.' 

The  monstrous  vices  of  the  son  have  cast  a  shade  on  the 
purity  of  the  father's  virtues.  It  has  been  objected  to  Marcus, 
that  he  sacrificed  the  happiness  of  millions  to  a  fond  partiality 
for  a  worthless  boy  ;  and  that  he  chose  a  successor  in  his  own 
family,  rather  than  in  the  republic.  Nothing  however,  was 
neglected  by  the  anxious  tiither,  and  by  the  men  of  virtue  and 
/earning  whom  he  summoned  to  his  assistance,  to  expand  the 
narrow  mind  of  young  Commodus,  to  correct  his  growing 
vices,  and  to  render  him  worthy  of  the  throne  for  which  he 
was  designed.  But  the  power  of  instruction  is  seldom  of 
much  efficacy,  except  in  those  happy  dispositions  where  it  is 
almost  superfluous.  The  distasteful  lesson  of  a  grave  philos- 
opher was,  in  a  moment,  obliterated  by  the  whisper  of  a  profli- 
gate favorite ;  and  Marcus  himself  blasted  the  fruits  of  this 
labored  education,  by  admitting  his  son,  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
or  fifteen,  to  a  full  participation  of  the  Imperial  power.  He 
lived  but  four  years  afterwards :  but  he  lived  long  enough  to 
repent  a  rash  measure,  which  raised  the  impetuous  youth  above 
the  restraint  of  reason  and  authority. 

Most  of  the  crimes  which  disturb  the  internal  peace  of 
society,  are  produced  by  the  restraints  which  the  necessary 
but  unequal  laws  of  property  have  imposed  on  the  appetites 
of  mankind,   by  confining  to  a  few  the   possession  of  those 

3  Hist.  August,  p.  34. 

*  Meditat.  1.  L  The  ^yorl  I  has  laughed  at  the  credulity  of  Marcus 
but  Madam  Dacier  assures  us,  (and  we  may  credit  a  lady,)  that  the 
husband  will  always  be  deceived,  if  the  wife  condescends  to  dis- 
Bcmble. 

5  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxi.  [c.  31,]  p.  1195.  Hist.  August,  p.  83.  Com- 
mentaire  de  Spanheim  sur  les  Caisars  de  Julien,  p  289.  Tlie  deifica- 
tion of  Faustina  is  the  only  defect  which  Julian's  criticism  is  abl«  til 
discoTcr  in  the  all-accomplished  character  of  Marcus. 


A..D.  ISO.'I  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE-  108 

objects  that  are  coveted  by  many.  Of  all  our  passions  and 
appetites,  the  love  of  power  is  of  the  most  imperious  and 
ausociable  nature,  since  the  pride  of  one  man  requires  the 
submission  of  the  multitude.  In  the  tumult  of  civil  discord, 
the  laws  of  society  lose  their  force,  and  their  place  is  seldom 
supplied  by  those  of  humanity.  The  ardor  of  contention,  the 
pride  of  victory,  the  despair  of  success,  the  memory  v/f  past 
injuries,  and  the  fear  of  future  dangers,  all  contribute  to  in- 
flame the  mind,  and  to  silence  the  voice  of  pity.  From  such 
motives  almost  every  page  of  history  has  been  stained  with 
civil  blood  ;  but  these  motives  will  not  account  for  the  unpro- 
voked cruelties  of  Commodus,  who  had  nothing  to  wish  and 
every  thing  to  enjoy.  The  beloved  son  of  Marcus  succeeded 
to  his  father,  amidst  the  acclamations  of  the  senate  and  armies ;' 
and  w^hen  he  ascended  the  throne,  the  happy  youth  saw  round 
him  neither  competitor  to  remove,  nor  enemies  to  punish.  In 
this  calm,  elevated  station,  it  was  surely  natural  that  he  should 
prefer  the  love  of  mankind  to  their  detestation,  the  mild  glo- 
ries of  his  five  predecessors  to  the  ignominious  fate  of  Nero 
and  Doraitian. 

Yet  Commodus  was  not,  as  he  has  been  represented,  a  tigei 
born  with  an  insatiate  thirst  of  human  blood,  and  capable,  from 
his  infancy,  of  the  most  inhuman  actions.''  Nature  had  formed 
him  of  a  weak  rather  than  a  wicked  disposition.  His  sim- 
plicity and  timidity  rendered  him  the  slave  of  his  attendants, 
who  gradually  corrupted  his  mind.  His  cruelty,  which  at  first 
)beyed  the  dictates  of  others,  degenerated  into  habit,  and  at 
hngth  became  the  ruling  passion  of  his  soul.' 

Upon  the  death  of  his  father,  Commodus  found  himself 
embarrassed  with  the  command  of  a  great  army,  and  the  con- 
duct of  a  difficult  war  against  the  Quadi  and  Marcomanni.* 
The  servile  and  profligate  youths  whom  Marcus  had  banished, 
scon  regained  their  station  and  influence  about  the  new  em- 
peror.     They  exaggerated   the  hardships  and  dangers   of  a 

*  Commodus  was  the  first  Porphyrogenitus,  (born  since  his  father's 
accession  to  tlie  tlirone.)  By  a  new  strain  of  flattery,  the  Egyptian 
medals  date  by  the  years  of  his  life ;  as  if  they  were  synonymous  to 
those  of  his  reign.     Tilleraont,  Hist,  des  Empereurs,  too.  ii.  p.  "53. 

''  Hist.  August,  p.  46. 

8  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxii.  p.  1203. 

9  According  to  'J'crtulliau,  Apolog.  c.  25,)  he  died  at  Sirniium.  Bui 
the  situation  of  Viudobona,  or  Vienna,  where  both  the  Victors  place 
bis  death,  is  better  adapted  to  the  operati'  us  of  the  war  against  th« 
Marcomanni  ai:d  QuadL 


104  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [^.D.  183 

campaign  in  the  wild  countries  beyond  the  Danube ;  and  they 
assured  the  indolent  prince  that  the  terror  of  his  name,  and  the 
arms  of  hia  lieutenants,  would  be  sufficient  to  complete  the 
conquest  of  the  dismayed  barbarians,  or  to  impose  such  con- 
ditions as  were  more  advantageous  than  any  conquest.  By  a 
dexterous  application  to  his  sensual  appetites,  they  compared 
the  tranquillity,  the  splendor,  the  refined  pleasures  of  Rome, 
with  the  tumult  of  a  Pannonian  camp,  which  afforded  neither 
leisure  nor  materials  for  luxury."  Commodus  listened  to 
the  ple^^sing  advice ;  but  whilst  he  hesitated  between  his  own 
inclination  and  the  awe  which  he  still  retained  for  his  father's 
counsellors,  the  summer  insensibly  elapsed,  and  his  triumphal 
entry  into  the  capital  was  deferred  till  the  autumn.  His 
graceful  person,"  popular  address,  and  imagined  virtues, 
attracted  the  public  favor ;  the  honorable  peace  which  he  had 
recently  granted  to  the  barbarians,  diffused  a  universal 
'oy ;"  his  impatience  to  revisit  Rome  was  fondly  ascribed 
to  the  love  of  his  country ;  and  his  dissolute  course  of  amuse- 
ments was  faintly  condemned  in  a  prince  of  nineteen  years  of 
age. 

During  the  three  first  years  of  his  reign,  the  forms,  and  even 
the  spirit,  of  the  old  administration,  were  maintained  by  those 
faithful  counsellors,  to  whom  Marcus  had  recommended  his 
son,  and  for  whose  wisdom  and  integrity  Commodus  still  enter- 
tained a  reluctant  esteem.  The  young  pi-iuce  and  his  profli- 
gate favorites  revelled  in  all  the  license  of  sovereign  power  ;  but 
his  hands  were  yet  unstained  with  blood ;  and  he  had  even 
displayed  a  generosity  of  sentiment,  which  might  perhaps 
have  ripened  into  solid  virtue."  A  fatal  incident  decided  his 
fluctuating  character. 

One  evening,  as  the  emperor  was  returning  to  the  palace, 
through  a  dark  and  narrow  portico  in  the  amphitheatre,"  an 
assassin,  who  waited  his  passage,  rushed  upon  him  with  a 
drawn  sword,  loudly  exclaiming,  "  The  senate  sends  you 
this."     The   menace  prevented    the  deed ;    the   assassin  waa 

"  Herodian,  1.  i.  p.  12. 

'    Herodian,  1.  i.  p.  16. 

"  This  universal  joy  is  well  described  (from  tlie  medals  as  well  oa 
tuiitonans)  by  Mr.  Wotton,  Hist,  of  Rome,  p.  192,  193. 

"  Manilius,  the  confidential  secretary  of  Avidius  Cassius,  wao  dls 
cohered  after  he  had  lain  concealed  several  years.  The  emperorn<-'bly 
relieved  the  public  anxiety  by  refusing  to  see  him,  and  burning  tiM 
papers  ■«  ithout  opening  them.     Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxii.  ]''.  1209. 

'*  See  Maffci  degli  Amphitheatii,  p  126. 


A.  D.183.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  105 

seized  by  the  guards,  and  immediately  revealed  tlie  aulhora 
of  the  conspiracy.  It  had  been  formed,  not  in  the  state,  but 
wiJiin  the  walls  of  the  palace.  Lucilla,  the  emperor's  sister, 
and  widow  of  Lucius  Verus,  impatient  of  the  second  rank, 
and  jealous  of  the  reigning  empress,  had  armed  the  murderer 
against  her  brother's  life.  She  had  not  ventured  to  communi- 
cate the  black  design  to  her  second  husband,  Claudius  Pom- 
peiai  'IS,  a  senator  ol  distinguished  merit  and  unshaken  loy- 
alty ;  but  among  the  crowd  of  her  lovers  (for  she  imitated 
the  manners  of  Faustina)  she  found  men  of  desperate  for- 
tunes and  wild  ambition,  who  were  prepared  to  serve  her 
more  violent,  as  well  as  her  tendei  passions.  The  conspira- 
tors experienced  the  rigor  of  justice,  and  the  abandoned 
princess  was  punished,  first  with  exile,  and  afterwards  with 
death." 

But  the  words  of  the  assassin  sunk  deep  into  the  mind  of 
CommodiLs,  and  left  an  indelible  impression  of  fear  and 
hatred  against  the  whole  body  of  the  senate.*  Those  whom 
he  had  dreaded  as  importunate  ministers,  he  now  suspected 
as  secret  enemies.  The  Delators,  a  race  of  men  discouraged, 
and  almost  extinguished,  under  the  former  reigns,  again  be- 
came formidable,  as  soon  as  they  discovered  that  the  emperor 
was  desirous  of  finding  disafl:ection  and  treason  in  the  senate. 
That  assembly,  whom  Marcus  had  ever  considered  as  the 
great  council  of  the  nation,  was  composed  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  of  the  Romans ;  and  distinction  of  every  kind  soon 
became  criminal.  The  possession  of  wealth  stimulated  the 
diligence  of  the  informers ;  rigid  virtue  implied  a  tacit  cen- 
sure of  the  irregularities  of  Commodus ;  important  services 
implied  a  dangerous  superiority  of  merit;  and  the  friendship 
of  the  father  always  insured  the  aversion  of  the  son.  Sus- 
picion was  equivalent  to  proof;  trial  to  condemnation.  The 
execution  gim  a  considerable  senator  was  attended  with  the 
death  of  all  who  might  lament  or  revenge  his  fate ;  and  when 
Commodus  had  once  tasted  human  blood,  he  became  incapable 
of  pity  or  remorse. 

Of   these   innocent    victims   of    tyranny,   none    died   more 
lamented   than   the   two   brothers   of  the   Quintilian   family, 

"  Dion,  1.  IxxL  p  1205  Herodian,  L  i.  p.  16  Hist  August 
p  4«.  . 

*  Tlie  cfliispii-ators  wero  senators,  even  the  assassin  himself.     H^.-od.  J 

81.— a. 


106  THE    DECLINE    AND    PALL  |  A.  D  188. 

Maximus  and  Condiamis ;  whose  fraternal  love  lias  saved 
their  names  from  oblivion,  and  endeared  their  meinory  to 
posterity.  Their  studies,  and  their  occupations,  their  pursuits 
and  their  pleasures,  were  still  the  same.  In  the  enjoyment 
of  a  great  estate,  they  never  admitted  the  idea  of  a  separate 
interest :  some  fragments  are  now  extant  of  a  treatise  which 
they  composed  in  common ;  *  and  in  every  action  of  life  it 
was  observed  that  their  two  bodies  were  animated  by  one 
soul.  The  Antonines,  who  valued  their  virtues,  and  delighted 
in  their  union,  raised  them,  in  the  same  year,  to  the  consul- 
ship ;  and  Marcus  afterwards  intrusted  to  their  joint  care  the 
civil  administration  of  Greece,  and  a  great  military  command, 
in  which  they  obtained  a  signal  victory  over  the  Germans. 
The  kind  cruelty  of  Commodus  united  them  in  death." 

The  tyrant's  rage,  after  having  shed  the  noblest  blood  of 
the  senate,  at  length  recoiled  on  the  principal  instrument  of 
his  cruelty.  Whilst  Commodus  was  immersed  in  blood  and 
luxury,  he  devolved  the  detail  of  the  public  business  on  Peren 
nis,  a  servile  and  ambitious  minister,  who  had  obtained  his 
post  by  the  murder  of  his  predecessor,  but  who  possessed  a 
considerable  share  of  vigor  and  ability.  By  acts  of  extortion, 
and  the  forfeited  estates  of  the  nobles  sacrificed  to  his  avarice, 
he  had  accumulated  an  immense  treasure.  The  Praetorian 
guards  were  under  his  immediate  command ;  and  his  son, 
who  already  discovered  a  military  genius,  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Illyi'ian  legions.  Peren  nis  aspired  to  the  empire ;  or 
what,  in  the  eyes-  of  Commodus,  amounted  to  the  same  crime, 
he  was  capable  of  aspiring  to  it,  had  he  not  been  prevented, 
surprised,  and  put  to  death.  The  fall  of  a  minister  is  a  very 
trifling  incident  in  the  general  history  of  the  empire ;  but  it 
was  hastened  by  an  extraordinary  circumstance,  which  proved 
how  much  the  nerves  of  discipline  were  already  relaxed.  The 
legions  of  Britain,  discontented  with  the  admiri'.stration  of 
Perennis,  formed  a  deputation  of  fifteen  hundred  select  men, 
with  insti-uctions  to  march  to  Rome,  and  lay  their  complaints 
before  the  emperor.  These  military  petitioners,  by  their  own 
determined  behaviour,  by  inflaming  the  divisions  of  the  guards, 

IS  In  a  note  upon  the  Augustan  History,  Casaubon  has  collected 
B  number  of  particulars  concerning  tliese  celebrated  brothers.  Se« 
jx  96  of  his  learned  commentary. 


•  This  -work  was  on  agiiculture,  and  is  often  quoted  by  later  writer! 
Bee  P.  Needliaiu,  Prolog,  ad  Gcopoaic.  Camb.  170-1. — W. 


A..  D.  186.]  OF   THE    ROMATS    EMPIRE.  101 

by  exaggerating  the  strength  of  the  British  army,  and  by 
alarming  the  fears  of  Commodus,  exacted  and  obtained  the 
minister's  death,  as  the  only  redress  of  their  grievances.'' 
This  presumption  of  a  distant  army,  and  their  discovery  of 
the  weakness  of  government,  was  a  sure  presage  of  the  most 
dreadful  convulsions. 

The  negligence  of  the  public  administration  was  betrayed^ 
•con  afterwards,  by  a  new  disorder,  which  arose  from  the 
Bmallest  beginnings.  A  spirit  of  desertion  began  to  prevail 
among  the  troops:  and  the  deseiters,  instead  of  seeking  their 
safety  in  flight  or  concealment,  infested  tlie  highways.  Ma- 
ternus,  a  private  soldier,  of  a  daring  boldness  above  his  station, 
collected  these  bands  of  robbers  into  a  little  army,  set  open 
the  prisons,  invited  the  slaves  to  assert  their  freedom,  and 
plundered  with  impunity  the  rich  and  defenceless  cities  of 
Gaul  and  Spain.  The  governors  of  the  provinces,  who  had 
long  been  the  spectators,  and  perhaps  the  partners,  of  his 
depredations,  were,  at  length,  roused  from  their  supine  indo- 
lence by  the  threatening  commands  of  the  emperor.  Mater- 
nus  found  that  he  was  encompassed,  and  foresaw  tliat  he 
must  be  overpowered.  A  great  effort  of  despair  was  his  last 
resource.  He  ordered  his  followers  to  disperse,  to  pass  the 
Alps  in  small  parties  and  various  disguises,  and  to  assemble 
at   Rome,    during  the    licentious    tumult   of   the    festival  of 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxii.  p.  1210.  Herodian,  1.  i.  p.  22.  Hist.  August. 
p.  48.  Dion  gives  a  much  less  odious  character  of  Perennis,  than  the 
other  historians.     His  moderation  is  abnost  a  pledge  of  his  veracity.* 

*  Gibbon  praises  Dion  for  the  moderation  with  which  ho  speaks  of 
Pereunis :  he  follows,  nevertheless,  in  his  own  narrative,  Herodian  and 
Lampridius.  Dion  speaks  of  Perennis  not  only  with  moderation,  but  with 
admiration  ;  he  represents  him  as  a  great  man,  virtuous  in  his  life,  and 
blameless  in  his  death  :  perhaps  he  may  be  suspected  of  partiality ;  but  it 
is  singular  that  Gibbon,  having  adopted,  from  Herodian  ;md  Lampridius, 
their  judgment  on  this  minister,  follows  Dion's  improbable  acrount  of  his 
death.  What  likelihood,  in  fact,  that  fifteen  hundred  men  should  have 
traversed  Gaul  and  Italy,  and  have  arrived  at  Rome  without  any  under- 
standing with  the  Pra>torian.s.  or  without  detection  or  opposition  from 
Perennis,  the  Praetorian  praefect  ?  Gibbon,  foreseeing,  peihaps,  this 
difficuU3-,  has  added,  that  the  military  deputation  inflamed  tlie  divisions 
of  the  guards  ;  but  Dion  says  expressly  that  they  did  not  reach  Rome,  but 
that  the  emperor  \vcnt  out  to  meet  them :  he  even  reproaches  him  for  not 
ha\'ing  opposed  them  ^vith  the  gviards,  \vho  \vere  superior  in  number.  He- 
rodian relates  that  Commodus,  having  learned,  from  a  solditT,  the  ambitious 
designs  of  Perennis  and  his  son,  caused  them  to  be  attacked  and  massacred 
by  night. — G.  from  W.  Dion's  narrative  is  remarkably  circumstantial 
aud  his  authority  higher  than  either  of  the  othcir  writers.  He  hints  tbaj 
Cleander,  a  new  favorite,  had  already  undermined  the  influence  of  Peren 
ok.— &r. 


108  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A,  D.  186 

Cybole."  To  murder  Commodus,  and  to  ascend  the  vacant 
throne,  was  the  ambitbn  of  no  vulgar  robber.  His  measures 
were  so  ably  concerted  that  his  concealed  troops  already  filled 
the  streets  of  Rome.  The  envy  of  an  accomplice  discovered 
and  ruined  this  singular  enterprise,  in  a  moment  when  it 
was  ripe  for  execution.'* 

Suspicious  princes  often  promote  the  last  of  mankind,  from 
a  vain  persuasion,  that  those  who  have  no  dependence,  except 
on  their  favor,  will  have  no  attachm3nt,  except  to  the  person 
of  their  benefactor.  Oleander,  the  successor  of  Perennis, 
was  a  Phrygian  by  birth ;  of  a  nation  over  wliose  stubborn, 
but  servile  temper,  blows  only  could  prevail."  lie  had  been 
sent  from  his  native  country  to  Rome,  in  the  capacity  of  a 
slave.  As  a  slave  he  entered  the  Imperial  palace,  rendered 
himself  useful  to  his  master's  passions,  and  rapidly  ascended 
to  the  most  exalted  station  which  a  subject  could  enjoy.  His 
influence  over  the  mind  of  Commodus  was  much  greater  than 
that  of  his  predecessor ;  for  Oleander  was  devoid  of  any  abil 
ity  or  virtue  which  could  inspire  the  emperor  with  envy  oi 
distrust.  Avarice  was  the  reigning  passion  of  his  soul,  and 
the  great  principle  of  his  administration.  The  rank  of  Con- 
sul, of  Patrician,  of  Senator,  was  exposed  to  public  sale ;  and 
it  would  have  been  considered  as  disaffection,  if  any  one  had 
refused  to  purchase  these  empty  and  disgraceful  honors  with 
the  greatest  part  of  his  fortune.^'  In  the  lucrative  provincial 
employments,  the  minister  shared  with  the  governor  the  spoils 
of  the  people.  The  execution  of  the  laws  was  penal  and 
arbitrary,  A  wealthy  criminal  might  obtain,  not  only  the 
reversal  of  the  sentence  by  which  he  was  justly  condemned, 
but  might  likewise  inflict  whatever  punishment  he  pleased  on 
the  accuser,  the  witnesses,  and  the  judge. 

By  these  means,  Oleander,  in  the  space  of  three  years,  had 
accumulated  more  wealth  than  had  ever  yet  been  possessed  by 

'8  During  tlie  second  Punic  war,  the  Romans  imported  from  Acia 
the  woisliip  of  the  niotlier  of  tlie  gods.  Her  festival,  the  Megalesia, 
began  on  the  fourth  of  April,  and  Listed  six  days.  The  streets  were 
crowdel  with  mad  processions,  the  theatres  with  spectators,  and  th«, 
public  tables  with  luibidden  guests.  Order  and  police  were  suspend- 
ed, and  pleasure  was  the  only  serious  business  of  the  city.  See  Ovid 
do  Fa-stis,  1.  iv,  189,  &c. 

»  Herodian,  1.  i.  p.  23.  'iH 

*  Cicero  pro  Flacco,  c.  21 

*i  One  of  these  dear-bought  piomotions  occasioned  a  current  bca 
Qot,  that  Julius  Solon  was  banished  into  the  .senate. 


A.D.  189.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  10ft 

iny  fireeclinan.'"'  Comraodus  was  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
magnificent  presents  which  the  artful  courtier  laid  at  his  feet 
in  the  most  seasonable  moments.  To  divert  the  public  envy, 
Oleander,  under  the  emperor's  name,  erected  baths,  porticos, 
and  places  of  exercise,  for  the  use  of  the  people."  He  flat- 
tered himself  that  the  Romans,  dazzled  and  amused  by  thi« 
■ipparent  liberality,  would  be  less  affected  by  the  bloody  sctnea 
which  were  daily  exhibited  ;  that  they  would  forget  the  death 
of  ]]3Trhus,  a  senator  to  whose  superior  merit  the  late  emperoi 
liad  granted  one  of  his  daughters ;  and  that  they  would  for- 
{^ve  the  execution  of  Arrius  Antoninus,  the  last  representative 
of  the  name  and  virtues  of  the  Antonines.  The  former,  with 
more  integrity  than  prudence,  had  attempted  to  disclose,  to 
his  brother-in-law,  the  true  character  of  Oleander.  An  equi- 
table sentence  pronounced  by  the  latter,  when  proconsul  of 
Asia,  against  a  worthless  creature  of  the  favorite,  proved 
fatal  to  him.''*  After  the  fall  of  Perennis,  the  terrors  of 
Oommodus  had,  for  a  short  time,  assumed  the  appearance 
of  a  return  to  virtue.  He  repealed  the  most  odious  of  his 
acts ;  loaded  his  memory  with  the  public  execration,  and  as- 
cribed to  the  pernicious  counsels  of  that  wicked  minister  all  the 
errors  of  his  inexperienced  youth.  But  his  repentance  lasted 
only  thirty  days  ;  and,  under  Oleander's  tyranny,  the  adminis- 
tration of  Perennis  was  often  regretted. 

Pestilence  and  famine  contributed  to  fill  up  the  measure  of 
the  calamities  of  Rome."'  The  first  could  be  only  imputed 
to  the  just  indignation  of  the  gods ;  but  a  monopoly  of  corn, 
supported  by  the  riches  and  power  of  the  minister,  was  con- 
iidered  as  the  immediate  cause  of  the  second.  The  popular 
discontent,  after  it  had  long  circulated  "in  whispers,  broke  out 
in  the  assembled  circus.  The  people  quitted  their  favorite 
amusements  for  the  more  delicious  pleasure  of  revenge, 
rushed  in  crowds  towards  a  palace  in  the  suburbs,  one  cf  tho 

**  Dion  (1.  Ixxii.  p.  12,  13)  observe?,  that  no  freedman  had  pos- 
sessed riches  equal  to  those  of  Oleander.  The  fortune  of  Pallaa 
amounted,  however,  to  upwards  of  fiv<  and  twenty  hundred  thou- 
nand  poundi     Tfn  millies. 

23  Dion,  1.  Ixxii.  p.  12,  13.  Ilerodian,  1.  i.  p.  29.  Hist.  August. 
p.  52.  These  batlis  were  situated  near  the  Porta  Capena.  See  Nar- 
vlioi  Roma  Antica,  p.  79. 

2*  Hist.  August,  p.  48. 

25  Herodian,  1.  i.  p.  28.  Diou,  1.  Ixxii.  p  1215.  The  latter  savi 
that  two  tlionsand  persons  died  evc^ry  day  at  Rome,  during  a  conaid 
prable  length  of  time. 


110  THE    DECLINE    AND   FALL  [A.  D.  189 

emperor's  etirements,  and  demanded,  with  angry  clamors, 
the  head  jf  the  public  enemy.  Oleander,  who  commanded 
the  Prjetorian  guards,^'  ordered  a  body  of  cavalry  to  ually 
fortli,  and  dispei'se  the  seditious  multitude.  Tlie  multitude 
fled  with  precipitation  towards  the  city ;  several  were  slain, 
and  many  more  were  trampled  to  death  ;  but  when  the  caval- 
ry entered  the  streets,  their  pursuit  was  cliecked  by  a  shower 
of  stones  and  darts  from  the  roofs  and  windows  of  the  houses. 
The  foot  guards,"'  who  had  been  long  jealous  of  the  prerogatives 
and  insolence  of  the  Praetorian  cavalry,  embraced  the  party 
of  the  people.  The  tumult  became  a  regular  engagement, 
and  threatened  a  general  massacre.  The  Praetorians,  at 
length,  gave  way,  oppressed  with  numbers ;  and  the  tide  of 
popular  fury  returned  with  redoubled  violence  against  the 
gates  of  the  palace,  where  Commodus  lay,  dissolved  in  lux- 
ury, and  alone  unconscious  of  the  civil  war.  It  was  death  to 
approach  his  person  with  the  unwelcome  news.  He  would 
have  perished  in  this  supine  security,  had  not  two  women,  his 
eldest  sister  Fadilla,  and  Marcia,  the  most  favored  of  his 
concubines,  ventured  to  break  into  his  presence.  Bathed  in 
tears,  and  with  dishevelled  hair,  they  threw  themselves  at  his 
feet ;  and  with  all  the  pressing  eloquence  of  fear,  discovered 
to  the  afi'nghted  emperor  the  crimes  of  the  minister,  the  rage 
of  the  people,  and  the  impending  ruin,  which,  in  a  few 
minutes,  would  burst  over  his  palace  and  person.  Commodus 
started  from  his  dream  of  pleasure,  and  commanded  that  the 
head  of  Oleander  should  be  thrown  out  to  the  people.  The 
desired  spectacle  instantly  appeased  the  tumult ;  and  the  son 

2*  Tuncqiie  primum  tres  praefccti  prEetorio  fuere :  inter  quos  liber- 
tinus  From  some  remains  of  modesty,  Oleander  declined  the  title, 
whilst  he  assumed  the  powers,  of  P'rjetorian  prasfect.  As  the  other 
freedmen  were  styled,  from  their  several  departments,  a  rationibus, 
ab  epistolis,  Oleander  called  himself  a  pugione,  as  intrusted  with  the 
dcfance  of  his  master's  person.  Salmasius  and  Casaubon  seem  to 
have  talked  very  idly  upon  this  passage.* 

2"  Oi  riif  TTo^tcos  -nit^oi  crpariioTai.  Hcrodian,  1.  i.  p.  31.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  he  means  the  Praetorian  intantry,  or  the  cohortea 
nrbaua2,  a  body  of  six  thousand  men,  but  whose  rank  and  discipline 
were  n(jt  equal  to  their  numbers.  Neither  Tillemont  nor  WottoD 
jfcoose  to  decide  this  Djuestiou.f 


M.  Guizot  denies  that  Lampridlns  means  Cleanderas  prtEfcct  a  pugione. 
The  Libertinus  seems  to  me  to  mean  liim. — M. 

t  It  seems  to  me  there  is  none.     The  passage  of  Ilerodian  is  cj^tr.  mi 
tesigiates  the  city  cohorts.     Compare  Dion,  p.  797. — ".V 


A.  D.  189-192.]        OF    THE    UOMAK    KMIMKB-  111 

of  Marcus  might  even  yet  liaro  regained  the  affection  and 
contidcnce  of  his  subjects.^* 

But  every  sentiment  of  virtue  and  humanity  was  extinct  in 
the  mind  of  Commodus.  Whilst  he  thus  abandoned  the  reins 
of  empire  to  these  unworthy  favorites,  he  valued  notliing  in 
&'3\ereign  power,  except  the  unbounded  license  of  indulging 
his  sensual  appetites.  His  hours  were  spent  in  a  seraglio  of 
tlltee  hundred  beautiful  women,  and  as  many  boys,  of  every 
rank,  and  of  every  province ;  and,  wherever  the  arts  of 
seduction  proved  inefiectual,  the  l^rutal  lover  had  recourse  to 
violence.  The  ancient  historians"*  have  expatiated  on  these 
abandoned  scenes  of  prostitution,  which  scorned  every  re- 
straint of  nature  or  modesty ;  but  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
translate  their  too  faithful  descriptions  into  the  decency  of 
modern  language.  The  intervals  of  lust  were  filled  up  with 
the  basest  amusements.  The  influence  of  a  polite  age,  and 
vhe  labor  of  an  attentive  education,  had  never  been  able  to 
mfuse  into  his  rude  and  brutish  mind  the  least  tincture  of 
learning ;  and  he  was  the  fii'st  of  the  Roman  emperors  totally 
devoid  of  taste  for  the  pleasures  of  the  understanding.  Nero 
himself  excelled,  or  affected  to  excel,  in  the  elegant  arts  of 
music  and  poetry  ;  nor  should  we  despise  his  pursuits,  had  he 
not  converted  the  pleasing  relaxation  of  a  leisure  hour  into 
the  serious  business  and  ambition  of  his  life.  But  Commodus, 
from  his  earliest  infancy,  discovered  an  aversion  to  whatever 
was  rational  or  liberal,  and  a  fond  attachment  to  the  amuse 
ments  of  the  populace ;  the  s]:)orts  of  the  circus  and  amphi- 
theatre, the  combats  of  gladiators,  and  the  hunting  of  wild 
beasts.  The  masters  in  every  branch  of  learning,  whom 
Marcus  provided  for  his  son,  were  heard  with  inattention  and 
disgust;  whilst  the  Moors  and  Parthians,  who  taught  him  to 
dart  the  javelin  and  to  shoot  with  the  bow,  found  a  disciple 
who  delighted  in  his  application,  and  soon  equalled  the  most 
skilful  of  his  instructors  in  the  steadiness  of  uhe  eye  and  the 
dexterity  of  the  hand. 

The  servile  crowd,  whose  fortune  depended  on  their  mas- 
ter's vices,  applauded  these  ignoble  pursuits.     The  perfidious 

2"  Dion  Cassius,  I.  IxxiL  p.  1215.  lie -odian,  1.  i.  p.  32.  Uist.  Au 
gust.  p.  48. 

^  Sororibus  suis  constupralis.  Ipsas  concubinas  suas  sub  oculis 
sias  stuprari  juljcbal.  Nee  irruen,  ium  in  t-e  juvemini  carebat  iiifuinii, 
omni  parte  corporis  atque  ore  in  <3(^xum  utrumque  poUutus.  liiat 
Lag  p.  47. 


112  THE    DECLINE    Ayn    i-ALL       [A.  D.  18:?-ltf3 

voice  of  iiatterj  reminded  him,  that  by  exploits  of  the  sam« 
nature,  by  the  defeat  of  the  Nerasean  Hon,  and  the  slaughtei 
of  the  wild  boar  of  Ery  man  thus,  the  Grecian  Hercules  had 
acquired  a  place  among  the  gods,  and  an  immortal  memory 
among  men.  They  only  forgot  to  observe,  that,  in  the  first 
ages  of  society,  when  the  fiercer  animals  often  dispute  with 
man  the  possession  of  an  unsettled  country,  a  successful  wai 
against  those  savages  is  one  of  the  most  innocent  and  bene 
ficial  labors  of  hei'oism.  In  the  civilized  state  of  the  Romap 
empire,  the  wild  beasts  had  long  since  retired  from  the  facf 
of  man,  and  the  neighborhood  of  populous  cities.  To  sur 
prise  them  in  their  solitary  haunts,  and  to  transport  them  to 
Rome,  that  they  might  be  slain  in  pomp  by  the  hand  of  an 
emperor,  was  an  enterprise  equally  ridiculous  for  the  prince 
and  oppressive  for  the  people.'*  Ignorant  of  these  distinctions, 
Commodus  eagerly  embraced  the  glorious  resemblance,  and 
styled  himself  (as  we  still  read  on  his  medals")  the  Roman 
Hercules.^  The  club  and  the  lion's  hide  were  placed  by  the 
side  of  the  throne,  amongst  the  ensigns  of  sovereignty ;  and 
statues  were  erected,  in  which  Commodus  was  represented  m 
the  character,  and  with  the  attributes,  of  the  god,  whose  valoi 
and  dexterity  he  endeavored  to  emulate  in  the  daily  course  of 
his  ferocious  amusements.^* 

Elated  with  these  praises,  which  gradually  extinguished  the 
innate  sense  of  shame,  Commodus  resolved  to  exhibit  before 
the  eyes  of  the  Roman  peo]ile  those  exercises,  which  till  then 
he  had  decently  confined  within  the  v/alls  of  his   palace,  and 

3*  The  African  lions,  when  pressed  by  hunger,  infested  the  open 
villages  and  cultivated  country ;  and  they  infested  them  with  impu 
nity.  The  royal  beast  was  reserved  for  the  pleasures  of  the  emperor 
and  the  capital ;  and  the  unfortunate  peasant  who  killed  one  of  then, 
though  in  his  own  defence,  incurred  a  very  heavy  penalty  Thi' 
extraordinary  (jame-law  was  mitigated  by  Honorius,  and  finally  re 
pealed  by  Justinian.  Codex  Theodos.  tom.  v.  p.  92,  et  CommenJ 
Gothofred. 

21  Spanheim  de  Nuraismat.  Dissertiit.  xii.  tom.  ii.  p.  493. 

»2  Dion.  1.  Ixxil  p.  1216.     Hist.  August,  p.  49. 


*  Commodus  placed  bis  o\vu  head  on  the  colossal  statue  of  Herci!e« 
with  the  inscription,  Lucius  Commodus  Hercules.  The  wits  of  Rome,  r.c 
cording  to  a  new  fragment  of  Dion,  published  the  following  epigram,  of 
which,  like  many  other  ancient  jests,  the  point  is  not  very  cleai-:  "  An)$  irafj 
KuXAuKfo;  'llpanXfji,  ovK  tijiX  Aivkio;,  AW  dt>ayKa(^i)viTi  px."  It  seems  10  b« 
%  protest  of  the  god  against  being  confounded  with  the  em{)ero'*.  Mai 
Fragm.  Vatican  ii.  225. — M. 


A.  D.  189-T92.J        OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRR.  11? 

to  the  presence  of  a  few  favorites.  On  the  appointed  day,  tho 
various  motives  of  flattery,  fear,  and  curiosity,  attracted  to  tho 
amphitheatre  an  innumerable  multitude  of  spectators;  and 
some  degree  of  ajiplause  was  deservedly  bestowed  on  the  un- 
common skill  of  the  Imperial  performer.  Whether  he  aimed 
at  the  head  or. heart  of  the  animal,  the  wound  was  alike  certain 
and  mortal.  With  arrows  whose  point  was  shaped  into  the 
fcrm  of  a  crescent,  Cora  modus  often  intercepted  the  rapid 
career,  and  cut  asunder  the  long,  bony  neck  of  the  ostrich." 
A  panther  was  let  loose ;  and  the  archer  waited  till  he  had 
leaped  upon  a  trembling  malefactor.  In  the  same  instant  the 
shaft  flew,  the  beast  dropped  dead,  and  the  man  remained 
unhurt.  The  dens  of  the  amphitheatre  disgorged  at  once  a 
hundred  lions :  a  hundred  darts  from  the  unerring  hand  of 
Commodus  laid  them  dead  as  they  run  raging  round  the  Arena. 
Neither  the  huge  bulk  of  the  elephant,  nor  the  scaly  hide  of 
the  rhinoceros,  could  defend  them  from  his  stroke.  -^Cthiopia 
and  India  yielded  their  most  extraordinary  productions ;  and 
several  animals  were  slain  in  the  amphitheatre,  which  had 
been  seen  only  in  the  representations  of  art,  or  perhaps  of 
fancy."  In  all  these  exhibitions,  the  securest  precautions 
were  used  to  protect  the  person  of  the  Roman  Hercules  from 
the  desperate  spring  of  any  savage,  who  might  possibly  dis- 
regard the  dignity  of  the  emperor  and  the  sanctity  of  the 
god." 

33  The  ostrich's  neck  is  three  feet  long,  and  composed  of  seventeen 
vertebrte.     See  BufFon,  Hist.  Natiuelle. 

3^  Commodus  killed  a  camelopardalis  or  Giraffe,  (Dion,  1.  Ixxii.  p. 
1211,)  the  tallest,  the  most  gentle,  and  the  most  useless  of  the  large 
(juadrupeds.  Tliis  singular  animal,  a  native  only  of  the  interior 
parts  of  Africa,  has  not  been  seen  in  Europe  since  the  revival  of 
letters;  and  though  M.  de  Buffon  (Hist.  Naturellc,  torn,  xiii.)  !iaa 
endeavored  to  describe,  he  has  not  ventured  to  delineate,  ihe 
Giraffe.* 

35  Herodian,  L  i.  p.  37.     Hist.  August,  p.  50. 


*  The  naturalists  of  our  days  have  been  more  fortunate.  London  prob- 
fkbly  now  contains  more  specimens  of  this  animal  than  have  been  seen  in 
Erxrope  since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  unless  in  tho  pleasure  gardens 
of  the  emperor  Frederic  II.,  in  Sicily,  which  possessed  several.  Frederie'i 
eolloctions  of  wild  beasts  were  exhibited,  for  the  popular  amusement,  in 
many  parts  of  Italy.  Raumer,  Geschichte  dor  Hohcnstaufcn,  v.  iii.  p.  .'i71. 
Gibbon,  moreover,  is  mistaken ;  as  a  ^ratfe  was  presented  to  Lorenzo  d& 
Medici,  either  by  tie  sultan  of  Egypt  or  the  l^ing  of  Tunis.  Conteui' 
porary  authorities  arc  quoted  m  the  old  \\'ork,  Gesnei'  de  CXuadrapedibuik 
f)  16^.— M. 


114  THE   DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  189-192 

But  tl](;  moincst  cf  the  populace  were  affected  with  bhame 
and  indigiiation  when  tliey  beheld  their  sovereign  enter  the 
lists  as  a  gladiator,  and  glory  in  a  profession  which  the  laws 
and  manners  of  the  Romans  had  branded  with  the  justest  note 
of  infamy.^'*  He  chose  the  habit  and  arms  of  the  Secutor, 
whose  combat  with  the  Retiarius  formed  one  of  the  most 
Lively  scenes  in  the  bloody  sports  of  the  amphitheatre.  The 
Sccutor  was  armed  with  a  helmet,  sword,  and  buckler;  his 
naked  antagonist  had  only  a  large  net  and  a  trident;  with  the 
one  he  endeavored  to  entangle,  with  the  other  to  despatch  his 
enemy.  If  he  missed  the  first  thi-ow,  he  was  obliged  to  fly 
from  the  pursuit  of  the  Secutor,  till  he  had  prepared  his  net  for  a 
second  cast."  The  emperor  fought  in  this  character  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-five  several  times.  These  glorious  achieve- 
ments were  carefully  recorded  in  the  public  acts  of  the 
empire;  and  that  he  might  omit  no  circumstance  of  infamy, 
he  received  from  the  common  fund  of  gladiators  a  stipend  so 
exorbitant  that  it  became  a  new  and  most  ignominious  tax 
upon  the  Roman  people.^*  It  may  be  easily  sup})osed,  that  in 
these  engagements  the  master  of  the  world  was  always  sue 
cessful ;  in  the  amphitheatre,  his  victories  were  not  often 
sanguinary ;  but  when  he  exercised  his  skill  in  the  school  of 
gladiators,  or  hjs  own  palace,  his  wretched  antagonists  were 
frequently  honored  with  a  mortal  wound  from  the  hand  of 
Commodus,  and  obliged  to  seal  their  flattery  with  their  blood.^' 
lie  now  disdained  the  appellation  of  Hercules.  The  name  of 
Paulas,  a  celebrated  Secutor,  was  the  only  one  which  delighted 
his  ear.  It  was  inscribed  on  his  colossal  statues,  and  repeated 
in  the  redoubled  acclamations"  of  the  mournful  and  applaud- 

3*  The  virtuous  and  even  the  wise  princes  forbade  the  senators  and 
knights  to  embrace  this  scandalous  profession,  under  pain  of  infamy, 
or,  what  was  more  dreaded  by  those  profligate  wretches,  of  exile 
lie  tyrants  allured  them  to  dishonor  by  tlu-eats  and  rewards.  Nero 
orce  produced  in  the  arena  forty  senators  and  sixty  knights.  See 
]  jpsius,  Saturnaha,  1.  ii.  c.  2.  He  has  happily  corrected  a  passage  of 
J)uetonius  in  Nerone,  c.  12. 

^T  Lipsius,  1.  ii.  c.  7,  8.  Juvenal,  in  the  eighth  satire,  gives  a 
picturesque  description  of  this  combat. 

3*  Hist.  August,  p.  50.  Dion,  1.  IxxiL  p.  1220.  He  received,  for  eacb 
time,  decies,  about  8000Z.  sterling. 

3*  Victor  tells  us,  tliat  Commodus  only  allowed  his  antagonists  a 
teaden  weapon,  di'eading  most  probably  the  consequences  of  their 
despair. 

**  They  were  obhged  to  repeat,  six  hvndred  and  twenty-six  timea 
Voflus  first  of  th",  Secutor s,  &c. 


A.  D.  192.J         OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  116 

ing  senate.*'  Clajdius  Pompeianus,  the  virtuous  husband  of 
LuciUa,  was  the  only  senator  who  asseited  the  honor  of  hi.s 
rank.  As  u  father,  he  permitted  his  sons  to  consult  their 
safety  by  attending  the  ampliitheatre.  As  a  Roman,  he 
declared,  that  his  own  hfe  was  in  the  emperor's  hands,  but 
that  he  would  never  behold  the  son  of  Marcus  prostituting  his 
person  and  dignity.  Notwithstanding  his  manly  resolution 
rompeianus  escaped  the  resentment  of  the  tyrant,  and,  with 
his  honor,  had  the  good  fortune  to  preserve  his  life." 

Commodus  had  now  attained  the  summit  of  vice  and  infamy. 
Amidst  the  acclamations  of  a  flattering  court,  he  was  unable 
to  disguise  from  himself,  that  he  had  deserved  the  contempt 
and  hatred  of  every  man  of  sense  and  virtue  in  his  empire. 
His  ferocious  spirit  was  irritated  by  the  consciousness  of  that 
hatred,  by  the  envy  of  every  kind  of  merit,  by  the  just  appre- 
hension of  danger,  and  by  the  habit  of  slaughter,  which  he 
contracted  in  his  daily  amusements.  History  has  preserved  a 
long  list  of  consular  senators  sacrificed  to  his  wanton  suspicion, 
which  sought  out,  with  peculiar  anxiety,  those  unfortunate 
persons  connected,  however  remotely,  with  the  family  of  the 
Antonines,  without  sparing  even  the  ministers  of  his  crimes  or 
pleasures."  His  cruelty  proved  at  last  fatal  to  himself.  He 
had  shed  with  impunity  the  noblest  blood  of  Rome :  he 
perished  as  soon  as  he  was  dreaded  by  his  own  domes- 
tics. Marcia,  his  favorite  concubine,  Eclectus,  his  chamberlain, 
and  Lpetus,  his  Praetorian  praefect,  alarmed  by  the  tate  of  their 
companions  and  predecessors,  resolved  to  prevent  the  destruc- 
tion which  every  hour  hung  over  their  heads,  either  from  the 
mad  caprice  of  the  tyrant,*  or  the  sudden  indignation  of  the 


<'  Dion,  1.  Ixxii.  p.  1221.  He  speaks  of  his  own  baseness  and 
danger. 

♦2  He  mixed,  however,  some  prudence  witli  his  courage,  and  passed 
the  greatest  part  of  his  time  in  a  country  retirement ;  alleging  his 
idvauced  age,  and  tlie  weakness  of  his  eyes.  "  I  never  saw  him  in 
Ihe  senate,"  says  Dion, "  except  during  tlie  short  reign  of  Pertinax." 
All  his  infirmities  had  suddenly  left  him,  and  they  returned  as  sud- 
denly upon  the  murder  of  that  excellent  jDrince.  Dion,  L  bcxiii. 
p.  1227. 

*2  The  pracfocts  were  changed  almost  hourly  or  daily;  and  the 
caprice  of  Commodus  was  cften  fatal  to  his  most  favored  chamberlaioa 
Hist.  August,  p  46,  51. 


"  Comniodj,*  ^ed  already'  resolved  to  massacre  iliem  the  follo\vlng  night 
they  detemiinc]   o  anticipate  his  design     Herod,  i.  17. — W 


116  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL         [A,  D.  192 

people.  Marcia  seized  the  occasion  of  presenting  a  draught 
of  wine  to  her  lover,  after  he  had  fiiligued  himself  with  hunt- 
ing some  wild  beasts.  Commodiis  retired  to  sleep  ;  but  whilst 
he  was  laboring  with  the  effects  of  poison  and  drunkenness,  a 
robust  youth,  by  profession  a  wrestler,  entered  his  chamber, 
and  strangled  him  without  resistance.  The  body  was  secretly 
conveyed  out  of  the  palace,  before  the  least  suspicion  waa 
entertained  in  the  city,  or  even  in  the  court,  of  the  emperor's 
death.  Such  was  the  fate  of  the  son  of  Marcus,  and  so  easy 
was  it  to  destroy  a  hated  tyrant,  who,  by  the  artificial  powei-s 
of  government,  had  oppressed,  during  thirteen  years,  so  many 
millions  of  subjects,  each  of  whom  was  equal  to  their  master  in 
personal  strength  and  personal  abilities.** 

The  measures  of  the  conspirators  were  conducted  with  the 
deliberate  coolness  and  celerity  which  the  greatness  of  the 
occasion  required.  They  resolved  instantly  to  fill  the  vacant 
throne  with  an  emperor  whose  character  would  justify  and 
maintain  the  action  that  had  been  committed.  They  fixed  on 
Pertinax,  pra^fect  of  the  city,  an  ancient  senator  of  consular 
rank,  whose  conspicuous  merit  had  broke  through  the  obscurity 
of  his  birth,  and  raised  him  to  the  first  honors  of  the  state. 
He  had  successively  governed  most  of  the  provinces  of  the 
empire ;  and  in  all  Jiis  great  employments,  military  as  well  as 
civil,  he  had  uniformly  distinguished  himself  by  the  firmness, 
the  prudence,  and  the  integrity   of  his  conduct.*^     He  now 

"  Dion,  L  Ixxii.  p.  1222.  Herodian,  1.  L  p.  43.  Hist.  August 
p.  52. 

^^  Pertinax  was  a  native  of  Alba  Poinpeia,  in  Piedmont,  and  son 
of  a  timber  merchant.  The  order  of  his  employments  (it  is  marked 
by  Capitolinus)  well  deserves  to  be  set  down,  as  expressive  of  the 
form  of  government  and  manners  of  the  age.     1.  He  was  a  centurion. 

2.  Praefect  of  a  cohort  in  Syria,  in  the  Parthian  war,  and  in  Britaui. 

3.  He  obtained  an  Ala,  or  squadron  of  horse,  in  Mtesia.  4.  He  wap 
commissary  of  provisions  on  tho  ^Emilian  way.  5.  He  commanded 
the  fleet  upon  the  Rliine.  6.  He  was  procurator  of  Dacia,  with  a 
salary  of  about  IGOO/.  a  year.  7.  He  commanded  the  veterans  of  a 
legion.  8.  He  obtamed  the  rank  of  senator.  9.  Of  praetor.  10.  With 
tlie  command  of  the  first  legion  in  Rluetia  and  Noi  icum.  1 1  He  was 
consul  about  the  year  175.  12.  He  attended  Marcus  into  the  East 
13.  He  commanded  an  army  on  tlie  Danube.  14.  He  was  consular 
legate  of  M«5sia.  15.  Of  Dacia.  16.  Of  Syria.  17.  Of  Britaia 
18.  He  had  the  care  of  the  public  provisions  at  Rome.  19.  He  was 
proconsul  of  Africa.  20.  Prajfect  of  the  city.  Herodian  (1.  i.  p.  481 
does  justice  to  his  disinterested  spirit;  but  Capitolinu.?,  who  collectec) 
ev«5ry  popular  rumor,  charges  him  with  a  great  fortune  acqvjlre<i 
Iff  bribery  and  corruntiou. 


A.D.  193.]  OK    THE    RJ.W.'iN    EMPIRE.  117 

remained  almost  alone  of  the  friends  and  ministers  of  Marcus ; 
and  when,  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  he  was  awakened  with 
the  news,  that  the  chamb'^rlair.  and  the  prajfect  were  at  his 
door,  he  received  them  with  intrej)id  resigiiatTon,  and  desired 
they  would  execute  their  master's  orders.  Instead  of  death, 
they  offered  him  the  throne  of  the  Roman  world.  During 
some  moments  he  distrusted  their  intentions  and  jissurances. 
Convinced  at  length  of  the  death  of  Commodus,  he  accepted 
the  purple  with  a  sincere  reluctance,  the  natural  effect  of  his 
knowledge  both  of  the  duties  and  of  the  dangers  of  the  supreme 
rank." 

Lgetus  conducted  without  delay  his  new  emperor  to  the 
camp  of  the  Praetorians,  diffusing  at  the  same  time  through 
the  city  a  seasonable  report  that  Commodus  died  suddenly  of 
an  apoplexy ;  and  that  the  virtuous  Pertinax  had  already  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne.  The  guards  were  rather  surprised  than 
pleased  with  the  suspicious  death  of  a  prince,  whose  indul- 
gence and  liberality  they  alone  had  experienced ;  but  the 
emergency  of  the  occasion,  the  authority  of  their  pra^fect,  the 
reputation  of  Pertinax,  and  the  clamors  of  the  people,  obliged 
them  to  stifle  their  secret  discontents,  to  acce])t  the  donative 
promised  by  the  new  emperor,  to  swear  allegiance  to  him,  and 
with  joyful  acclamations  and  laurels  in  their  hands  to  conduct 
him  to  the  senate  house,  that  the  military  consent  might  be 
ratified  by  the  civil  authority. 

Tliis  important  night  was  now  far  sjient ;  with  the  dawn  of 
day,  and  the  commencement  of  the  new  year,  the  senators 
expected  a  summons  to  attend  an  ignominious  ceremony.* 
[n  spite  of  all  i-e monstrances,  even  of  those  of  his  creatures 
who  yet  preserved  any  regard  for  prudence  or  decency,  Com- 
modus had  resolved  to  pass  the  night  in  the  ghvdiators'  school, 
and  from  thence  to  take  possession  of  the  consulship,  in  the 
habit  and  with  the  attendance  of  that  infamous  crew.  On  a 
sudden,  before  the  break  of  day,  the  senate  was  called  together 
in  the  temple  of  Concord,  to  meet  the  guards,  and  to  ratify  the 
election  of  a  new  emperor.     For  a  few  minutes  they  sat  in 

<s  Julian,  in  the  Caesars,  taxes  him  with  being  aorcssory  to  the 
death  of  Commodus. 


*  The  senate  alwaj's  assembled  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  on  th« 
night  of  the  1st  Januarj',  (see  Savaron  on  Sid.  Apoll.  viii.  fi.)  and  thi* 
happened  the  iirese'it  yeai-,  as  usual,  without  any  ijartirular  order.— (J 
from  W. 


118  THE    DECLIN-^    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  193. 

silent  suspense,  doubtful  of  thfir  unexpected  deliverance,  and 
Buspicious  of  the  cruel  artifices  of  Commodus :  but  when  at 
length  they  were  assured  that  the  tyrant  was  no  more,  they 
resigned  themselves  to  all  the  transports  of  joy  and  iudigna 
tion.  Pertinax,  who  modestly  represented  the  meanness  of 
his  extraction,  and  pointed  out  several  noble  senators  moro 
deserving  than  himself  of  the  empire,  was  constrained  by  their 
dutiful  violence  to  ascend  the  throne,  and  received  all  the  titles 
of  Imperial  power,  confirmed  by  the  most  sincere  vows  of 
fidelity.  The  memory  of  Cjm modus  was  branded  with  eternal 
infamy.  The  names  of  tyrant,  of  gladiator,  of  public  enemy 
resounded  in  every  corner  of  the  house.  They  decreed  in  tu- 
multuous votes,*  that  his  honoi"s  should  be  reversed,  his  titles 
erased  from  the  public  monuments,  his  statues  thrown  down, 
his  body  dragged  with  a  hook  into  the  stripping  room  of  the 
gladiators,  to  satiate  the  public  h\ry  ;  and  they  expressed  some 
indignation  against  those  officious  servants  who  had  already 
presumed  to  screen  his  remains  from  the  justice  of  the  senate. 
But  Pertinax  could  not  refuse  those  last  rites  to  the  memory 
of  Marcus,  and  the  tears  of  his  first  protector  Claudiur.  Pom- 
peianus,  who  lamented  the  cruel  fate  of  his  brother-in-law,  and 
lamented  still  more  that  he  had  deserved  it." 

These  efl:usions  of  impotent  rage  against  a  dead  emperor, 
whom  the  senate  had  flattered  when  alive  with  the  most  abject 
servility,  betrayed  a  just    but   ungenerous  spirit  of  revenge. 

<T  Capitolinus  gives  us  the  particulars  of  these  tumultuary  voteS; 
which  were  moved  by  one  senator,  and  rejieated,  or  rather  chanted, 
by  the  whole  body.     Hist.  August,  p.  52. 

"^  What  Gibbon  improperly  calls,  both  here  and  in  the  note,  tumultuoaa 
decrees,  were  no  more  than  the  applauses  and  acclamations  which  recar 
so  often  in  the  history  of  the  emperors.  The  custom  passed  from  the  the 
atre  to  the  forum,  from  the  forum  to  the  senate.  Applauses  on  the  adoption 
of  the  Imperial  decrees  were  first  introduced  under  Trajan.  (Plin.  jun. 
Paiiegyr.  75.)  One  senator  read  the  form  of  the  decree,  and  all  the  rest 
answered  by  acclamations,  accompanied  with  a  kind  of  chant  or  rhythm. 
These  w^ere  some  of  the  acclamations  addressed  to  Pertinax,  and  against 
the  memoi'y  of  Commodus.  Hosti  pat.rice  honores  detrahantur.  Parricidaa 
honores  detrahantur.  Ut  salvi  simus,  Jupiter,  optime,  maxime,  serva 
nobis  Peninacem.  This  custom  prevailed  not  only  in  the  councils  of  state, 
but  in  all  the  meetings  of  the  senate.  However  inconsistent  it  may 
appear  with  the  solemnity  of  a  religious  assembly,  the  earh'^  Christian* 
adopted  and  introduced  it  into  their  synods,  notwithstanding  tte  opposition 
of  some  of  the  Fathers,  particularly  of  St.  Chrysostoni.  Sec  the  Coll.  of 
Franc.  Rem.  Ferrarius  de  veterum  acclamatione  in  Grasvii  Thesaur.  AntJq 
Horn.  i.  6.— W. 

This  note  is  rather  hypercritical,  as  regards  Gibbon,  bu't  appears  to  DM 
wofthj-  of  preservation. — M. 


A..  D  193.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIKE.  119 

The  legality  of  these  decrees  was,  however,  supported  by  the 
princi2:)les  of  the  Imperial  constitution.  To  censure,  to  deposn?, 
or  to  punish  with  death,  the  tirst  magistrate  of  the  republic, 
who  had  abused  his  delegated  trust,  Wiis  the  ancient  and  un- 
doubted prerogative  of  the  Roman  senate ;"  but  that  feeble 
a^st.mbly  was  obliged  to  content  itself  with  inflicting  on  a 
dxllen  tyrant  that  public  justice,  from  which,  during  his  life 
and  reign,  he  had  been  shielded  by  the  strong  arm  of  military 
despotism.* 

Pertinax  found  a  nobler  way  of  condemning  his  predece;^- 
Bor's  memory ;  by  the  conti'ast  of  his  own  virtues  with  the 
vices  of  Commodus.  On  the  day  of  his  accession,  he  resigned 
over  to  his  wife  and  son  his  whole  private  fortune ;  that  they 
might  have  no  pretence  to  solicit  favors  at  the  expense  of  the 
state.  He  refused  to  flatter  the  vanity  of  the  foriner  with  the 
title  of  Augusta ;  or  to  corrupt  the  inexperienced  youth  of  the 
latter  by  the  rank  of  Cajsar.  Accurately  distinguishing  be- 
tween the  duties  of  a  parent  and  those  of  a  sovereign,  he  edu- 
cated his  son  with  a  severe  simplicity,  which,  while  it  gave 
him  no  assured  prospect  of  the  throne,  might  in  time  have 
rendered  him  worthy  of  it.  In  public,  the  behavior  of  Per- 
tinax was  grave  and  aftable.  He  lived  with  the  virtuous  part 
of  the  senate,  (and,  in  a  private  station,  he  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  true  character  of  each  individual,)  without  either 
pride  or  jealousy;  considered  them  as  friends  and  compan- 
ions, with  whom  he  had  shared  the  danger  of  the  tyranny, 
and  with  whom  he  wished  to  enjoy  the  security  of  the  present 
time.  He  very  frequently  in\'ited  them  to  familiar  entertain- 
ments, the  frugality  of  which  was  ridiculed  by  those  who 
remembered  and  regretted  the  luxurious  prodigality  of  Com- 
modus." 

*^  The  senate  condenined  Nero  to  be  put  to  deatli  more  majorum. 
Sueton.  c.  49. 

*^  Dion  (1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1223)  speaks  of  these  entertainments,  as  a 
Benator  who  had  supped  with  the  emperor ;  Capitolinus,  (Hist.  Au- 
gust, p.  58,)  like  a  slave,  who  had  received  his  intelligence  from  on^ 
of  the  sculUons. 


*  No  particular  law  assigned  tliis  right  to  the  .senate :  it  was  deduced 
from  the  ancient  princijdes  of  the  republic.  Gibbon  appc  ar.s  to  infer,  from 
the  passage  of  Suetonius,  that  the  senate,  according  to  its  moicnt  right, 
punished  Nero  with  deatli.  The  words,  bow-ever,  rpore  nnijt  -inn  rufer  nol 
to  the  decree  of  the  senate,  but  to  the  liind  of  death,  which  was  lakes 
&t)m  an  old  law  of  liomulus.  (Sec  Victor,  lipil  Ed.  Art;:cn  p.  484,  n.  7 
— W 


120  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  |^A.  D.  1 95 

Tj  heal,  as  Far  as  L  was  possible,  tlie  wounds  inflicted  bj 
<hfc  hand  of  tyranny,  was  the  pleasing,  but  melancholy,  tatK 
af  Pertinax.  The  innocent  victims,  who  yet  survived,  were 
recalled  from  exile,  releasea  from  prison,  and  restored  to  the 
mil  possession  of  their  honors  and  fortunes.  The  unburi^d 
Dodies  ot  murdered  senators  (for  the  cruelty  of  Commodua 
endeavored  to  extend  itself  beyond  death)  v/ere  deposited  in 
the  sepulchres  of  their  ancestors ;  their  memory  was  justified 
and  every  consolation  was  bestowed  on  their  ruined  and 
afilicted  families.  Among  these  consoJations,  one  of  the  most 
grateful  was  the  punishment  of  the  Delators ;  the  common 
enemies  of  their  master,  of  virtue,  and  of  their  country.  Yet 
even  in  the  inquisition  of  these  leg;d  asoassiris,  Pertmax  pro- 
eeeded  with  a  steady  temper,  which  gave  ever)"-  ihing  to  justice, 
and  nothing  to  popular  prejudice  and  reseotrntnt. 

The  finances  of  the  state  demanded  tlhe  ra'vst  vigilant  care 
of  the  emperor.  Though  every  measure  of  injustice  and  ex- 
tortion had  been  adopted,  which  could  coJlect  the  property  of 
the  subject  into  the  coffers  of  the  prince,  the  rapaciousness 
of  Commodus  had  been  so  very  inadequate  to  his  extrava- 
gance, that,  upon  his  death,  no  more  than  eight  thousand 
pounds  were  found  in  the  exhausted  ti'easury,^"  to  defray  the 
current  expenses  of  government,  and  to  discharge  the  pressing 
demand  of  a  liberal  donative,  wliich  the  new  emperor  had 
been  obliged  to  promise  to  the  Pra:.'torian  guards.  Yet  under 
these  distressed  circumstances,  Pertinax  had  the  generous 
firmness  to  remit  all  the  oppressive  taxes  invented  by  Com- 
modus, and  to  cancel  all  the  unjust  claims  of  the  treasury ; 
declaring,  in  a  decree  of  the  senate,  "  that  he  was  becter  sat- 
isfied to  administer  a  poor  republic  with  innocence,  than  to 
acquire  riches  by  the  ways  of  tyranny  and  dishonor."  Econ- 
omy and  industry  he  considered  as  the  pure  and  genuine 
sources  of  wealth  ;  and  from  them  he  soon  derived  a  copious 
supply  for  the  public  necessities.  The  expense  of  the  house- 
hold was  immediately  reduced  to  one  half.  All  tlie  instru- 
ments of  luxury  Pertinax  exposed  to  public  auction,'"  gold  and 

'°  Dccieif.  The  blameless  economy  of  Pius  left  his  successors  a 
treiiaure  of  vhles  septies  millics,  above  two  and  twenty  millions  ster 
ling.     Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1231. 

"  Besides  the  desij^n  of  cor. .  crting  these  useless  ornaments  into 
money,  Dion  (1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1229)  assigns  two  secret  motives  of  Pertinax 
He  wished  to  expose  the  vices  of  Commodus,  and  to  discover  by  the 
purchasers  those  who  most  resembled  him. 


A.D.  193.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  ISl 

silver  plate,  chariots  of  a  singular  construction,  a  superfluous 
wardrobe  of  silk  and  embroidery,  and  a  great  number  of 
beautiful  slaves  of  both  sexes  ;  excepting  only,  with  attentive 
humanity,  those  who  w^ere  born  in  a  state  of  freedom,  and  had 
been  ravished  from  the  arms  of  their  weeping  parents.  At 
the  Fame  time  that  he  obliged  the  worthless  favorites  of  the 
tyrant  to  resign  a  part  of  their  ill-gotten  wealth,  he  satisfied 
tjie  just  creditors  of  the  state,  and  imexpectedly  discharged  the 
long  arrears  of  honest  services.  He  removed  the  oppressive 
restrictions  which  had  been  laid  upon  commerce,  and  granted 
all  the  uncultivated  lands  in  Italy  and  the  provinces  to  those 
who  would  improve  them  ;  with  an  exemption  fi-om  tribute 
during  the  term  of  ten  years.^* 

Such  a  uniform  conduct  had  already  secured  to  Pertinax 
the  noblest  reward  of  a  sovereign,  the  love  and  esteem  of  his 
people.  Those  who  remembered  the  virtues  of  Marcus  were 
happy  to  contemplate  in  their  new  emperor  the  features  of 
that  bright  original ;  and  flattered  themselves,  that  they  should 
long  enjoy  the  benign  influence  of  his  administration.  A  hasty 
zeal  to  reform  the  corrupted  state,  accompanied  with  less  pru- 
dence than  might  have  been  expected  from  the  years  and  ex- 
perience of  Pertinax,  proved  fatal  to  himself  and  to  his  coun- 
try. His  honest  indiscretion  united  against  him  the  servile 
crowd,  who  found  their  private  benefit  in  the  public  disorders, 
and  who  preferred  the  favor  of  a  tyrant  to  the  inexorable  equal- 
ity of  the  laws.'* 

Amidst  the  general  joy,  the  siiUen  and  angry  countenance 
of  the  Praetorian  guards  betrayed  their  inwai'd  dissatisfaction. 
They  had  reluctantly  submitted  to  Pertinax  ;  they  dreaded  the 
strictness  of  the  ancient  discipline,  which  he  was  preparing  to 
restore ;  and  they  regretted  the  license  of  the  former  reign. 
Their  discontents  v/ere  secretly  fomented  by  Loetus,  their 
prsefect,  who  found,  when  it  was  too  late,  that  his  new  em- 
peror would  reward  a  servant,  but  would  not  be  ruled  by  a 
favorite.  On  the  third  day  of  his  reign,  the  sold'ors  seized 
on  a  noble  senator,  with  a  design  to  carry  him  to  the  camp, 
and  to  invest  him  with  the  Imperial  purple.  Instead  of  being 
dazzled  by  the  dangerous  honor,  the  affi'ighted  victim  escaped 


"  Though  Capitolinus  has  picked  up  many  idle  tales  of  the  private 
life  of  Pertinax,  he  joins  with  Dion  and  Heroehan  in  admiring  his  pub 
lie  conduct 

*'  Leges,  rem  surdam,  inexorahilem  esse.     T.  Liv.  ii.  3. 

VOL.   I. F 


122  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  193 

from  their  violence,  and  took  refuge  at  the  feet  of  Pertinax. 
A  short  time  afterwards,  Sosius  Falco,  one  of  the  consuls  of 
the  year,  a  rash  youth,"  but  of  an  ancient  and  opulent  family, 
listened  to  the  voice  of  ambition  ;  and  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
during  a  short  absence  of  Pertinax,  which  was  crushed  by  his 
sudden  return  to  Rome,  and  his  resolute  behavior.  Falco  was 
on  the  point  of  being  justly  condemned  to  death  as  a  public 
enemy  had  he  not  been  saved  by  the  earnest  and  sincere  en- 
treaties of  the  injured  emperor,  who  conjured  the  senate,  that 
the  purity  of  his  reign  might  not  be  stained  by  the  blood  even 
of  a  guilty  senator. 

These  disappointments  served  only  to  irritate  the  rage  of 
the  Praetorian  guards.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  March, 
eighty-six  days  only  after  the  death  of  Commodus,  a  general 
sedition  broke  out  in  the  camp,  which  the  officers  wanted 
either  power  or  inchnation  to  suppress.  Two  or  three  hun- 
dred of  the  most  desperate  soldiers  marched  at  noonday,  with 
arms  in  their  hands  and  fury  in  their  looks,  towards  the  Im- 
perial palace.  The  gates  were  thrown  open  by  their  com- 
panions upon  guard,  and  by  the  domestics  of  the  old  court, 
who  had  already  formed  a  secret  conspiracy  against  the  life 
of  the  too  virtuous  emperor.  On  the  news  of  their  approach, 
Pertinax,  disdaining  either  flight  or  concealment,  advanced  to 
meet  his  assassins ;  and  recalled  to  their  minds  his  own  inno- 
cence, and  the  sanctity  of  their  recent  oath.  For  a  few  mo- 
ments they  stood  in  silent  suspense,  ashamed  of  their  atrocious 
design,  and  awed  by  the  venerable  aspect  and  majestic  firm- 
ness of  their  sovereign,  till  at  length,  the  despair  of  pardon 
reviving  their  fury,  a  barbarian  of  the  comitry  of  Tongress  ^* 
levelled  the  first  blow  against  Pertinax,  who  was  instantly 
despatched  with  a  multitude  of  wounds.  His  head,  separated 
from  his  body,  and  placed  on  a  lance,  was  carried  in  triumph 
to  the  Prsetorian  camp,  in  the  sight  of  a  mournful  and  indig 


'*  If  we  credit  Capitolinus,  (wliicli  is  rather  difficult,)  Falco  beha' 
ed  with  the  most  petulant  indecency  to  Pertinax,  on  the  day  of  his  a» 
cession.  The  wise  emperor  only  admonished  him  of  his  youth  and  iit 
experience.     Hist.  August,  p.  .55. 

**  The  modern  bishopric  of  Liege.  This  soldier  probably  bclongfe  • 
to  the  Batavian  horse-guards,  who  were  mostly  raised  in  the  duchy  o; 
G-ueldres  and  the  neighborhood,  and  were  distinguished  by  their  valor, 
and  by  the  boldness  with  which  they  swam  their  horses  across  the 
broadest  and  most  rapid  rivers.  Tacit  Hist  iv.  12  Dion,  L  Iv  p.  7911 
Lipsius  de  magnitudine  Romana,  I.  i.  c.  4. 


A.D.  lOS.]        OF  THE  KCMAN  EMPIRE.  12S 

nant  people,  who  lamented  the  unworthy  fate  of  that  excel- 
lent prince,  and  the  transient  blessings  of  a  reign,  the  memory 
of  which  could  serve  only  to  aggravate  their  approaching 
misfortunes." 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1232.    Herodian,   1.   u.  p.  60.    Hist.  Augoat 
p,  68.     Victor  in  Epitom.  ct  in  Csesarib.  Eutrcpius,  viiL  16. 


124  IHE   DECLINE   AND    FALL  IA.D.  19S. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PUBLIC     SALE    OF    THE     EMPIRE    TO    DIDIUS     JULIANOS    BY   THK 

PR^TORIAN     GUARDS. CLODIUS     ALBINUS    IN    BRITAIN,    PE8- 

CENNIU8   NIGER  IN  SYRIA,  AND   SEPTIMIUS   SEVERUS    IN    PAN- 

NONIA,  DECLARE  AGAINST  THE  MURDERERS    OF    PERTINAX. 

CIVIL     WARS     AND     VICTORY    OF    SEVERUS     OVER   HIS     THREE 

RIVALS. RELAXATION      OF     DISCIPLINE. NEW     MAXIMS     OF 

GOVERNMENT. 

The  power  of  the  sword  is  more  sensibly  felt  in  an  exten- 
sive monarchy,  than  in  a  small  community.  It  has  been  cal 
culated  by  the  ablest  politicians,  that  no  state,  without  being 
soon  exhausted,  can  maintain  above  the  hundredth  part  of  ite 
members  in  arms  and  idleness.  But  although  this  relative 
proportion  may  be  uniform,  the  influence  of  the  army  over 
the  rest  of  the  society  will  vaiy  according  to  the  degree  of 
its  positive  strength.  The  advantages  of  military  science  and 
discipline  cannot  be  exerted,  unless  a  proper  number  of  sol- 
diers are  united  into  one  body,  and  actuated  by  one  soul 
With  a  handful  of  men,  such  a  union  would  be  ineffectual ; 
with  an  unwieldy  host,  it  would  be  impracticable ;  and  the 
powers  of  the  machine  would  be  alike  destroyed  by  the  ex- 
treme minuteness  or  the  excessive  weight  of  its  springs.  To 
illustrate  this  observation,  we  need  only  reflect,  that  there  h 
no  superiority  of  natural  strength,  artificial  weapons,  or  ac- 
quired skill,  which  could  enable  one  man  to  keep  in  constant 
subjection  one  hundred  of  his  fellow-creatures :  the  tyrant  of 
a  single  town,  or  a  small  district,  would  soon  discover  that  a 
hundred  armed  followers  were  a  weak  defence  against  teu 
thousand  peasants  or  citizens ;  but  a  hundred  thousand  well- 
disciphned  soldiers  will  command,  with  despotic  sway,  ten 
millions  of  subjects ;  and  a  body  of  ten  or  fifteen  thousand 
guards  Avill  strike  terror  into  the  most  numerous  populace  that 
ever  crowded  the  streets  of  an  immense  capital. 

The  PrcBtorian  bands,  whose  licentious  fury  was  the  first 
tymptom   and  cause  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire. 


A.D.  193.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  12fl 

scarcely  amounted  to  the  last-mentioned  number  *  Tl.ey  de- 
rived their  institution  from  Augustus.  That  crafty  tyrant, 
sensible  that  laws  might  color,  but  that  arms  alone  could 
maintain,  his  usurped  dominion,  had  gradually  formed  this 
powerful  body  of  guards,  in  constant  readiness  to  protect  his 
person,  to  awe  the  senate,  and  either  to  prevent  or  to  crush 
the  first  motions  of  rebellion.  He  distinguished  these  favored 
troops  by  a  double  pay  and  superior  privileges ;  but,  as  theit 
formidable  aspect  would  at  once  have  alarmed  and  irritated 
the  Roman  people,  three  cohorts  only  were  stationed  in  the 
capital,  whilst  the  remainder  was  dispereed  in  the  adjacent 
towns  of  Italy.'  But  after  fifty  years  of  peace  and  servitude, 
Tiberius  ventured  on  a  decisive  measure,  which  forever  rivet- 
ted  the  fettei-s  of  his  country.  Under  the  fair  pretences  of 
relieving  Italy  from  the  heavy  burden  of  military  'quarters, 
and  of  introducing  a  stricter  discipline  among  the  guards,  he 
assembled  them  at  Rome,  in  a  permanent  camp,^  which  was 
fortified  with  skilful  care,*  and  placed  on  a  commanding  sit- 
uation.* 

Such  formidable  servants  are  always  necessary,  but  often 
fatal  to  the  throne  of  despotism.  By  thus  introducing  the 
Praetorian  guards  as  it  were  into  the  palace  and  the  senate, 
the  emperors  taught  them  to  perceive  their  own  strength,  and 
the  weakness  of  the  civil  government;  to  view  the  vices  of 
their  masters  witli  famiUar  contempt,  and  to  lay  aside  that 

They  were  originally  nine  or  ten  thousand  men,  (for  Tacitus  and 

^n  are  not  agreed  upon  the  subject,)  divided  into  as  many  cohorts. 

/iteUius  increased  them  to  sixteen  thousand,  and  as  far  as  we  can 

leam  from  inscriptions,  they  never  afterwards  sunk  much  below  that 

Dumber.     See  Lipsius  de  magnitudine  Romana,  i.  4. 

2  Sueton.  in  August,  c.  49. 

3  Tacit.  Annal.  iv.  2.  Sueton.  in  Tiber,  c.  37.  Dion  Cassius,  L 
Ivii.  p.  867. 

*  In  the  civil  war  between  Vitellius  and  Vespasian,  the  Praetorian 
camp  was  attacked  and  defended  with  all  the  machines  used  in  the 
6iege  of  the  best  fortified  cities.     Tacit.  Hist.  iii.  84. 

6  Close  to  the  walls  of  the  city,  on  the  broad  summit  of  the  Quirinal 
and  Viminal  hills.  See  Nardini  Roma  Antica,  p.  174.  Donatus  de 
Roma  Antiqua,  p.  46.* 

*  Not  on  botli  these  hills:  neither  Donatus  nor  Nardini  justify  this 
position.  (Wliitakcr's  Review,  p.  13.)  At  the  northern  extremity  of  this 
hill  (the  Viminal)  are  some  considerable  remains  of  a  walled  enclosure^ 
which  boars  all  the  appearance  of  a  Roman  camp,  and  therefore  is  geoor 
ally  thought  to  coirespond  with  the   Castra  Prastoria.     Granier'a   Italy   ) 

aao.— M. 


126  THS  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D  193 

reverential  awe,  which  distance  only,  and  mystery,  can  pre 
serve  towards  an  imagliarv  power.  In  the  luxurious  idleness 
of  an  opulent  city,  iheir  pride  was  nourished  by  the  sense  of 
their  irresistible  weight ;  nor  was  it  possible  to  conceal  from 
them,  that  the  person  of  the  sovereign,  the  authority  of  the 
senate,  the  public  treasure,  and  the  seat  of  empire,  were  all 
in  their  hands.  To  divert  the  Praetorian  bands  from  these 
dangerous  reflections,  the  firmest  and  best  established  princes 
were  obliged  to  mix  blandishments  with  commands,  rewards 
with  punishments,  to  flatter  their  pride,  indulge  their  pleas- 
ures, connive  at  their  irregularities,  and  to  purchase  their  pre- 
carious faith  by  a  liberal  donative ;  which,  since  the  elevation- 
of  Claudius,  was  enacted  as  a  legal  claim,  on  the  accession  of 
every  new  emperor,* 

The  advocates  of  the  guards  endeavored  to  justify  by  argu- 
ments the  power  which  they  asserted  by  arms ;  and  to  main- 
tain that,  according  to  the  purest  principles  of  the  constitution, 
■•^jV  consent  was  essentially  necessary  in  the  appointment  of 
an  emperor.  The  election  of  consuls,  of  generals,  and  of 
magistrates,  however  it  had  been  recently  usurped  by  the 
senate,  was  the  ancient  and  undoubted  right  of  the  Roman 
people.''  But  where  was  the  Roman  people  to  be  found  ? 
Not  surely  amongst  the  mixed  multitude  of  slaves  and  strangers 
that  filled  the  streets  of  Rome ;  a  servile  populace,  as  devoid 
of  spirit  as  destitute  of  property.  The  defenders  of  the  state, 
selected  from  the  flower  of  the  Italian  youth,^  and  trained  in 
the  exercise  of  arms  and  virtue,  were  the  genuine  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  and  the  best  entitled  to  elect  the  military 
chief  of  the  republic.  These  assertions,  however  defective  in 
reason,   became   unanswerable   when    the    fierce    Praetorians 

*  Claudius,  raised  by  the  soldiers  to  the  empire,  was  the  first  who 
ga"^e  a  donative.  He  gave  quina  dena,  I20l.  (Sueton.  in  Claud,  c.  10:) 
when  Marcus,  with  his  colleague  Lucius  Versus,  took  quiet  possession 
of  the  throne,  he  gave  vicena,  160/.  to  each  of  the  guards.  Hist. 
August,  p.  25,  (Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1231.)  We  may  form  some  idea 
of  the  amount  of  these  sums,  by  Hadiian's  complaint  that  the  pro- 
motion of  a  Caesar  had  cost  him  ter  millics,  two  millions  and  a  half 
sterling. 

7  Cicero  de  Legibus,  iii.  3.  The  first  book  of  Livy,  and  the  second 
of  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  show  the  authority  of  the  people,  even 
in  the  election  of  the  kings. 

8  They  were  originally  recruited  in  Latium,  Etruria,  and  the  old 
colonies,  (Tacit.  AnnaL  iv.  5.)  Tho  emperor  Otho  comphmenta  tbeit 
yanjty  with  the  flattering  titles  of  Italiae,  Alumni,  Bonxana  vere  juven- 
tna     Tacit.  Hist,  i  84. 


A.  D.  19y.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMriKE.  127 

increased  tlieir  weight,  by  throwing,  hke  the  barbarian  con- 
qu2/or  of  Rome,  their  swords  into  the  scale.* 

llie  Prietorians  had  violated  the  sanctity  of  the  throne  by 
the  atrocious  murder  of  Pertinax;  they  dishonored  the  majesty 
of  it  by  their  subsequent  conduct.  The  camp  was  without  a 
leader,  for  even  the  praefect  Ltetus,  who  had  excited  the  tem- 
pest, prudently  declined  the  public  indignation.  Amidst  the 
wild  disorder,  Sulpicianus,  the  emperor's  father-in-law,  and 
governor  of  the  city,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  camp  on  the 
first  alarm  of  mutiny,  was  endeavoring  to  calm  the  fury  of  the 
multitude,  when  he  was  silenced  by  the  clamorous  return  of 
the  murderers,  bearing  on  a  lance  the  head  of  Pertinax. 
Though  history  has  accustomed  us  to  observe  every  principle 
and  every  passion  yielding  to  the  imperious  dictates  of  am- 
bition, it  is  scarcely  credible  that,  in  these  moments  of  horror, 
Sulpicianus  should  have  aspired  to  ascend  a  throne  polluted 
with  the  recent  blood  of  so  near  a  relation  and  so  excellent  a 
prince.  He  had  already  begun  to  use  the  only  offectual  argu- 
ment, and  to  treat  for  the  Imperial  dignity  ;  but  the  more  pru- 
dent of  the  Prastorians,  apprehensive  that,  in  this  private  con- 
tract, they  should  not  obtain  a  just  price  foi'  so  valuable  a 
commodity,  ran  out  upon  the  ramparts  ;  and,  with  a  loud  voice, 
proclaimed  that  the  Roman  world  was  to  be  disposed  of  to  the 
best  bidder  by  public  auction.'" 

This  infamous  offer,  the  most  insolent  excess  of  military 
license,  diffused  a  universal  grief,  shame,  and  indignation 
throughout  the  city.  It  reached  at  length  the  ears  of  Didius 
Julianus,  a  wealthy  senator,  who,  regardless  of  the  public 
calamities,  was  indulging  himself  in  the  luxury  of  the  table.'' 
His  wife  and  his  daughter,  his  freedraen  and  his  parasites, 
easily  convinced  him  that  he  deserved  the  throne,  and  earnestly 
conjured  him  to  embrace  so  fortunate  an  opportunity.  The 
vain  old  man  hastened  to  the  Pnetorian  camp,  where  Sul- 
picianus was  still  in  treaty  with  the  guards,  and  began  to  bid 
against  him  from  the  foot  of  the  rampart.     The  unworthy 

9  In  the  siege  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls.  See  Livy,  v.  48.  Plutarch, 
m  Camill.  p.  143. 

1"  Dion,  L  Lxxiil  p.  1234.  Herodian,  L  ii.  p.  63.  Hist.  August 
p.  60.  Though  the  tliree  historians  agree  that  it  was  in  fact  an 
auction,  Herodian  alone  affirms  that  it  was  proclaimed  as  such  by  the 
Boldiers. 

"  Spartianus  softens  the  most  odious  parts  of  the  character  and 
deration  of  Julian. 


128  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D.  198 

negotiation  was  transacted  by  faithful  emissaries,  who  passed 
iilternately  from  one  candidate  to  the  other,  and  acquainted 
each  of  them  with  the  offers  of  his  rival.  Sulpicianus  had 
already  promised  a  donative  of  five  thousand  drachms  (above 
one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds)  to  each  soldier ;  when  Juhan, 
eager  for  the  prize,  I'ose  at  once  to  the  sum  of  six  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  drachms,  or  upwards  of  two  hundred 
pounds  sterling.  The  gates  of  the  camp  were  instantly  thrown 
.">pen  to  the  purchaser ;  he  was  declared  emperor,  and  received 
an  oath  of  allegiance  from  the  soldiers,  who  retained  humanity 
enough  to  stipulate  that  he  should  pardon  and  forget  the  com- 
petition of  Sulpicianus.* 

It  was  now  incumbent  on  the  Praetorians  to  fulfil  the  con- 
ditions of  the  sale.  They  placed  their  new  sovereign,  whom 
they  served  and  despised,  in  the  centre  of  their  ranks,  sur- 
rounded him  on  every  side  with  their  shields,  and  conducted 
him  in  close  ordci"  of  battle  through  the  deserted  streets  of 
the  city.  The  senate  was  commanded  to  assemble  ;  and  those 
who  had  been  the  distinguished  friends  of  Pertinax,  or  the 
personal  enemies  of  Julian,  found  it  necessary  to  affect  a  more 
than  common  share  of  satisfaction  at  this  happy  revolution." 
After  Julian  had  filled  the  senate  house  with  armed  soldiers, 
he  expatiated  on  the  freedom  of  his  election,  his  own  eminent 
virtues,  and  his  full  assurance  of  the  affections  of  the  senate. 
The  obsequious  assembly  congratulated  their  own  and  the 
public  felicity ;  engaged  their  allegiance,  and  conferred  on 
him  all  the  several  branches  of  the  Imperial  power."  From 
the  senate  Julian  was  conducted,  by  the  same  military  pro- 
ccs.«ion.  to  take  possession  of  the  palace.      The  first  objects 

12  Dion  Cassius,  at  that  time  pr."«ior,  had  been  a  personal  enemy  to 
Julian,  1.  Isxiii.  p.  1235. 

'3  Hist.  Au^Tist  p.  61.  "We  leara  from  thence  one  curious  circum- 
stance, tb£-t  tL<i  new  emperor,  whatever  had  been  his  birth,  was  im- 
mediately aggregated  to  the  number  oi  patrician  families.f 


*  One  of  the  princlrjal  causes  of  the  preference  of  Julianas  by  the  sol- 
diers, was  the  dexterity  with  which  he  remiuded  them  that  Sulpicianus 
would  not  fail  to  revcnr^e  dh  tkem  tlie  death  of  bis  eon-in-law^.  (See  Dion, 
p.  1234,  c.  11.     Herod,  u.  6.)— W. 

t  A  new  fragment  of  Dion  shows  mtme  shrcwdre<:s  5u  the  character  of 
Julian.  When  the  senate  voted  him  a  f^cldeu  statue,  ce  preferred  one  cf 
brass,  as  more  lasting.  He  "  !iad  slways  ooserved,"  he  scid,.  "  that  the  atatcea 
of  former  emperor.s  ■were  soon  destroyed.  Those  of  brsss  JL'oac  remained." 
The  mdignant  historian  adds  that  he  was  w  roag.  The  vLnj6  o5  ft  Tereigna 
slone  preserves  their  images :  the  hrjzcu  st-iL^e  of  Juliai;  ♦?&»  b».^a  ta 
pieces  at  his  death.    Mai.  Fragm.  Vaticaa.  p  2C6   -M. 


AD   193.J  OF   THE   ROMAN   EMPIRB.  12ft 

that  struck  his  eyes,  were  the  abandoned  traiik  of  Pertinax, 
and  the  frugal  entertainment  prepared  for  his  supper.  The 
one  he  viewed  with,  indifference,  the  other  with  contempt. 
A  magnificent  feast  was  prepared  by  his  order,  and  he  amused 
hiraseU',  till  a  very  late  hour,  with  dice,  and  the  performances 
of  Pylades,  a  celebrated  dancer.  Yet  it  was  observed,  that 
after  the  crowd  of  flatterers  dispei-sed,  and  left  him  to  dark- 
ness, solitude,  and  terrible  reflection,  he  passed  a  sleepless 
night;  revolving  most  probably  in  his  mind  his  own  rash  folly, 
the  fate  of  his  virtuous  predecessor,  and  the  doubtful  and 
dangerous  tenure  of  an  empire  which  had  not  been  acquired 
by  merit,  but  purchased  by  money.'* 

He  had  reason  to  tremble.  On  the  throne  of  the  world  he 
found  himself  without  a  friend,  and  even  without  an  adherent. 
The  guards  themselves  were  ashamed  of  the  prince  whom 
their  avarice  had  persuaded  them  to  accept ;  nor  was  there  a 
citizen  who  did  not  consider  his  elevation  with  horror,  as  the 
last  insult  on  the  Roman  name.  The  nobility,  whose  conspic- 
uous station,  and  ample  possessions,  exacted  the  strictest  cau- 
tion, dissembled  their  sentiments,  and  met  the  aflected  civility 
of  the  emperor  with  smiles  of  complacency  and  professions 
of  duty.  But  the  people,  secure  in  their  numbers  and  obscu- 
rity, gave  a  free  vent  to  their  passions.  The  streets  and  pub- 
He  places  of  Rome  resounded  with  clamors  and  imprecations. 
The  enraged  multitude  a9"ronted  the  person  of  Julian,  rejected 
bis  liberality,  and,  conscious  of  the  impotence  of  their  own  re- 
sentment, they  called  aloud  on  the  legions  of  the  frontiers  to 
assert  the  violated  majesty  of  the  Roman  empire. 

The  public  discontent  was  soon  diff"used  from  the  centre  to 
the  frontiers  of  the  empire.  The  armies  of  Britain,  of  Syria, 
and  of  Illyricum,  lamented  the  death  of  Pertinax,  in  whose 
company,  or  under  whose  command,  they  had  so  often  fought 
and  conquered.  They  received  with  surprise,  with  indigna- 
tion, and  perhaps  with  envy,  the  extraordinary  intelligence, 
that  the  Praetorians  had  disposed  of  the   empire  by  public 

"  Dion,  L  Ixxiii.  p.  1235.  Hist.  August,  p.  61.  I  have  endeavored 
to  blend  into  one  consistent  story  the  seeming  contradictions  of  Iho 
two  wiitera * 

•  The  contradiction  as  M.  Guizot  observed,  is  in-econcilable.  He  quoCea 
both  passages:  in  one  Julianus  is  represented  as  a  miser,  in  the  other  as  a 
Tolnptuary.  In  the  one  he  refuses  to  eat  till  the  body  of  Pertinax  lias  been 
toaried ;  in  the  other  he  gluts  himself  with  every  luxury  almost  ia  the  sigh 
of  his  headless  nsrtiains. — M. 


130  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D,  193 

auctiou;  and  they  sternly  refused  to  ratify  the  ignomiuiooa 
bargain.  Their  immediate  and  unanimous  revolt  was  fatal  to 
Julian,  but  it  was  fiital  at  the  same  time  to  the  public  peace , 
as  the  generals  of  the  respective  armies,  Clodius  Albinus, 
Pescennius  Niger,  and  Septiraius  S^verus,  were  still  more 
anxious  to  succeed  than  to  revenge  the  murdered  Pertinax 
Their  forces  were  exactly  balanced.  Each  of  them  was  at  th 
Lead  of  three  legions,*^  with  a  numerous  train  of  auxiliaries ; 
and  however  different  in  their  characters,  they  were  all  soldiers 
of  experience  and  capacity. 

Clodius  Albinus,  governor  of  Britain,  surpassed  both  his 
competitors  in  the  nobility  of  his  extraction,  which  he  derived 
from  some  of  the  most  illustrious  names  of  the  old  republic.'* 
But  the  branch  from  which  he  claimed  his  descent  was  sunk 
into  mean  circumstances,  and  transplanted  into  a  remote  prov- 
ince. It  is  difficult  to  form  a  just  idea  of  his  true  character, 
^^nder  the  philosophic  cloak  of  austerity,  he  stands  accused 
of  concealing  most  of  the  vices  which  degrade  human  nature." 
But  his  accusers  are  iSose  venal  writers  who  adored  the  for- 
tune of  Severus,  and  trampled  on  the  ashes  of  an  unsuccessful 
rival.  Virtue,  or  the  appearances  of  virtue,  recommended 
Albinus  to  the  confidence  and  good  opinion  of  Marcus  ;  and 
bis  preserving  with  the  son  the  same  interest  which  he  had 
acquired  with  the  father,  is  a  proof  at  least  that  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  very  flexible  disposition.  The  favor  of  a  tyrant 
does  not  always  suppose  a  want  of  merit  in  the  object  of  it ; 
he  may,  without  intending  it,  reward  a  man  of  worth  and 
ability,  or  he  may  find  such  a  man  useful  to  his  own  service. 
It  does  not  appear  that  Albinus  served  the  son  of  Marcus,  either 
as  the  minister  of  his  cruelties,  or  even  as  the  associate  of  hia 
pleasures.  He  was  employed  in  a  distant  honorable  command^ 
when  he  received  a  confidential  letter  from  the  emperor, 
acquainting  him  of  the  treasonable  designs  of  some  discon- 
tented generals,  and  authorizing  liim  to  declare  himself  the 
guardian  and  successor  of  the  throne,  by  assuming  the  title  and 
ensigns  of  Caesar.'*     The  governor  of  Britain  wisely  declined 

'    Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1235. 

'•  The  Posthiunian  and  the  Ce'ooian ;  the  former  of  whom  "was 
raised  to  the  consulship  in  the  fifth  year  after  its  institution. 

"  Spartianus,  in  his  undigested  collections,  mixes  uo  all  the  virtues 
and  all  the  vices  that  enter  into  the  hiunan  composition,  and  bestowa 
them  on  the  same  object.  Such,  \adeei  are  many  of  the  charactera 
in  the  Augustan  History. 

>•  Hiaf   A.---v-f  -  fin  84. 


A.D.  193,J       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  131 

the  dangenjus  honor,  which  would  have  marked  him  for  the 
ieaiousy,  or  involved  him  in  the  approaching  ruin,  of  Commo- 
dus.  He  courted  power  by  nobler,  or,  at  least,  by  moie 
specious  arts.  On  a  premature  report  of  the  death  of  thn 
emperor,  he  assembled  his  troops  ;  and,  in  an  eloquent  dis- 
course, deplored  the  inevitable  mischiefs  of  despotism,  de- 
«:cribed  the  happiness  and  glory  which  their  ancestors  had 
enjoyed  under  the  consular  government,  and  declared  his  firm 
resolution  to  reinstate  the  senate  and  people  in  their  legal 
authority.  This  popular  harangue  was  answered  by  the  loud 
acclamations  of  the  British  legions,  and  received  at  Rome  with 
a  secret  murmur  of  applause.  Safe  in  the  possession  of  his 
little  world,  and  in  the  command  of  an  army  less  distinguished 
indeed  for  discipline  than  for  numbers  and  valor,"  Albinus 
braved  the  menaces  of  Commodus,  maintained  towards  Perti- 
nax  a  stately  ambiguous  reserve,  and  instantly  declared  against 
the  usurpation  of  Julian.  The  convulsions  of  the  capital  added 
new  weight  to  his  sentiments,  or  rather  io  his  professions  of 
patriotism.  A  regard  to  decency  induced  him  to  decline  the 
lofty  titles  of  Augustus  and  Emperor ;  and  he  imitated  per- 
haps the  example  of  Galba,  who,  on  a  similar  occasion,  had 
styled  himself  the  Lieutenant  of  the  senate  and  people."' 

Personal  merit  alone  had  raised  Pescennius  Niger,  from  an 
obscure  birth  and  station,  to  the  government  of  Syria ;  a  lucra- 
tive and  important  command,  which  in  times  of  civil  confusion 
gave  him  a  near  prospect  of  the  throne.  Yet  his  parts  seem 
to  have  been  better  suited  to  the  second  than  to  the  first  rank  ; 
he  was  an  unequal  rival,  though  he  might  have  approved  him- 
self an  excellent  lieutenant,  to  Severus,  who  afterwards  dis- 
played the  greatness  of  his  mind  by  adopting  several  useful 
institutions  fi'om  a  vanquished  enemy.^'  In  his  government 
Niger  acquired  the  esteem  of  the  soldiers  and  the  love  of  the 
provincials.  His  rigid  discipline  foritfied  the  valor  and  con- 
firmed the  obedience  of  the  former,  whilst  the  voluptuous 
Syrians  were  less  delighted  with  the  mild  firmness  of  his 
administration,  than  with  the  affability  of  his  manners,  and  the 
apparent  pleasure  with  which  he  attended  their  frequent  and 

*'  Pertinax,  who  governed  Britain  a  few  years  before,  had  been 
left  for  dead,  in  a  mutiny  of  the  soldiers.  Hist.  August,  p  54.  Yet 
they  loved  and  regretted  him ;  admirantibus  earn  virtutem  cui  irasce- 
banlur. 

«»  Sueton.  in  Galb.  c  10. 

••  Hist.  August,  p.  1&. 


182  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D.  193 

pompous  festivals.**  As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  the  atro- 
cious murckr  of  Pertinax  had  reached  Antioch,  the  wishes  of 
Asia  invited  Niger  to  assume  the  Imperial  purple  and  revenge 
his  death.  The  legions  of  the  eastern  frontier  embraced  his 
cause ;  the  opulent  but  unarmed  provinces,  from  the  frontiers 
of  Ethiopia*'  to  the  Hadriatic,  cheerfully  submitted  to  hia 
power;  and  the  kings  beyond  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates 
congratulated  his  election,  and  offered  him  their  homage  and 
services.  The  mind  of  Niger  was  not  capable  of  receiving 
this  sudden  tide  of  fortune :  he  flattered  himself  that  his  acces- 
eion  would  be  undisturbed  by  competition  and  unstained  by 
civil  blood;  and  whilst  he  enjoyed  the  vain  pomp  of  triumph, 
he  neglected  to  secure  the  means  of  victory.  Instead  of  en- 
tering into  an  effectual  negotiation  with  the  powerful  armies 
of  the  West,  whose  resolution  might  decide,  or  at  least  must 
balance,  the  mighty  contest ;  instead  of  advancing  without 
aelay  towards  Rome  and  Italy,  where  his  presence  was  impa- 
tiently expected,*'^^  N'^er  trifled  away  in  the  luxury  of  Antioch 
those  irretrievable  moments  which  were  diligently  improved 
by  the  decisive  activity  of  Severus.*^ 

The  country  of  Pannonia  and  Dalmatia,  which  occupied 
the  space  between  the  Danube  and  the  Hadriatic,  was  one  of 
the  last  and  most  difficult  conquests  of  the  Romans.  In  the 
defence  of  national  freedom,  two  hundred  thousand  of  these 
barbarians  had  once  appeared  in  the  field,  alarmed  the  declining 
age  of  Augustus,  and  exercised  the  vigilant  prudence  of  Tibe- 
rius at  the  head  of  the  collected  force  of  the  empire.*"  The 
Pannonians  yielded  at  length  to  the  arms  and  institutions  of 
Rome.  Their  recent  subjection,  however,  the  neighborhood, 
and  even  the  mixture,  of  the  unconquered  tribes,  and  perhaps 


22  Herod.  1.  ii.  p.  68.  The  Chronicle  of  John  Malala,  of  Antioch, 
shows  the  zealous  attachment  of  his  countrymen  to  these  festivals, 
which  at  once  gratified  their  superstition,  and  their  love  of  pleasure. 

23  A  king  of  Thebes,  m  Egypt,  is  mentioned,  in  the  Augustan 
History,  as  an  ally,  and,  indeed,  as  a  personal  friend  of  Niger.  If 
Spartianus  is  not,  as  I  strongly  suspect,  mistaken,  he  has  brought  to 
light  a  dynasty  of  tributary  princes  totally  unknown  to  history. 

^*  Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1238.  Herod.  1.  ii.  p.  67.  A  verse  in  every  one's 
nouth  at  that  time,  seems  to  express  the  general  opinion  of  the  tliree 
ivals ;  Optimus  est  Niger,  \_Fuscus,  which  preserves  the  quantity, — M.j 
bomis  Afer,  pessimus  Albus.     Hist.  August,  p.  75. 

^'  Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  71. 

^*  See  an  account  of  that  memorable  war  in  Velleius  Patercolui,  s 
110,  &c,  who  served  in  the  army  of  Tiberius. 


A.D.  193.J         OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  133 

the  climate,  adapted,  as  it  has  been  observed,  to  the  j^roduo- 
tion  of  great  bodies  and  slow  minds,"  all  contributed  to  pre- 
serve '^orae  remains  of  their  original  ferocity,  and  under  the 
tame  and  uniform  countenance  of  Roman  provincials,  the 
hardy  features  of  the  natives  were  still  to  be  discerned.  Their 
warlike  youth  atforded  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  recruits  to 
the  legions  stationed  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and  which, 
from  a  perpetual  warfare  against  the  Germans  and  Sarma- 
iaans,  were  deservedly  esteemed  the  best  troops  in  the  service. 

The  Pannonian  army  was  at  this  time  commanded  by  Sep- 
timius  Severus,  a  native  of  Africa,  who,  in  the  gradual  ascent 
of  private  honors,  had  concealed  his  daring  ambition,  which 
was  never  diverted  from  its  steady  course  by  the  allurements 
of  pleasure,  the  apprehension  of  danger,  or  the  feelings  of 
humanity.**  On  the  first  news  of  the  murder  of  Pertinax,  he 
assembled  his  troops,  painted  in  the  most  lively  colors  the 
crime,  the  insolence,  and  the  weakness  of  the  Praetonan  guards, 
and  animated  the  legions  to  arms  and  to  revenge.  He  con- 
cluded (and  the  peroration  was  thought  extremely  eloquent) 
with  promising  every  soldier  about  four  hundred  pounds ;  au 
honorable  donative,  double  in  value  to  the  infamous  bribe  with 
which  Julian  had  purchased  the  empire.^"  The  acclamations 
of  the  army  immediately  saluted  Severus  with  the  names  of 
Augustus,  Pertinax,  and  Emperor ;  and  he  thus  attained  the 
lofty  station  to  which  he  was  invited,  by  conscious  merit  and  a 
long  train  of  dreams  and  omens,  the  fruitful  ofifeprings  either 
of  his  superstition  or  policy."" 

^  Such  is  the  reflection  of  Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  74.  Will  the  modem 
Austrians  allow  the  influence  2 

*'  In  the  letter  to  Albinus,  already  mentioned,  Coramodus  accuses 
Severus,  as  one  of  the  ambitious  generals  who  censui'ed  his  conduct, 
and  wished  to  occupy  his  place.     Hist.  August,  p.  80. 

''  Pannonia  was  too  poor  to  supply  such  a  sum.  It  was  probably 
promised  in  the  camp,  and  paid  at  Rome,  after  the  victory.  In  fixing 
the  sum,  I  have  adopted  the  conjectme  of  Casaubon.  See  Hist. 
August,  p.  66.     Conmient.  p.  115. 

3"  Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  TS.  Severus  was  declared  emperor  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube,  either  at  Carnuntum,  according  to  Spartianus, 
(Hist.  August,  p.  65,)  or  else  at  Sabaria,  according  to  Victor.  Mr. 
Hume,  in  supposing  that  the  birth  and 'dignity  of  Severus  were  too 
much  inferior  to  the  Imperial  crown,  and  that  he  marched  into  Italy 
as  general  only,  has  not  considered  this  transaction  with  his  usual 
iocuracy,  (Essay  on  the  original  contract.)  * 

*  Carnuntum,  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the  Morava  :  its  petition  is 
doubtful,  either  Petronel  or  Haiinbui-ij.    A  htllo  intermediate  village  seemi 


184  THE    DECLINE    AND    FAIL  [A.  D.  193, 

The  new  candidate  for  empire  saw  and  improved  the  pecu- 
liar advantage  of  his  situation.  His  province  extended  to  the 
Julian  Alps,  which  gave  an  easy  access  into  Italy ;  and  he 
remembered  the  saying  of  Augustus,  That  a  Pannonian  army 
might  in  ten  days  appear  in  sight  of  Rome."  By  a  celerity 
proportioned  to  the  greatness  of  the  occasion,  he  might  reason- 
ably hope  to  revenge  Pertinax,  punish  Julian,  and  receive  the 
boraage  of  the  senate  and  people,  as  their  lawful  emperor, 
before  his  competitors,  separated  from  Italy  by  an  immense 
tract  of  sea  and  land,  were  apprised  of  his  success,  or  even 
of  his  election.  During  the  whole  expedition,  he  scarcely 
allowed  himself  any  moments  for  sleep  or  food ;  marching  on 
foot,  and  in  complete  armor,  at  the  head  of  his  columns,  he 
insinuated  himself  into  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his 
troops,  pressed  their  diligence,  revived  their  spirits,  animated 
their  hopes,,  and  was  well  satisfied  to  share  the  hardships  of 
the  meanest  soldier,  whilst  he  kept  in  view  the  infinite  superi- 
ority of  his  reward. 

The  wretched  Julian  had.  expected,  and  thought  himself 
Drepared,  to  dispute  the  empire  with  the  governor  of  Syria ; 
but  in  the  invincible  and  rapid  approach  of  the  Pannonian 
legions,  he  saw  his  inevitable  ruin.  The  hasty  arrival  of  every 
messenger  increased  his  just  apprehensions.  He  was  succes- 
sively informed,  that  Severus  had  passed  the  Alps ;  that  the 
Italian  cities,  unwilling  or  unable  to  oppose  his  progress,  had 
received  him  with  the  warmest  professions  of  joy  and  duty ; 
that  the  important  place  of  Ravenna  had  surrendered  without 
resistance,  and  that  the  Hadriatic  fleet  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
conqueror.  The  enemy  was  now  within  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  of  Rome;  and  every  moment  diminished  the  narrow  span 
of  life  and  empire  allotted  to  Julian. 

He  attempted,  however,  to  prevent,  or  at  least  to  protract, 
his  ruin.  He  implored  the  venal  faith  of  the  Prtetorians,  filled 
the  city  with  unavailing  preparations  for  war,  drew  lines  round 
the  suburbs,  and  even  strengthened  the  fortifications  of  the 
palace ;  as  if  those  last  intrenchments  could  be  defended, 
without  hope  of  relief,  against  a  victorious  invader.  Fear  and 
. • 

"  Velleius  Paterculus,  1.  ii.  c.  3.  We  must  reckon  the  marcli  from 
the  nearest  verge  of  Panuonia,  and  extend  the  sight  of  the  city  as  fai 
as  two  hundred  miles. 

to  indicate  by  its  name  (Alteuburg)  the  site  of  an  old  town     ITAiivilk 
fleogr.  Auc.  Sabaria,  now  Sarvai". — Q.     Compare  note  37. — M. 


k    i),  103]       CF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  185 

sbMTie  prevented  the  guards  from  deserting  Lis  standard ;  but 
they  trembled  at  the  name  of  the  Pannonian  legions,  com- 
manded by  an  experienced  general,  and  accustomed  to  ran 
quish  the  barbarians  on  the  frozen  Danube."  They  quitteu, 
with  a  sigh,  the  pleasures  of  the  baths  and  theatres,  to  put  on 
arras,  whose  use  they  had  almost  forgotten,  and  beneath  the 
weight  of  which  they  were  oppressed.  The  unpractised  ele- 
uhants,  whose  uncouth  appearance,  it  was  hoped,  would  strike 
terror  into  the  array  of  the  north,  threw  their  unskilful  riders  •, 
and  the  awkward  evolutions  of  the  marines,  drawn  from  the 
deet  of  Misenum,  were  an  object  of  ridicule  to  the  populace ; 
whilst  the  senate  enjoyed,  with  secret  pleasure,  the  distress  and 
weakness  of  the  usurper." 

Every  motion  of  Julian  betrayed  his  trembling  perplexity. 
He  insisted  that  Severus  should  be  declared  a  public  enemy 
by  the  senate.  He  entreated  that  the  Pannonian  general 
might  be  associated  to  the  empire.  He  sent  pubhc  ambas- 
sadors of  consular  rank  to  negotiate  with  his  rival ;  he  de- 
spatched private  assassins  to  take  away  his  life.  He  designed 
that  the  Vestal  virgins,  and  all  the  colleges  of  priests,  in  their 
sacerdotal  habits,  and  bearing  before  them  the  sacred  pledges  of 
the  Roman  religion,  should  aciJvance  in  solemn  procession  to 
meet  the  Pannonian  legions  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  vainly 
tried  to  interrogate,  or  to  appease,  the  fates,  by  magic  cere- 
monies and  unlawful  sacrifices." 

Severus,  who  dreaded   neither  his  arms  nor  his  enchant- 
ments, guarded  himself  from  the  only  danger  of  secret  con 
spiracy,  by  the  faithful  attendance  of  six  hundred  chosen  men, 
who  never  quitted  his  person  or  their  cuirasses,  either  by  night 

32  Tliis  is  not  a  puerile  figure  of  rhetoric,  but  an  allusion  to  a  real 
fact  recorded  by  Dion,  1.  Ixxi.  p.  1181.  It  probably  happened  more 
than  once. 

33  Dion,  L  Ixxiii.  p.  1233-  Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  81.  There  is  no  surer 
proof  of  the  military  skill  of  the  Romans,  than  their  first  surmounting 
jhe  idle  terror,  and  afterwards  tUsdaining  the  dangerous  use,  of  ele 
phants  in  war.* 

3<  Hist.  August,  p.  G2,  GS.f 


*  These  elephants  were  kept  for  proccssious,  perhaps  for  the  games.  Be 
Ueroil.  in  loc. — M. 

+  Q,uai  ad  speculum  dicunt  fieri  in  quo  pueri  pneligatis  oculis,  incantata 
•ertice,  rcspicere  dicuntur.  *  *  *  Tuucque  puer  vidissc  dicitur  et  advenlna 
fieveri  ct  Juliani  decessionem  This  seems  to  have  been  a  practice  some 
what  similar  to  that  of  which  our  recent  Egyptian  travellers  relate  such  ex 
traordinary  circumstances.     See  also  Apuleias,  Orat.  de  Magia. — M. 


136  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  j^A.  D.  193, 

or  by  d  ly,  during  the  whole  march.  Advancing  with  a  steady 
and  rapid  course,  he  passed,  without  difficulty,  the  defiles  of 
the  Apeuuine,  received  into  his  party  the  troops  and  ambas- 
sadors sent  to  retard  his  progress,  and  made  a  short  halt  at 
Interamnia,  about  seventy  miles  from  Rome.  His  victory 
was  already  secure,  but  the  despair  of  the  Prtetorians  might 
have  rendered  it  bloody ;  and  Severus  had  the  laudable  am- 
bition of  ascending  the  throne  without  drawing  the  sword.'* 
His  emissaries,  dispersed  in  the  capital,  assured  the  guards, 
that  provided  they  would  abandon  their  worthless  prince,  and 
the  perpetrators  of  the  murder  of  Pertinax,  to  the  justice  of 
the  conqueror,  he  would  no  longer  consider  that  melancholy 
event  as  the  act  of  the  whole  body.  The  faithless  Praetorians, 
whose  resistance  was  supported  only  by  sullen  obstinacy,  gladly 
<^omplied  with  the  easy  conditions,  seized  the  greatest  part  of 
the  assassin^,  and  signified  to  the  senate,  that  they  no  longer 
defended  the  cause  of  Julian.  That  assembly,  convoked  by 
the  consul,  unanimously  acknowledged  Severus  as  lawful  em- 
peror, decreed  divine  honoi-s  to  Pertinax,  and  pronounced  a 
sentence  of  deposition  and  death  against  his  unfortunate  suc- 
cessor. Julian  was  conducted  into  a  private  apartment  of  the 
baths  of  the  palace,  and  beheaded  as  a  common  criminal,  after 
having  purchased,  with  an  immense  treasure,  an  anxious  and 
precarious  reign  of  only  sixty-six  days.^*  The  almost  incredible 
expedition  of  Severus,  who,  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  conducted 
a  numerous  army  from  the  banks  of  the  Danube  to  those  of 
the  Tyber,  proves  at  once  the  plenty  of  provisions  produced  by 
agriculture  and  commerce,  the  goodness  of  the  roads,  the 
discipline  of  the  legions,  and  the  indolent,  subdued  temper  of 
the  provinces." 

Js  Victor  and  Eutropius,  viii.  17,  mention  a  combat  near  the  Mil- 
vian  bridge,  the  Ponte  MoUe,  unknown  to  tlie  better  and  more  ancient 
writers. 

36  Dion,  1.  Ixxiii.  p.  1240.  Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  83.  Hist.  August 
p.  63. 

37  From  these  sixty-six  days,  we  must  first  deduct  sixteen,  as  Per- 
tinax was  murdered  on  tlie  28th  of  March,  and  Severus  most  proba- 
bly elected  on  the  13th  of  April,  (see  Hist.  August,  p,  65,  and  Tille- 
mont.  Hist,  des  Empereurs,  tom.  iii.  p.  393,  note  7.)  We  cannot 
bUow  less  than  ten  days  after  his  election,  to  put  a  numerous  army  in 
motion.  Forty  days  remain  for  this  rapid  march;  and  as  we  may 
compute  about  eight  hundred  miles  from  Rome  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Vienna,  the  army  of  Severus  marched  twenty  miles  every  day,  without 
halt  or  iat«rmissioQ. 


A.D.  193.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  191 

The  first  cares  of  Severus  were  bestowed  on  two  ineasure? 
the  one  dic:ated  by  policy,  the  other  by  decency ;  the  revenge, 
and  the  honors,  due  to  the  memory  of  Pertinax.  Before  ths 
new  emperor  entered  Rome,  be  issued  his  commands  to  the 
Praetorian  guards,  directing  them  to  wait  his  arrival  on  a  large 
plain  near  the  city,  without  arms,  but  in  the  habits  of  ceremony, 
in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  attend  their  sovereign.  He 
was  obeyed  by  those  haughty  troops,  whose  contrition  was  the 
effect  of  their  just  terrors.  A  chosen  part  of  the  Illyri;m  army 
encompassed  them  with  levelled  spears.  Incapable  of  flight 
or  resistance,  they  expected  their  fate  in  silent  consternation. 
Severus  mounted  the  tribunal,  sternly  reproached  them  with 
pei"fidy  and  cowardice,  dismissed  them  with  ignominy  from 
the  trust  which  they  had  betrayed,  despoiled  them  of  their 
splendid  ornaments,  and  banished  them,  on  pain  of,  death,  to 
the  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  from  the  capital.  During  the 
transaction,  another  detachment  had  been  sent  to  seize  their 
arms,  occupy  their  camp,  and  prevent  the  hasty  consequences 
of  their  despair." 

The  funeral  and  consecration  of  Pertinax  was  next  solem- 
nized with  every  circumstance  of  sad  magnificence.''  The 
senate,  with  a  melancholy  pleasure,  performed  the  last  rites  to 
that  excellent  prince,  whom  they  had  loved,  and  still  regretted. 
The  concern  of  his  successor  was  probably  less  sincere  ;  he 
esteemed  the  virtues  of  Pertinax,  but  those  virtues  would  for- 
ever have  confined  his  ambition  to  a  private  station.  Severus 
pronounced  his  funeral  oration  with  studied  eloquence,  inward 
satisfaction,  and  well-acted  sorrow  ;  and  by  this  pious  regard  to 
his  memory,  convinced  the  credulous  multitude,  that  he  alone 
was  worthy  to  supply  his  place.  Sensible,  however,  that  arms, 
not  ceremonies,  must  assert  his  claim  to  the  empire,  he  left 
Rome  at  the  end  of  thirty  days,  and  without  sufiering  himself 
to  be  elated  by  this  easy  victory,  prepared  to  encounter  iiia 
more  formidable  rivals. 

The  uncommon  abilities  and  fortune  of  Severus  have  in- 
duced an  elegant  historian  to  compare  liim  with  the  first  and 
greatest  of  the  Csesars.'"*  The  parallel  is,  at  least,  imperfect 
Where  shall  we  find,  in  the  character  of  Severus,  the  com- 
manding superiority  of  soul,  the  generous  clemency,  and   tha 

*•  Dion,  1.  Ixxiv.  p.  1241.     Herodian,  1.  ii.  p.  84. 
*»  Dion,  (1.  bcxiv.  p.  1244,)  who  assisted  at  the  ceremony  as  a  sen 
fttor,  gives  a  most  pompous  description  of  it. 
♦•  He'odian,  1.  iii.  p.  112 


138  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  193-107 

various  geni  is,  which  could  recoiicil<;  and  unite  tlio  love  of 
pleasure,  the  thirst  of  knowledge,  and  the  fire  of  ambition?*' 
In  one  instance  only,  they  may  be  compared,  with  some 
degree  of  propriety,  in  the  celerity  of  their  motions,  and  their 
civil  victories.  In  less  than  four  years,*"  Severus  subdued  the 
riches  of  the  East,  and  the  valor  of  the  West.  He  vanquished 
two  competitors  of  reputation  and  ability,  ano'  defeated  numer- 
ous armies,  provided  with  weapons  and  disci})line  equal  to  his 
own.  In  that  age,  the  art  of  fortification,  and  the  principles 
of  tactics,  were  well  understood  by  all  the  Roman  generals ; 
and  the  constant  superiority  of  Severas  was  that  of  an  artist, 
who  uses  the  same  instruments  with  more  skill  and  industry 
than  his  rivals.  I  shall  not,  however,  enter  into  a  minute  nar- 
rative of.  these  military  operations  ;  but  as  the  two  civil  wars 
against  Niger  and  against  Albinus  were  almost  the  same  in 
their  conduct,  event,  and  consequences,  I  shall  collect  into  one 
point  of  view  the  most  striking  circumstances,  tending  to 
develop  the  character  of  the  conqueror  and  the  state  of  the 
empire. 

Falsehood  and  insincerity,  unsuitable  as  they  seem  to  the 
dignity  of  public  transactions,  oflfend  us  with  a  less  degrading 
idea  of  meanness,  than  when  they  are  found  in  the  intercourse 

■"  Though  it  is  not,  most  assuredly,  the  intention  of  Lucan  to  exalt 
the  cliaracter  of  Cffisar,  yet  the  idea  he  gives  of  Oiat  hero,  in  the  tenth 
book  of  the  Pharsaha,  where  he  describes  him,  at  the  same  time,  mak- 
ing love  to  Cleopatra,  sustaining  a  siege  against  the  power  of  Egypt, 
and  conversing  with  the  sages  of  the  country,  is,  in  reality,  the  noblest 
panegyi-ic* 

^'^  Iteckoning  from  his  election,  April  13,  193,  to  the  death  of  Albi- 
nus, February  19,  197.     See  Tillemont's  Chronology. 


*  Lord  Byron  wrote,  no  doubt,  from  a  remiuiscence  of  that  passage — 
"  It  is  possible  to  be  a  very  great  rnan,  and  to  be  still  very  inferior  to  Juliua 
Caesar,  the  most  complete  character,  so  Lord  Bacon  thought,  of  all  anti(i- 
'lity.  Nature  seem,"  incapable  of  such  extraordinary  combinations  as 
composed  his  versatile  capacity,  which  was  the  wonder  even  of  the  Romans 
themselves.  The  lirst  general ;  the  only  triumphant  politician ;  inferior  to 
none  in  point  of  eloquence ;  comparable  to  any  in  the  attainments  of  wi.s- 
dom,  in  an  age  made  up  of  the  greatest  commanders,  statesmen,  orators, 
and  philosophers,  that  ever  appeared  in  the  world;  an  author  who  com- 
posed a  perfect  specimen  of  military  annals  in  his  travelling  carriage ;  at 
one  time  in  a  controversy  with  Cato,  at  another  writing  a  treatise  on  pun- 
ning, and  collecting  a  set  of  good  sayings ;  fighting  and  making  love  at  the 
eanie  moment,  and  willing  to  abandon  both  his  empire  and  his  mistress  for 
a  eight  of  the  fountains  of  the  Nile.  Such  did  Julius  Caasar  appear  to  hia 
contemporaries,  and  o  those  of  the  subsequent  ages  who  were  the  most  in- 
clined to  deplore  and  execrate  his  fatal  genius."  Note  47  to  Canto  iv.  of 
Ohildo  Harold.— M. 


A.  D.  193-197.]        OF    IHE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  18f 

of  private  life.  In  the  latter,  tliey  discover  .a  want  of  courai^e  ; 
in  the  other,  only  a  defect  of  power :  and,  as  it  is  impossible 
for  the  most  able  statesmen  to  subdue  millions  of  followers 
and  enemies  by  their  own  personal  streno-th,  the  world,  under 
the  name  of  policy,  seems  to  have  granted  them  a  very  liberal 
indulgence  of  craft  and  dissimulation.  Yet  the  arts  of  Severua 
cannot  be  justified  by  the  most  ample  privileges  of  state  rea- 
son, lie  promised  only  to  betray,  he  flattered  only  to  ruin ; 
and  however  he  might  occasionally  bind  himself  by  oaths  and 
treaties,  his  conscience,  obsequious  to  his  interest,  always 
released  him  from  the  inconvenient  obligation.'" 

If  his  two  competitors,  reconciled  by  their  common  danger, 
had  advanced  upon  him  without  delay,  perhaps  Severus  would 
have  sunk  under  their  united  eftbrt.  Had  they  even  attacked 
him,  at  the  same  time,  with  separate  views  and  separate  armies, 
the  contest  might  have  been  long  and  doubtful.  But  they  fell, 
singly  and  successively,  an  easy  prey  to  the  arts  as  well  as  arms 
of  their  subtle  enemy,  lulled  into  security  by  the  moderation  of 
his  professions,  and  overwhelmed  by  the  rapidity  of  his  action. 
He  first  marched  against  Niger,  whose  reputation  and  power 
he  the  most  dreaded :  but  he  declined  any  hostile  declarations, 
suppressed  the  name  of  his  antagonist,  and  only  signified  to 
the  senate  and  people  his  intention  of  regulating  the  eastern 
provinces.  In  private,  he  spoke  of  Niger,  his  old  friend  and 
intended  successor,''*  with  the  most  affectionate  regard,  and 
highly  applauded  his  generous  design  of  revenging  the  murder 
of  Pertinax.  To  punish  the  vile  usurper  of  the  thi'one,  was 
the  duty  of  every  Roman  general.  To  persevere  in  arms, 
and  to  resist  a  lawful  emperor,  acknowledged  by  the  senate, 
would  alone  render  him  criminal.''^  The  sons  of  Niger  had 
feUen  into  his  hands  among  the  children  of  the  provincial 
governors,  detained  at  Rome  as  pledges  for  the  loyalty  of  their 
parents.'"'     As  long  as  the  power  of  Niger  inspired  terror,  or 

*^  Herodian,  1.  iL  p.  85. 

**  Whilst  Severus  was  very  dangerously  iU,  it  was  irdustriously 
given  out,  that  he  intended  to  appoint  Niger  and  Albinus  liis  successors. 
As  he  could  not  be  sincere  with  respect  to  both,  lie  miglit  not  be  so  with 
regard  to  eitlier.  Yet  Severus  carried  his  hypocrisy  so  far,  as  to  pro- 
fess that  intention  in  the  memoirs  of  his  own  life. 

*^  Hist.  August,  p.  65. 

*'  This  practice,  invented  by  Conmiodus,  proved  very  useful  to 
Severus.  He  found  at  Rome  the  children  of  many  of  the  principal 
adherents  of  his  rivals ;  and  he  employed  them  more  thim  once  to 
intimidate,  or  seduce,  tlie  parent.s. 


140  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  193-197 

even  respect,  tliey  were  educated  with  the  most  tender  care, 
with  the  children  of  Severus  himself;  but  they  were  soon  in- 
volved in  their  father's  ruin,  and  removed  first  by  exile,  and 
afterwards  by  death,  from  the  eye  of  public  compassion." 

Whilst  Severus  was  engaged  in  his  eastern  war,  he  had 
reason  to  apprehend  that  the  governor  of  Britain  might  pass 
the  sea  and  the  Alps,  occupy  the  vacant  seat  of  empire,  and 
oppose  his  return  with  the  authority  of  the  senate  and  the 
forces  of  the  West.  The  ambiguous  conduct  of  Albinus,  in 
not  assuming  the  Imperial  title,  left  room  for  negotiation. 
Forgetting,  at  once,  his  professions  of  patriotism,  and  the 
jealousy  of  sovereign  power,  he  accejited  the  precarious  rank 
of  Caesar,  as  a  reward  for  his  fatal  neutrality.  Till  the  first 
''on  test  was  decided,  Severus  treated  the  man,  whom  he  had 
doomed  tO  destruction,  with  every  mark  of  esteem  and  re- 
gard. Even  *!..  the  letter,  in  which  he  announced  his  victory 
over  Niger,  he  styles  Albinus  the  brother  of  his  soul  and 
empire,  sends  him  the  afl:ectionate  salutations  of  his  wife 
Julia,  and  his  young  family,  and  entreats  him  to  preserve  the 
armies  and  the  republic  faithful  to  their  common  interest. 
The  messengers  charged  with  this  letter  were  instructed  to 
accost  the  Caesar  with  respect,  to  desire  a  private  audience,  and 
to  plmige  their  daggers  into  his  heart."  The  conspiracy  was 
discovered,  and  the  too  credulous  Albinus,  at  length,  passed 
over  to  the  continent,  and  prepared  for  an  unequal  contest  with 
his  rival,  who  rushed  upon  him  at  the  head  of  a  veteran  and 
victorious  army. 

The  mihtary  labors  of  Severus  seem  inadequate  to  the 
importance  of  his  conquests.  Two  engageraente,*  the  one 
near  the  Hellespont,  the  other  in  the  narrow  defiles  of  CiHcia, 
decided  the  fate  of  his  Syrian  competitor ;  and  the  troops  of 
Europe  asserted  their  usual  ascendant  over  the  effeminate 
natives  of  Asia."     The  battle  of  Lyons,  where  one  hundred 

*'  Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  95.     Hist.  August,  p.  6*7,  68. 

*^  Hist.  August,  p.  84.  Spartianus  has  inserted  this  curious  lettej 
at  full  length. 

*^  Consult  the  third  book  of  Herodian,  and  the  seventy-fourth  tiooi 
of  Dion  Cassius. 


■*  There  w^ere  three  actions ;  one  near  Cyzicus,  on  the  Hellespont  one 
near  Nice,  in  Bithynia,  the  third  near  the  Issus,  in  Cilicia,  where  Alex 
wider  conquered  Darius.  (Dion,  Ixiv.  c.  6.  Herodian,  iii.  2,  4.) — W 
Herodian   represents   the  second   battle  as  of  less  importance  than  Dion 


A.  D.  193-197.J        OF    THE    ROMAN    EMl'IBE.  141 

and  lit'ty  thousand  Romans'"  wero  engaged,  was  equally  fatal 
to  Albinus.  The  valor  of  the  British  army  maintained,  in- 
deed, a  sharp  and  doubtful  contest,  with  the  hardy  discipline 
of  the  Illyrian  legions.  The  fame  and  person  of  Severua 
appeared,  during  a  few  moments,  irrecoverably  lost,  till  that 
warlike  prince  rallied  his  feinting  troops,  and  led  thein  on  to 
a  decisive  victory.*'  The  war  w:is  finished  by  that  memora- 
ble day.* 

The  civil  wars  of  modern  Eui'ope  have  been  distinguished, 
not  only  by  the  fierce  animosity,  but  likewise  by  the  obstinate 
perseverance,  of  the  contending  factions.  They  have  gener- 
ally been  justified  by  some  principle,  or,  at  least,  colored  by 
some  pretext,  of  religion,  freedom,  or  loyalty.  The  leaders 
were  nobles  of  independent  property  and  hereditary  infiuence. 
The  troops  fought  like  men  interested  in  the  decisioa  of  the 
quarrel ;  and  as  military  spirit  and  party  zeal  were  strongly 
diffused  throughout  the  whole  community,  a  vanquished  chief 
was  immediately  supplied  with  new  adherents,  eager  to  shed 
their  blood  in  the  same  cause.  But  the  Romans,  after  the  fall 
of  the  republic,  combated  only  for  the  choice  of  masters.  Un- 
der the  standard  of  a  popular  candidate  for  empire,  a  few 
enlisted  from  affection,  some  from  fear,  many  from  interest, 
none  from  principle.  The  legions,  uninflamed  by  party  zeal, 
were  allured  into  civil  war  by  liberal  donatives,  and  still  more 
liberal  promises.  A  defeat,  by  disabling  the  chief  from  the 
performance  of  his  engagements,  dissolved  the  mercenary 
allegiance  of  his  followers,  and  left  them  to  consult  their 
own  safety  by  a  timely  desertion  of  an  unsuccessful  cause. 
It  was  of  little  moment  to  the  provinces,  under  whose  name 
they  were  oppressed  or  governed ;  they  were  driven  by  the 
impulsion  of  the  present  power,  and  as  soon  as  that  power 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxv.  p.  1260. 

^'  Dion,  1.  Ixxv.  p.  1261.  Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  110.  Hist.  August,  p. 
68.  The  battle  was  fought  in  the  plain  of  Trevoux,  three  or  four 
leagues  from  Lyons.     See  TiUemout,  torn.  iii.  p.  406,  note  18. 

*  According  to  Herodian,  it  was  his  lieutenant  Laetus  who  led  back  the 
troops  to  the  battle,  and  gained  the  day,  which  Sevenis  had  almost  lost 
Dion  also  attributes  to  L;i!tus  a  great  share  in  the  victory.  Severus  after- 
waids  put  him  to  death,  either  from  fear  or  jealousy. — W.  and  G.  Wenck 
Jmd  M.  Guizot  have  not  given  the  real  statement  of  Herodian  or  of  Dioa 
According  to  the  former,  Lcetus  appeared  with  his  own  army  entire,  which 
he  was  suspected  of  having  designedly  kept  disengaged  when  the  bal  tie  wai 
■till  doubtfLf,  or  rather  after  the  rout  of  Sevcras.  Dion  Pays  thai  ho  did  iini 
move  till  Severus  had  won  the  victory. — M. 


i42  THE    DECLINE    j4  5D    FALL       [A.  D.  193-197. 

yielded  to  a  superior  force,  they  hastened  to  implore  tha 
clemency  of  the  conqueror,  who,  as  he  had  an  immense  debt 
to  discharge,  was  obhged  to  sacrifice  the  most  guilty  countries 
to  the  avarice  of  his  soldiers.  In  the  vast  extent  of  the 
Koman  empire,  there  were  few  fortified  cities  capable  of 
protecting  a  routed  array ;  nor  was  there  any  person,  or  fami 
ly,  or  order  of  men,  whose  natural  interest,  unsupported  by  the 
powers  of  government,  was  capable  of  restoring  the  cause  of  a 
sinking  party." 

Yet,  in  the  contest  between  Niger  and  Severus,  a  single 
city  deserves  an  honorable  exception.  As  Byzantium  was 
one  of  the  greatest  passages  from  Europe  into  Asia,  it  had 
been  provided  with  a  strong  garrison,  and  a  fleet  of  five  hun- 
dred vessels  was  anchored  in  the  harbor.'^  The  impetuosity 
of  Severus  disappointed  this  prudent  scheme  of  defence ;  he 
left  to  his  generals  the  siege  of  Byzantium,  forced  .the  less 
guarded  passage  of  the  Hellespont,  and,  impatient  of  a 
meaner  enemy,  pressed  forward  to  encounter  his  rival.  By- 
zantium, attacked  by  a  numerous  and  increasing  array,  and 
afterwards  by  the  whole  naval  power  of  the  empire,  sustained 
a  siege  of  three  years,  and  remained  faithful  to  the  name  and 
memory  of  Niger.  The  citizens  and  soldiers  (we  know  not 
from  what  cause)  were  animated  with  equal  fury  ;  several  of 
the  principal  officers  of  Niger,  who  despaired  of,  or  who  dis- 
dained, a  pardon,  had  thrown  themselves  into  this  last  refuge : 
the  fortifications  were  esteemed  irajiregnable,  and,  in  the  de- 
fence of  the  place,  a  celebrated  engineer  displayed  all  the 
mechanic  powers  known  to  the  ancients.**  Byzantium,  at 
length,  surrendered  to  famine.  The  magistrates  and  soldiers 
were  put  to  the  sword,  the  walls  deraolished,  the  privileges 
suppressed,  and  the  destined  capital  of  the  East  subsisted  only 
as  an  open  village,  subject  to  the  insulting  jurisdiction  of  Pe- 
rinthus.  The  historian  Dion,  who  had  admired  the  flourishing, 
and  lamented  the  desolate,  state  of  Byzantium,  accused  the 
revenge   of  Severus,  for  depriving  the   Roman  people  of  the 

*^  Montesquieu,  Considerations  siu"  la  Grandeur  et  la  Decadence 
des  Romains,  c.  xii. 

*^  Most  of  these,  as  may  be  supposed,  were  small  open  vessels; 
some,  however,  were  gaUeys  of  two,  and  a  few  of  three  ranks  of  oars. 

^'  The  engineer's  name  was  Priscus.  His  skill  saved  his  life,  and 
be  yras  t.aken  into  the  service  of  the  conqueror.  For  the  particular 
fifccts  of  the  siege,  consult  Dion  Cassius  (1.  Isxv.  p.  1251)  and  Hero- 
dian,  (1.  iii.  p.  95 ;)  for  the  theory  of  it,  the  fanciful  chevaher  da 
Folard  may  be  looked  into.     See  Folybe,  torn.  i.  p.  16. 


A.  D.  193-19'/.J        OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  l4S 

strongest  bulwark  against  the  barbarians  of  I'ontus  and  Asia  ** 
The  truth  of  this  observation  was  but  too  well  justified  in  the 
succeeding  age,  when  the  Gothic  fleets  covered  the  Euxine, 
and  passed  through  the  undefined  Bosphorus  into  the  centre 
of  the  Mediterranean. 

Both  Niger  and  Albinus  were  discovered  and  put  to  death 
in  their  flight  from  the  field  of  battle.  Their  fete  excited 
neither  surprise  nor  compassion.  They  had  staked  their  lives 
against  the  chance  of  empire,  and  suffered  what  they  Avould 
have  inflicted ;  nor  did  Severus  claim  the  arrogant  superiority 
of  suffering  his  rivals  to  live  in  a  private  station.  But  his  un- 
forgiving temper,  stinmlated  by  avarice,  indulged  a  spirit  of 
revenge,  where  there  was  no  room  for  apprehension.  Tho 
most  considerable  of  the  provincials,  who,  without  any  dislike 
to  the  fortunate  candidate,  had  obeyed  the  governor  under 
whose  authority  they  were  accidentally  placed,  were  punished 
by  death,  exile,  and  especially  by  the  confiscation  of  their 
estates.  Many  cities  of  the  East  were  stripped  of  their  an- 
cient honors,  and  obliged  to  pay,  into  the  treasury  of  Severus, 
four  times  the  amount  of  the  sums  contributed  by  them  for 
the  service  of  Niger." 

Till  the  final  decision  of  the  war,  the  cruelty  oif  Severus 
was,  in  some  measure,  restrained  by  the  uncertainty  of  the 
event,  and  his  pretended  reverence  for  the  senate.  The  head 
of  Albinus,  accompanied  with  a  menacing  letter,  announced  to 
the  Romans  that  he  was  resolved  to  spare  none  of  the  adherents 


''^  Notwithstanding  the  authority  of  Spartianus,  and  some  modero 
Greeks,  we  may  be  assured,  from  Dion  and  Herodian,  that  Byzantium, 
many  years  after  the  death  of  Severus,  lay  in  ruins.* 

"=  Dion,  1.  Ixxiv.  p.  1250. 


*  There  is  no  contradiction  between  the  relation  of  Dion  and  that  of 
Spartianns  and  the  modem  Greeks.  Dion  does  not  say  that  Scvems 
destroyed  Byzantium,  but  that  he  deprived  it  of  its  franchises  and  privi- 
leges, stripped  the  inhabitants  of  their  [)roperty,  razed  the  fortifications,  and 
subjected  the  city  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Pcrinllius.  Therefore,  when  Spar- 
tian,  Suidas,  Ccdrcnus,  say  that  Sevcnis  and  his  son  Antoninus  restored  to 
Byzantium  its  rights  and  franchises,  ordered  temples  to  be  built,  &c.,  this  ia 
easily  reconciled  with  the  relation  of  Dion.  Perhaps  the  latter  mentioned  it 
in  some  of  the  fragments  of  his  history  wliich  have  been  lost.  As  to  Hero 
dian,  liis  expressions  are  evidently  exaggerated,  and  he  has  been  guilty  of 
60  many  inaccuracies  in  the  history  of  Severus,  that  we  have  a  right  to  sup- 
pose one  in  this  passage.^ — G.  ironi  Vi  Wenck  and  M.  Guizot  have  omitted 
to  cite  Zosimus,  who  mentions  a  jiarticular  portico  built  by  Severus,  and 
called,  apparently,  by  his  name.  Zosim.  Hist.  ii.  c.  xxx.  p.  151,  i:>'J,  edit 
Hcyne. — M. 


144  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  193-197 

of  his  unfortunate  competitors.  He  was  irritated  by  the  just 
suspicion  that  he  had  never  possessed  the  affections  of  the 
senate,  and  he  concealed  his  old  malevolence  under  the  re- 
cent discovery  of  some  treasonable  correspondences.  Thirty- 
five  senators,  however,  accused  of  having  favored  tno  party 
of  Albinus,  he  freely  joardoned,  and,  by  his  subsequent  beha- 
vior, endeavored  to  convince  them,  that  he  had  forgotten,  as 
well  as  forgiven,  their  supposed  offences.  But,  at  the  same 
time,  he  condemned  forty-one*'  other  senators,  whose  names 
history  has  recorded ;  their  wives,  children,  and  clients  attend- 
ed them  in  dejith,*  and  the  noblest  provincials  of  Spain  and 
Gaul  were  involved  in  the  same  ruin.f  Such  rigid  justice — 
.ji  ouLj^  termed  it — was,  in  the  opinion  of  Severus,  the  only 
conduct  capabh  of  insuring  peace  to  the  people  or  stability  to 
the  prince  ;  and  he  condescended  slightly  to  lament,  that  to  be 
mild,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  first  be  cruel.** 

The  true  interest  of  an  absolute  monarch  generally  coin- 
cides with  that  of  his  people.  Their  numbers,  their  wealth, 
their  order,  and  their  security,  are  the  best  and  only  founda- 
tions of  his  real  greatness ;  and  were  he  totally  devoid  of 
virtue,  prudence  might  supply  its  place,  and  would  dictate  the 
same  rule  of  conduct.  Severvis  considered  the  Roman  empire 
as  his  property,  and  had  no  sooner  secured  the  possession, 
than  he  bestowed  his  care  on  the  cultivation  and  improvement 
of  so  valuable  an  acquisition.  Salutary  laws,  executed  with 
inflexible  firmness,  soon  corrected  most  of  the  abuses  with 
which,  since   the  death  of  Marcus,  every  part  of  the  govern- 

'^  Dion,  (1.  Ixxv.  p.  1264;)  only  twenty-nine  senators  are  mentioned 
by  him,  but  forty-one  are  named  in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  69,  among 
whom  were  six  of  the  name  of  Pescenuius.  Herodian  (1.  iii.  p.  115) 
Bpeaks  in  general  of  the  crwelties  of  Severus. 

**  AureUus  Victor. 

*  Wenck  denies  that  there  is  any  authority  for  this  massacre  of  the  ^vive.■^ 
of  the  senators.  He  adds,  that  only  the  children  and  relatives  of  Niger  and 
Albinus  were  put  to  death.  This  is  true  of  the  family  of  Albinus,  whose 
bodies  were  thrown  into  the  Rhone ;  those  of  Niger,  according  to  Lampri- 
dius,  were  sent  into  exile,  but  afterwards  put  to  death.  Among  the  parti- 
sans of  Albinus  who  •were  put  to  death  ^vere  many  women  of  rank,  multsB 
foBminaB  illustres.     Lamprid.  in  Sever. — M. 

t  A  new  fragment  of  Dion  describes  the  state  of  Rome  during  this  con- 
test. All  pretended  to  be  on  the  side  of  Severus  ;  but  their  secret  sentiments 
were  often  betrayed  by  a  change  of  countenance  on  the  arrival  of  some  sud- 
den report.  Some  were  detected  by  overacting  their  loyalty,  rivig,  ic  km 
iK  Tov  a<p6Spa7Toouiroic:Tadat  TrXtov  iyivdJ(TKovTo.  Mai.  Fragm.  Vatican,  p.  227 
Severus  told  the  senate  he  would  rather  have  their  hearts  than  tlicir  votes 
rati  xpvxitif  I'S  (biXcirc,  ko}  u'l  Toij  xf/r\<^iaiiaaiv. — Ibid. — M. 


1 


A.D.  193-197.J       OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  146 

ment  had  been  infected.  In  the  administration  of  justice,  the 
judgments  of  the  emperor  were  characterized  by  attention, 
discernment,  and  impartiality ;  and  -whenever  he  deviated 
from  the  strict  hne  of  equity,  it  was  generally  in  fovor  of  the 
poor  and  oppressed ;  not  so  much  indeed  from  any  senso  of 
humanity,  as  from  the  natural  propensity  of  a  despot  to  hum- 
ble the  pride  of  greatness,  and  to  sink  all  his  subjects  to  the 
same  common  level  of  absolute  dependence.  His  expensive 
taste  for  building,  magnificent  shows,  and  above  all  a  constant 
and  liberal  distribution  of  corn  and  provisions,  were  the  surest 
means  of  captivating  the  affection  of  the  Roman  people.** 
The  misfortunes  of  civil  discord  were  obliterated.  The  '-oln^ 
of  peace  and  prosperity  was  once  more  experienced  in  the 
provinces ;  and  many  cities,  restored  by  the  munificence  of 
Severus,  assumed  the  title  of  his  colonies,  and  attested  by 
public  monuments  their  gratitude  and  felicity. "''  The  fame 
of  the  Roman  arms  was  revived  by  that  warlike  and  success- 
ful emperor,"'  and  he  boasted,  with  a  just  pride,  that,  having 
received  the  empire  oppressed  with  foreign  and  domestic 
wars,  he  left  it  established  in  profound,  universal,  and  honor 
able  peace." 

Although  the  wounds  of  civil  war  appeared  completely 
healed,  its  mortal  poison  still  lurked  in  the  vitals  of  the  con- 
stitution. Severus  possessed  a  considerable  share  of  vigor 
and  ability  ;  but  the  daring  soul  of  the  first  C;esar,  or  the 
deep  policy  of  Augustus,  were  scarcely  equal  to  the  task  of 
curbing  the  insolence  of  the  victorious  legions.  By  gratitude, 
by  misguided  policy,  by  seeming  necessity,   Severus  was  re- 


'"  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1212.  Hist.  August,  p.  67.  Severus  celebrated 
the  secular  games  with  extraordinary  magnificence,  and  he  left  in  the 

?ublic  granaries  a  provision  of  corn  for  seven  years,  at  the  rate  of 
5,000  modii,  or  about  2500  quarters  per  day.  I  am  persuaded  that 
the  granaries  of  Severus  were  suppHed  for  a  long  term,  but  I  am  not 
less  persuaded,  that  policy  on  one  hand,  and  admiration  on  the  other, 
magnified  the  hoard  far  beyond  its  true  contents. 

^°  See  Spanheim's  treatise  of  ancient  medals,  the  inscriptions,  and 
our  learned  travellers  Spon  and  Wheeler,  Shaw,  Pocock,  &c.,  who,  in 
Africa,  Greece,  and  Asia,  kave  fomid  more  monuments  of  Sevcrua 
than  of  any  other  Roman  emperor  whatsoever. 

"  He  carried  his  victorious  arms  to  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon,  the 
capitals  of  the  Parthian  mouirchy.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  mention 
this  war  in  its  proper  place. 

"-  Etiam  in  Britamus,  was  his  own  just  and  emphatic  eiptessioB 
Hint.  August.  73, 

VOL.  I. G. 


146  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  193-197 

duced  to  relax  tbe  nerves  of  discipline.'*  The  vanity  of  hi* 
soldiers  was  flattered  with  the  honor  of  wearing  gold  rings 
their  ease  was  indulged  in  the  permission  of  living  with  theit 
wives  in  the  idleness  of  quarters.  He  'ncreased  their  pay 
beyond  the  example  of  former  times,  and  taught  them  to  ex- 
pect, and  soon  to  claim,  extraordinary  donatives  on  every 
pubhc  occasion  of  danger  or  festivity.  Elated  by  success, 
enervated  by  luxury,  and  raised  above  the  level  of  subjects 
by  their  dangerous  privileges,'*  they  soon  becarcie  incapable 
of  military  fatigue,  oppressive  to  the  country,  and  impatient 
of  a  just  subordination.  Their  officers  asserted  the  superior- 
ly^" of  rank  by  a  more  profuse  and  elegant  luxury.  There  u 
stiir  extant  a  letter  of  Severus,  lamenting  the  licentious  stawa 
of  the  army,*  and  exhorting  one  of  his  general?,  to  begin  the 
necessary  reformation  from  the  tribunes  themselves ;  since,  aa 
he  justly  observes,  the  officer  who  has  forfeited  the  esteem,  will 
never  command  the  obedience,  of  his  soldiers.""  Had  the 
emperor  pursued  the  train  of  reflection,  he  would  have  discov- 
ered, that  the  primary  cause  of  this  general  corruption  migh^ 
be  ascribed,  not  indeed  to  the  example,  but  to  the  perniciou? 
indulgence,  however,  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

The  Proetorians,  who  murdered  their  emperor  and  sold  Ihc 
empire,  had  received  the  just  punishment  of  their  treason  • 
but  the  necessary,  though  dangerous,  institution  of  guard? 
was  soon  restored  on  a  new  model  by  Severus,  and  increased 
to  four  times  the  ancient  number."  Formerly  these  troops 
had  been  recruited  in  Italy ;  and  as  the  adjacent  provinces 
gradually  imbibed  the  softer  manners  of  Rome,  the  leviet 
were  extended  to  Macedonia,  Noricum,  and  Spain.  In  tho 
room  of  these  elegant  troops,  better  adapted  to  the  pomp  ot 
courts  than  to  the  uses  of  war,  it  was  established  by  Severus, 


Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  115.     Hist.  August,  p.  68. 

'■"  Upon  the  insolence  and  privileges  6i  the  soldier,  the  16th  satira 
.wisely  ascribed  to  Juvenal,  may  be  consulted ;  tho  style  and  circum 
stances  of  it  would  induce  me  to  believe,  that  it  was  composed  unde* 
the  reign  of  Severus,  or  that  of  his  son. 

"  Hist.  August,  p.  13. 

"  Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  131. 


*  Not  of  the  anny,  but  of  the  troops  in  Gaul.  The  contents  of  this  le4 
ler  seem  to  prove  that  Severus  was  really  anxious  to  restore  discipline 
Herodian  is  the  only  historian  who  accuses  him  of  being  the  fu-wt  cause  of 
its  relaxation. — G.  from  W  Spartian  mentions  his  increase  of  tlw 
p«y.--M. 


A.  D.  193-197.]        OF    THE   ROMAN    EMPIRE.  147 

that  from  all  the  legions  of  the  frontiere,  the  scldiera  most  dis' 
tinguished  for  strength,  valor,  and  fidelity,  should  be  occasion- 
ally draughted  ;  and  promoted,  as  an  honor  and  reward,  into 
the  more  eligible  service  of  the  guards."  By  this  new  insti- 
tution, tlie  Italian  youth  were  diverted  from  the  exercise  of 
arms,  and  the  capital  was  terrified  by  the  strange  aspect  and 
.Manners  of  a  multitude  of  barbarians.  But  Severus  flattered 
himself,  that  the  legions  would  consider  these  chosen  Praeto- 
rians as  the  representatives  of  the  whole  military  order;  and 
that  the  present  aid  of  fifty  thousand  men,  superior  in  arms  and 
appointments  to  any  force  that  could  be  brought  into  the  field 
against  them,  would  forever  crush  the  hopes  of  rebellion,  and 
secure  the  empire  to  himself  and  his  posterity. 

The  command  of  these  favored  and  formidable  troops  soon 
became  the  first  office  of  the  empire.  As  the  government 
degenerated  into  military  despotism,  the  Prastorian  Prajfect, 
who  in  his  origin  had  been  a  simple  captain  of  the  guards,* 
was  placed  not  only  at  the  head  of  the  army,  but  of  the 
finances,  and  even  of  the  law.  In  every  department  of  ad- 
ministration, he  represented  the  person,  and  exercised  the 
authority,  of  the  emperor.  The  first  prsefect  who  enjoyed 
and  abused  this  immense  power  was  Plautianus,  the  favorite 
minister  of  Severus.  His  reign  lasted  above  ten  years,  till 
the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  the  eldest  son  of  the  em- 
peror, which  seemed  to  assure  his  fortune,  proved  the  occa- 
sion of  his  ruin.'*     The  animosities  of  the  palace,  by  irritat- 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxiv.  p.  124-3. 

"^  One  of  his  most  daring  and  wanton  acts  of  power,  was  the  cas- 
tration of  a  hundred  free  Romans,  some  of  them  married  men,  and 
even  fathers  of  famihes ;  merely  that  his  daughter,  on  her  marriage  with 
the  young  emperor,  might  be  attended  by  a  train  of  eunuchs  worthy 
of  an  eastern  queen.     Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1271. 

*  The  Prajtorian  Praefect  had  never  been  a  simple  captain  of  the  guards ; 
from  the  iirst  creation  of  this  office,  under  Augustus,  it  possessed  great 
power.  That  emperor,  therefore,  decreed  that  there  sliould  be  always  two 
Prajtorian  Prsefects,  who  could  only  be  taken  from  the  ecjuestrian  order 
Tiberius  first  departed  from  the  forinerclau.se  of  lliis  edict;  Alexander  Seve- 
rus violated  the  second  by  naming  senators  prsefects.  It  appears  that  it  was 
under  Comraodus  that  the  PraJloriau  Pra;fects  obtained  the  province  of  civil 
jurisdiction ;  it  extended  only  to  Italy,  with  the  exception  of  Rome  and  iti 
district,  which  was  governed  by  the  Prtrfectu/i  urhi.  As  to  the  control  of 
the  finances,  and  the  levymg  of  taxes,  it  was  not  intrusted  to  them  till  aftes 
tho  great  change  that  Con,staiitine  I.  made  in  the  organization  of  the  empire, 
at  least,  I  know^  no  passage  which  assigns  it  to  them  before  that  time ;  and 
Drakenborch,  who  has  treated  tliis  question  iu  liis  Disscctat>7D  de  officiv 
pral'ectorum  prGetorio,  r  vi.,  does  not  quote  one. — W. 


148  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  193-197, 

ing  the  ambition  and  alarming  the  fears  of  Plautianus,*  threat- 
ened to  ])roduce  a  revolution,  and  obliged  the  emperor,  who 
still  loved  him,  to  consent  with  reluctance  to  his  death.** 
After  the  fall  of  Plautianus,  an  eminent  lawyer,  the  celebrated 
Papinian,  was  appointed  to  execute  the  motley  office  of  Prae 
torian  Prgefect. 

Till  the  reign  of  Severus,  the  virtue  and  even  the  good 
sense  of  the  emperors  had  been  distinguished  by  their  zeal  or 
affected  reverence  for  the  senate,  and  by  a  tender  regard  to 
the  nice  frame  of  civil  policy  instituted  by  Augustus.  But 
the  youth  of  Severus  had  been  trained  in  the  imphcit  obedi- 
ence of  camps,  and  his  riper  years  spent  in  the  despotism  o^ 
military  command.  His  haughty  and  inflexible  spirit  cou! 
not  discover,  or  would  not  acknowledge,  the  advantage  ol 
preserving  an  intermediate  power,  however  imaginary,  be- 
tween the  emperor  and  the  army.  He  disdained  to  profess 
himself  the  servant  of  an  assembly  that  detested  his  person 
and  trembled  at  his  frown  ;  he  issued  his  commands,  where 
his  requests  would  have  proved  as  effectual ;  assumed  the  con- 
duct and  style  of  a  sovereign  and  a  conqueror,  and  exercised, 
without  disguise,  the  w^hole  legislative,  as  well  as  the  executive 
power. 

The  victory  over  the  senate  was  easy  and  inglorious, 
/livery  eye  and  every  passion  were  directed  to  the  supreme 
nifJs^'strate,  who  possessed  the  arms  and  treasure  of  the  state ; 
whilst  the  senate,  neither  elected  by  the  people,  nor  guarded 
by  military  force,  nor  animated  by  public   spirit,  rested  its 

""  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1274.     Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  12'2,  129.     The  gram- 
marian of  Alexandria  seems,  as  is  not  unusual,  mucli  better  acquainted 
with  this  mysterious  transaction,  and  more  assured  of  the  guilt  of  Pla 
fianus  than  the  Roman  senator  ventures  to  be. 


*  Plautianus  was  compatriot,  relative,  and  the  old  friend,  of  Severus ; 
Le  had  so  completely  shut  up  aU  access  to  the  emperor,  that  the  latter  wan 
ignorant  how  far  he  abused  his  powers :  at  length,  being  infoiTned  of  it,  he 
began  to  Ihnit  his  authority.  The  marriage  of  Plautilla  with  Caracalla 
was  unfortunate  ;  and  the  prince  who  had  heen  forced  to  consent  to  it, 
menaced  the  father  and  the  daughter  with  death  when  he  should  come  to 
the  throne.  It  ■was  feared,  after  that,  that  Plautianus  ^vould  avail  himself 
of  the  povs'er  -which  he  still  possessed,  against  the  Imperial  family  ;  and 
Be"f(irus  caused  him  to  be  assassinated  in  his  presence,  upon  the  pretext 
of  a  conspiracy,  which  Dion  considers  fictitious. — W.  Tiiis  note  is  not 
per'iaps,  very  necessary,  and  does  not  contain  the  whole  facts.  Dion  con- 
oiders  the  conspiracy  \he  invention  of  Caracalla,  by  whose  command, 
almost  by  whose  hand.  Pis  *tiauus  was  slain  in  the  presence  of  Seve 
rus. — M. 


A.D.  193-19V.]         OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  149 

declining  authorily  on  the  frail  and  crumbling  basis  ot  ancient 
opinion.  The  fine  theory  of  a  republic  insensibly  vanisfied, 
and  made  way  for  the  more  natural  and  substantial  feelings 
of  monarchy.  As  the  freedom  and  honors  of  Rome  were 
successively  communicated  to  the  provinces,  in  which  the  old 
government  had  been  either  unknown,  or  was  remembered 
with  abhorrence,  the  tradition  of  republican  maxims  was 
gradually  obliterated.  The  Greek  historians  of  the  age  of 
the  Antonincs'"  observe,  with  a  malicious  pleasui'C,  that  al- 
though the  sovereign  of  Rome,  in  compliance  with  an  obsolete 
prejudice,  abstained  from  the  name  of  king,  he  possessed  the 
full  measure  of  regal  power.  In  the  reign  of  Severus,  the 
senate  was  filled  with  polished  and  eloquent  slaves  from  the 
eastern  provinces,  who  justified  personal  flattery  by  sj^ecula- 
tive  principles  of  servitude.  These  new  advocates  of  pre- 
rogative were  heard  with  pleasure  by  the  court,  and  with 
patience  by  the  people,  when  they  inculcated  the  duty  of  pas- 
sive obedience,  and  descanted  on  the  ine\'itable  mischiefs  of 
freedom.  The  lawyers  and  historians  concurred  in  teaching, 
that  the  Imperial  authority  was  held,  not  by  the  delegated 
commission,  but  by  the  irrevocable  resignation  of  the  senate ; 
that  the  emperor  was  freed  from  the  restraint  of  civil  laws, 
could  command  by  his  arbitrary  will  the  lives  and  fortunes  of 
his  subjects,  and  might  dispose  of  the  empire  as  of  his  private 
patrimony."  The  most  eminent  of  the  civil  lawye?**,  and  par- 
ticularly Papinian,  Paulus,  and  Ulpian,  flourished  under  the 
house  of  Severus  ;  and  the  Roman  jurisprudence,  having  close- 
ly united  itself  with  the  system  of  monarchy,  wa?  supposed 
to  have  attained  its  full  majority  and  perfection. 

The  contemporaries  of  Severus  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  peace 
and  glory  of  his  reign,  forgave  the  cruelties  by  whidi  it  had 
been  introduced.  Posterity,  who  experienced  the  fat^l  effects 
of  his  maxims  and  example,  justly  considered  him  as  ^^io  prin- 
cipal author  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire. 

■"•  Appian  in  Prooem. 

"  Dion  Cassius  seems  to  have  written  with  no  other  viev^  Iwa  to 
fiirm   these   opinions  into   an  historical  system.     The  Piuide»>'«  wiU 
how  how  assiduously  the  lawyers,  ou  their  side,  laborec  in  tl*.  c«aaa 
f  prerigatire. 


T60  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A.  D.  193-107, 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THB   DEATH    OF    SEVERUS. TYRANNY    OF    CARACALLA. USUK.- 

PATION    OF    MACRINUS. FOLLIES    OF     ELAGABALUS. VIRr 

TUES     OF    ALEXANDER    SEVERUS. LICENTIOUSNESS     OF    THB 

ARMY. GENERAL    STATE    OF    THE    ROMAN    FINANCES. 

The  ascent  to  greatness,  however  steep  and  dangerous,  may 
entertain  an  active  spirit  with  the  consciousness  and  exercise 
of  its  own  powers :  but  the  possession  of  a  throne  could  never 
yet  afford  a  lasting  satisfaction  to  an  am^bitious  mind.  This 
melancholy  truth  was  felt  and  acknowledged  by  Severus. 
Fortune  and  merit  had,  from  an  humble  station,  elevated  him 
to  the  first  place  among  mankind.  "  He  had  been  all  things," 
as  he  said  himself,  "  and  all  was  of  little  value." '  Distracted 
with  the  care,  not  of  acquiring,  but  of  preserving  an  empire, 
oppressed  with  age  and  infirmities,  careless  of  fame,"  and 
satiated  with  power,  all  his  prospects  of  life  were  closed. 
The  desire  of  perpetuating  the  greatness  of  his  family  was 
the  only  remaining  wish  of  his  ambition  and  paternal  ten- 
derness. 

Like  most  of  the  Africans,  Severus  was  passionately  ad- 
dicted to  the  vain  studies  of  magic  and  divination,  deeply 
versed  in  the  interpretation  of  dreams  and  omens,  and  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  the  science  of  judicial  astrology;  which, 
in  almost  every  age  except  the  present,  has  maintained  its 
dominion  over  the  mind  of  man.  He  had  lost  his  first  wife, 
while  he  was  governor  of  the  Lionnese  Gaul.'  In  the  choice 
of  a  second,  he  sought  only  to  connect  himself  with  some  fa- 
vorite of  fortune ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  discovered  that  the 


*  Hist.  August,  p.  71.     "Omnia  fui,  et  niliil  expedit." 

"  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1284. 

'  About  the  year  186.  M.  de  Tillemont  is  miserably  embarrassed 
■with  a  passage  of  Dion,  in  which  the  empress  Faustina,  who  died  in 
the  year  175,  is  introduced  as  having  contributed  to  the  marriage  of 
Severus  and  Julia,  (1.  Ixxiv.  p.  1243.)  The  learned  compiler  forgot 
that  Dion  is  relating  not  a  real  fact,  but  a  dream  of  Severus ;  and 
dreams  are  ckcumscribcd  to  no  hmits  of  time  or  space.  Did  M.  de 
Tillemont  imagine  that  marriages  were  consummated  in  the  temple  of 
Yenus  at  Rome  ?     HLst.  des  Empereurs,  tom.  iii.  p.  389.    Note  ft. 


"    L>.  193-197.]       OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  151 

voung  lady  of  Emesa  in  Syria  bad  a  royal  nativity,  lie  solicit- 
ed and  obtained  bcr  band.*  Julia  Donina  (for  tbat  was  ber 
name)  deserved  all  tbat  tbe  stars  could  promise  her.  She 
possessed,  even  in  advanced  age,  tbe  attractions  of  beauty,* 
and  united  to  a  lively  imagination  a  firmness  of  mind,  and 
strengtb  of  judgment,  seldom  bestowed  on  ber  sex.  Her 
amiable  qualities  never  made  any  deep  impression  on  the 
dark  and  jealous,  temper  of  her  husband ;  but  in  her  son's 
reign,  she  administered  the  principal  affairs  of  the  empire, 
with  a  prudence  tbat  supported  his  authority,  and  with  a  mod- 
eration tbat  sometimes  corrected  his  wild  extravagancies.* 
Julia  applied  herself  to  letters  and  philosophy,  with  some  suc- 
cess, and  with  the  most  eplendid  reputation.  She  was  tbe  pat- 
roness of  every  art,  and  tbe  friend  of  every  man  of  genius.* 
The  grateful  flattery  of  tbe  learned  has  celebrated  ber  virtues ; 
but,  if  we  may  credit  the  scandal  of  ancient  history,  chastity 
was  very  far  from  being  tbe  most  conspicuous  virtue  of  the 
empress  Julia.* 

Two  sons,  Caracalla*  and  Geta,  v/ere  the  fruit  of  this  mar- 
riage, and  the  destined  heirs  of  tbe  ompire.  Tbe  fond  hopes 
of  the  fether,  and  of  the  Roman  world,  were  soon  disap- 
pointed by  these  vain  youths,  who  displa7sid  tbe  indolent  se- 
curity of  bereditary  princes ;  and  a  presun^ption  that  fortune 
would  supply  tbe  place  of  merit  and  application.  Without 
any  emulation  of  virtue  or  talents,  tbey  discovered,  almost 
from  their  infancy,  a  fixed  and  implacable  antipiitby  for  each 
other. 

Their  aversion,  confirmed  by  years,  and  fomented  by  the 
arts  of  their  interested  favorites,  broke  out  in  childish,  and 
gradually  in  more  serious  competitions  ;  and,  at  length,  dividej^ 
tbe  theatre,  the  circus,  and  the  court,  into  two  factions,  actu- 

*  Hist.  August,  p.  65. 
'  Hist.  August,  p.  5. 

*  Dion  Cassius,  L  Ixxvii.  p.  1304,  1314. 

1  See  a  dissertation  of  Menage,  at  the  end  of  his  edition  of  Dioge- 
nes Laertius,  de  FcEminis  Philosophis. 

*  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1285.    Aurelius  Victor. 

*  Bassianus  was  his  first  name,  as  it  had  been  that  of  hia  matcrcal 
grandfather.  During  his  reign,  he  assumed  the  appellation  of  An 
toninus,  which  is  employed  by  lawyers  and  ancient  historians.  Aftei 
his  death,  the  public  indignation  loaded  hun  with  the  nicknames  of 
Tarantus  and  Caracalla.  The  first  was  borrowed  from  a  celebrated 
lladiator,  the  second  from  a  long  Gallic  gowr  which  he  distributed 
U>  the  people  of  Rome. 


152  niE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  204 

atcJ  by  the  hopes  and  fears  of  their  respective  leaders.  Tha 
prudent  emperor  endeavored,  by  every  expedient  of  advice 
and  authority,  to  allay  this  growing  animosity.  The  unhappy 
discord  of  his  sons  clouded  all  his  prospects,  and  threatened  to 
overtui'n  a  throne  raised  with  so  much  labor,  cemented  with 
so  much  blood,  and  guarded  with  every  defence  of  arras  and 
treasure.  With  an  impartial  hand  he  maintained  between 
hem  an  exact  balance  of  favor,  conferred  on  both  the  rank 
if  Augustus,  with  the  revered  name  of  Antoninus ;  and  foi 
he  first  time  the  Roman  world  beheld  three  emperors."  Yet 
even  this  equal  conduct  served  only  to  inflame  the  contest, 
whilst  the  fierce  Caracalla  asserted  the  right  of  primogeniture, 
and  the  milder  Geta  courted  the  affections  of  the  people  and 
the  soldiers.  In  the  anguish  of  a  disappointed  father,  Severua 
foretold  that  the  weaker  of  his  sons  would  fall  a  sacrifice  to 
the  stronger ;  who,  in  his  turn,  would  be  ruined  by  his  own 
vices." 

In  these  circurr  ^tances  the  intelligence  of  a  war  in  Britain, 
and  of  an  invasion  of  the  province  by  the  barbarians  of  the 
North,  was  received  with  pleasure  by  Severus.  Though  the 
vigilance  of  his  Heutenants  might  have  been  sufficient  to  repel 
the  distant  enemy,  he  resolved  to  embrace  the  honorable  pre- 
text of  withdrawing  his  sons  from  the  luxury  of  Rome,  which 
enervated  their  minds  and  irritated  their  passions  ;  and  of  in- 
uring their  youth  to  the  toils  of  war  and  government.  Not- 
withstanding his  advanced  age,  (for  he  was  above  threescore,) 
and  his  gout,  which  obliged  him  to  be  carried  in  a  litter,  he 
transported  himself  in  person  into  that  remote  island,  attended 
by  his  two  sons,  his  whole  court,  and  a  formidable  army.  He 
immediately  passed  the  walls  of  Hadrian  and  Antoninus,  and 
entered  the  enemy's  country,  with  a  design  of  completing  the 
long  attempted  conquest  of  Britain.  He  penetrated  to  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  island,  without  meeting  an  enemy. 
But  the  concealed  ambuscades  of  the  Caledonians,  who  hung 
unseen  on  the  rear  and  flanks  of  his  army,  the  coldness  of  the 
climate  and  the  severity  of  a  winter  march  across  the  hills 
and  morasses  of  Scotland,  are  reported  to  have  cost  the 
Romans    above   fifty    thousand    men.      The    Caledonians   at 

*'  The  elevation  of  Caracalla  is  fixed  by  the  accurate  M.  do  Tille 
mont  to  the  year  198  ;  the  association  of  Geta  to  the  year  208. 

"  Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  130.  The  lives  of  Caracalla  and  Geta.  in  th< 
Augustan  History. 


A.  D.208.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  168 

length  yielded  to  the  powerful  and  obstinate  attack,  sued  for 
peace,  and  surrendered  a  part  of  their  arms,  and  a  large  tract 
of  territory.  But  their  apparent  submission  lasted  no  longer 
than  the  present  terror.  As  soon  as  the  Roman  legions  had 
retired,  they  resumed  their  hostile  independence.  Their  rest- 
less spirit  provoked  Severus  to  send  a  new  army  into  Cale- 
donia, with  the  most  bloody  orders,  not  to  subdue,  but  to  ex- 
tirj)ate  the  natives.  They  were  saved  by  the  death  of  their 
haughty  enemy.'* 

This  Caledonian  war,  neither  marked  by  decisive  events, 
nor  attended  with  any  important  consequences,  would  ill  do- 
serve  our  attention ;  but  it  is  supposed,  not  without  a  consid- 
erable degree  of  probability,  that  the  invasion  of  Severus  is 
connected  with  the  most  shining  period  of  the  British  history 
or  fable.  Fingal,  whose  fame,  with  that  of  his  heroes  and 
bards,  has  been  revived  in  our  language  by  a  recent  publica- 
tion, is  said  to  have  commanded  the  Caledonians  in  that  mem- 
orable juncture,  to  have  eluded  the  power  of  Sev^erus,  and  to 
have  obtained  a  signal  victory  on  the  banks  of  the  Carun,  in 
which  the  son  of  the  King  of  the  World,  Caracul,  fled  from 
his  arms  along  the  fields  of  his  pride.'^  Something  of  a 
doubtful  mist  still  hangs  over  these  Highland  traditions ;  nor 
can  it  be  entirely  dispelled  by  the  most  ingenious  researches 
of  modern  criticism ; "  but  if  we  could,  with  safety,  indulge 
the  pleasing  supposition,  that  Fingal  lived,  and  that  Ossian 
sung,  the  striking  contrast  of  the  situation  and  manners  of  the 
contending  nations  might  amuse  a  philosophic  mind.  The 
parallel  would  be  little  to  the  advantage  of  the  more  civilized 

*'  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1280,  <fec.     Herodian,  1.  ill.  p.  132,  <fec. 

"  Ossian's  Poems,  vol.  i.  p.  1*75. 

"  That  the  Caracul  of  Ossian  is  the  Caracalla  of  the  lloman  His- 
tory, is,  perhaps,  the  only  point  of  Britisli  antiquity  in  which  Mr. 
Macpherson  and  Mr.  Whitaker  are  of  the  same  opinion ;  and  yet  the 
opinion  is  not  without  difficulty.  In  the  Caledonian  war,  the  son  of 
Severus  was  known  only  by  the  appellation  of  Antoninus,  and  it  may 
seem  strange  that  the  Highland  bard  should  describe  lum  by  a  nick- 
name, invented  four  years  afterwards,  scarcely  used  by  the  Romana 
till  after  the  death  of  that  emperor,  and  seldom  employed  by  the  most 
ancient  historians.  See  Dion,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1317.  Hist.  August,  p.  89 
AureL  Victor.     Euseb.  in  Chron.  ad  ann.  214.* 


*■  The  historical  authority  of  Macpherson's  Ossian  has  not  increased  sinoa 
Oibbou  wrote.  We  may,  indeed,  consider  it  exploded.  Mr.  Wliitaker,  ia 
a  letter  to  Gibbon  (Misc.  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  100,)  attempts,  not  very  socceM 
IUI7,  to  weaken  this  objection  of  the  historian. — M. 


154  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A..  D.  208 

people,  if  we  compared  tlie  unrelenting  revenge  cf  Severus 
with  the  generous  clemency  of  Fingal ;  the  timid  and  brutal 
cruelty  of  Caracalla  with  the  bravery,  the  tenderness,  the  ele- 
gant genius  of  Ossian  ;  the  mercenary  chiefs,  who,  from  motives 
of  fear  or  interest,  served  under  the  imperial  standard,  with 
the  free-born  warriors  who  started  to  arms  at  the  voice  of  the 
king  of  Morven ;  if,  in  a  word,  we  contemplated  the  untutored 
Caledonians,  glowing  with  the  warm  virtues  of  nature,  and  the 
iegenerate  Romans,  polluted  with  the  mean  vices  of  wealth 
and  slavery. 

The  declining  health  and  last  illness  of  Severus  inflamed 
the  wild  ambition  and  black  passions  of  Caracalla's  soul.  Im- 
patient of  any  delay  or  division  of  empire,  he  attempted,  more 
than  once,  to  shorten  the  small  remainder  of  his  father's  days, 
and  endeavored,  but  without  success,  to  excite  a  mutiny  among 
the  troops.'^  The  old  emperor  had  often  censured  the  mis- 
guided lenity  of  Marcus,  who,  by  a  single  act  of  justice,  might 
have  saved  the  Romans  from  the  tyranny  of  his  worthless  son. 
Placed  in  the  same  situation,  he  experienced  how  easily  the  rigoi 
of  a  judge  dissolves  away  in  the  tenderness  of  a  parent.  He 
deliberated,  he  threatened,  but  he  could  not  punish ;  and  this 
tast  and  only  instance  of  mercy  was  more  fatal  to  the  empire 
than  a  long  series  of  cruelty.^"  The  disorder  of  his  mind  irri 
tated  the  pains  of  his  body ;  he  -wished  impatiently  for  death, 
and  hastened  the  instant  of  it  by  his  impatience.  He  expired 
at  York  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  life,  and  in  the  eighteenth 
of  a  glorious  and  successful  reign.  In  his  last  moments  he 
recommended  concord  to  his  sons,  and  his  sons  to  the  army. 
The  salutary  advice  never  reached  the  heart,  or  even  the  un- 
derstanding, of  the  impetuous  youths ;  but  the  more  obedient 
troops,  mindful  of  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  of  the  author- 
ity of  their  deceased  master,  resisted  the  solicitations  of  Cara- 
calla,  and  proclaimed  both  brothers  emperors  of  Rome.  The 
new  princes  soon  left  the  Caledonians  in  peace,  returned  to  the 
capital,  celebrated  their  father's  funeral  with  divine  honors,  and 
were  cheerfully  acknowledged  as  lawful  sovereigns,  by  the 
senate,  the  people,  and  the  provinces.  Some  preeminence  of 
rank  seems  to  have  been  allowed  to  the  elder  brother;  but 
they  both  administered  the  empire  with  equal  and  independent 
power." 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1282.     Hist.  August,  p.  11.     AureL  Victor. 
*•  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi  p.  1283.     Hist.  August,  p.  89 
"  Dion,  I.  ixxvi.  p.  1284.      Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  135. 


A.D.a08.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  165 

Sucli  a  divided  form  of  government  would  have  proved  a 
source  of  discord  between  the  most  affectionate  brothers.  I* 
was  impossible  that  it  could  long  subsist  between  two  implaca- 
ble enemies,  who  neither  desired  nor  could  trust  a  reconciliation. 
It  was  visible  that  one  only  could  reign,  and  that  the  other 
must  fall ;  and  each  of  them,  judging  of  his  rival's  designs  by 
his  own,  guarded  his  life  with  the  most  jealous  vigilance  frona 
the  repeated  attacks  of  poison  or  the  sword.  Their  rapid 
journey  through  Gaul  and  Italy,  during  which  they  never  ate 
at  the  same  table,  or  slept  in  the  same  house,  displayed  to  the 
provinces  the  odious  spectacle  of  fraternal  discord.  On  their 
arrival  at  Rome,  they  immediately  divided  the  vast  extent  of 
the  imperial  palace.'*  No  communication  was  allowed  between 
their  apartments ;  the  doors  and  passages  were  diligently  forti- 
fied, and  guards  posted  and  relieved  with  the  same  strictness 
as  in  a  besieged  place.  The  emperors  met  only  in  public,  in 
the  presence  of  their  afflicted  mother ;  and  each  surrounded  by 
a  numerous  train  of  armed  followers.  Even  on  these  occasions 
of  ceremony,  the  dissimulation  of  courts  could  ill  disguise  the 
rancor  of  their  hearts.'* 

This  latent  civil  war  already  distracted  the  whole  govern 
ment,  when  a  scheme  was  suggested  that  seemed  of  mutual 
benefit  to  the  hostile  brothers.  It  was  proposed,  that  since  it 
was  impossible  to  reconcile  their  minds,  they  should  separate 
their  interest,  and  divide  the  empire  between  them.  The 
conditions  of  the  treaty  were  already  drawn  with  some  accu- 

'*  Mr.  Hume  is  justly  surprised  at  a  passage  of  Herodian,  (L  iv.  p. 
\39,)  who,  on  this  occasion,  represents  the  Imperial  palace  as  equal 
\n  extent  to  the  rest  of  Rome.  The  whole  region  of  the  Palatine 
Mount,  on  which  it  was  built,  occupied,  at  most,  a  circumference  of 
eleven  or  twelve  thousand  feet,  (see  the  Notitia  and  Victor,  in  Nar 
dini's  Roma  Antica.)  But  we  should  recollect  that  the  opulent  sena 
tors  had  almost  surrounded  the  city  with  their  extensive  gardens  and 
suburb  palaces,  the  greatest  part  of  which  had  been  gradually  confis- 
cated by  the  emperors.  If  Geta  resided  in  the  gardens  that  bore  his 
aame  on  the  Janiculum,  and  if  Caracalla  inhabited  the  gardens  of 
Maecenas  on  the  Esquiline,  the  rival  brotliers  were  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  distance  of  several  miles;  and  yet  the  intermediate 
space  was  filled  by  the  Imperial  gardens  of  SaUust,  of  Lucullus,  of 
Agrippa,  of  Domitian,  of  Caius,  &c.,  aU  skirting  round  the  city,  and 
all  connected  with  each  other,  and  with  the  palace,  by  bridges  thrown 
over  the  Tiber  and  the  streets.  But  this  explanation  of  Herodian 
would  require,  though  it  ill  deserves,  a  particular  dissertatioo,  illus- 
brated  by  a  map  of  ancient  Rome.  (Hume,  Essay  on  Populousness 
rf' Ancient  Nations. — M.) 
"  Herodian,  1.  iv.  p.  139 


156  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  JA.  D.  212 

facy.  It  was  agraed  that  Caracalla,  as  the  elder  brother 
should  remain  in  possession  of  Europe  and  the  western 
Africa  ;  and  that  he  should  relinquish  the  sovereignty  of  Asia 
and  Egypt  to  Geta,  who  might  fix  his  residence  at  Alexandria 
or  Antioch,  cities  little  inferior  to  Rome  itself  in  wealth  and 
greatness ;  that  numerous  armies  should  be  constantly  en- 
camped on  either  side  of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  to  guard 
the  frontiers  of  the  I'ival  monarchies ;  and  that  the  senators 
of  European  extraction  should  acknowledge  the  sovereign  of 
Rome,  whilst  the  natives  of  Asia  followed  the  emperor  of  tho 
East.  The  tears  of  the  empress  Julia  interrupted  the  nego- 
tiation, the  first  idea  of  which  had  filled  every  Roman  breast 
with  surprise  and  indignation.  The  mighty  mass  of  conquest 
was  so  intimately  united  by  the  hand  of  time  and  policy,  that 
it  required  the  most  forcible  violence  to  rend  it  asunder.  The 
Romans  had  reason  to  dread,  that  the  disjointed  members 
would  soon  be  reduced  by  a  civil  war  under  the  dominion  of 
one  master ;  but  if  the  separation  was  permanent,  the  divisioD 
of  the  provinces  must  terminate  in  the  dissolution  of  an  empire 
whose  unity  had  hitherto  remained  inviolate.*" 

Had  the  treaty  been  cariied  into  execution,  the  sovereign 
of  Europe  might  soon  have  been  the  conqueror  of  Asia ;  but 
Caracalla  obtained  an  easier,  though  a  more  guilty,  \ictory. 
He  artfully  listened  to  his  mother's  entreaties,  and  consented 
to  meet  his  brother  in  her  apartment,  on  terms  of  peace  and 
reconciliation.  In  the  midst  of  their  conversation,  some  cen- 
turions, who  had  contrived  to  conceal  themselves,  rushed  with 
drawn  swords  upon  the  unfortunate  Geta.  His  distracted 
mother  strove  to  jjrotect  him  in  her  arms ;  but,  in  the  una- 
vailing struggle,  she  was  wounded  in  the  hand,  and  covered 
with  the  blood  of  her  younger  son,  while  she  saw  the  elder 
animating  and  assisting*'  the  fury  of  the  assassins.  As  soon 
as  the  deed  was  perpetrated,  Caracalla,  with  hasty  steps,  and 
horror  in  his  countenance,  ran  towards  the  Praetorian  camp, 
as  his  only  refuge,  and  threw  himself  on  the  ground  before 
the  statues  of  the  tutelar  deities."     The  soldiers  attempted  to 

^  Herodian,  1.  iv.  p.  144. 

21  Caracalla  consecrated,  in  the  temple  of  Serapis,  the  sword  with 
srhicli,  as  lie  boasted,  he  had  slain  his  brother  Geta.  Dion,  L  Ixxvii 
p.  1307. 

22  Herodian,  1.  iv.  p.  147.  In  every  Roman  camp  there  was  a 
small  chapel  near  the  head-quarters,  in  uhich  the  statues  of  the 
tutelar  deities  were  preserved  and  adored ;  and  we  may  remark,  that 


A.D.  212.]        OK  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  J67 

raise  and  couifort  him.  In  broken  and  disordered  words  he 
informed  them  of  his  imminent  danger,  and  fortunate  escape ; 
insinuating  that  he  had  prevented  the  designs  of  his  enemy, 
and  declared  his  resohition  to  live  and  die  with  his  faithful 
troops.  Geta  had  been  the  favorite  of  the  soldiers  ;  but  com- 
plaint was  useless,  revenge  was  dangerous,  and  they  still 
reverenced  the  son  of  Severus.  Their  discontent  died  away 
in  idle  murmurs,  and  Caracalla  soon  convinced  them  of  the 
justice  of  his  cause,  by  distribuimg  in  one  lavish  donative  the 
accumulated  treasures  of  his  father's  reign.^^  The  real  sen- 
timents of  the  soldiers  alone  were  of  importance  to  his  power 
or  safety.  Their  declaration  m  liis  favor  commanded  the 
dutiful  professions  of  the  senate.  Ihe  obsequiouii  assembly 
was  always  prepared  to  ratify  the  decision  of  fortune ;  *  but 
as  Caracalla  wished  to  assuage  the  first  emotions  of  public 
indignation,  the  name  of  Geta  was  mentioned  with  decency, 
and  he  received  the  funeral  honors  of  a  Roman  emperor."' 
Posterity,  in  pity  to  his  misfortune,  has  cast  a  veil  over  hij 
vices.  We  consider  that  young  j^rince  as  the  innocent  victiift 
of  his  brother's  ambition,  without  recollecting  that  he  himself 
wanted  power,  rather  than  inclination,  to  consummate  the 
same  attempts  of  revenge  and  murder.j- 

The  crime  went  not  unpunished.  Neither  business,  nor 
pleasure,  nor  flattery,  could  defend  Caracalla  from  the  stings 
of  a  guilty  conscience  ;  and  he  confessed,  in  the  anguish  of  a 
tortured  mind,  that  his  disordered  fancy  often  beheld  the  angry 
forms  of  his  father  and  his  brother  rising  into  life,  to  threaten 

the  eagles,  and  other  military  ensigns,  were  in  the  first  rank  of  these 
deities;  an  excellent  institution,  which  confirmed  discipline  by  the 
sanction  of  religion.     See  Lipsius  de  Militia  Romaua,  iv.  5,  v.  2. 

23  Herodian,  1.  iv.  p.  148.     Dion,  L  Lxxvii.  p.  1289. 

**  Geta  was  placed  among  tl\e  goda.  Sit  divus,  dum  non  sit  vimta 
uaid  his  brother.  Hist.  August,  p.  91.  Some  marks  of  Geta'u 
consecration  are  still  found  upon  medals. 


*  The  account  of  this  transaction,  in  a  new  passage  of  Dion,  vanes  in 
some  ilegTce  from  this  statement.  It  add*  that  the  next  morning,  in  the 
senate,  Anloniuus  requested  their  indulgence,  not  because  he  had  kiUcd  hia 
brother,  bi  t  because  he  was  hoarse,  and  could  not  address  theni.  Mai. 
Fragm.  Vftr;;»n.  p.  228. — M. 

t  The  favorable  judgment  which  history  has  given  of  Geta  is  not  founded 
♦T'lcly  on  a  feeling  of  pity  ;  it  is  s<.'pportcd  by  the  testimony  of  conti'mporary 
hisinriaus :  he  was  too  fond  of  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  sho'  ycd  great 
mistrust  of  his  brother;  but  be  was  buraauo,  well  instructed;  he  wften  fln 
doavored  to  mitigate  the  rigorous  decrees  of  Severus  and  CaracalU  Hcnv^ 
W.  3.    Sj'artian  in  Geta. — W. 


i68  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  212L 

and  upbrad  hiin.'''  The  consciousness  of  his  crime  should 
have  induced  him  to  convince  mankind,  by  the  virtues  of  hia 
reign,  that  the  bloody  deed  had  been  the  involuntary  eflfect 
of  fatal  necessity.  But  the  repentance  of  Caracalla  only 
prompted  him  to  remove  from  the  world  whatever  could 
remind  him  of  his  guilt,  or  recall  the  memory  of  hir  murdered 
brother.  On  his  return  from  the  senate  to  the  palace,  h( 
found  his  mother  in  the  company  of  several  noble  matrons, 
weeping  over  the  untimely  fate  of  her  younger  son.  The 
jealous  emperor  threatened  them  with  instant  death  ;  the  sen- 
tence was  executed  against  Fadilla,  the  last  remaining  daughter 
of  the  emperor  Marcus;*  and  even  the  afflicted  Julia  was 
obliged  to  silence  her  lamentations,  to  suppress  her  sighs,  and 
to  receive  the  assassin  with  smiles  of  joy  and  approbation.  It 
was  computed  that,  under  the  vague  appellation  of  the  friends 
of  Geta,  above  twenty  thousand  persons  of  both  sexes  suffered 
death.  His  guards  and  freedmen,  the  ministers  of  his  serious 
business,  and  the  companions  of  his  looser  hours,  those  who 
by  his  interest  had  been  promoted  to  any  commands  in  the 
army  or  provinces,  with  the  long  connected  chain  of  their 
dependants,  were  included  in  the  proscription ;  which  endeav- 
ored to  reach  every  one  who  had  maintained  the  smallest 
correspondence  with  Geta,  who  lamented  his  death,  or  who 
even  mentioned  his  name.^^  Helvius  Pertinax,  son  to  the 
prince  of  that  name,  lost  his  life  by  an  unseasonable  wit- 
ticism.*^    It  was  a  sufficient  crime  of  Thrasea  Priscus  to  be 

25  DioD,l.  Ixxvii.  p.  1307 

2*  Dion,  1.  IxxviL  p.  1290.  Herodian,  L  iv.  p.  150.  Dion  (p. 
1298)  says,  that  the  comic  poets  no  longer  durst  employ  the  name 
Jl  Geta  in  Jieir  plays,  and  that  the  estates  of  those  who  mentioned 
it  in  their  testaments  were  confiscated. 

27  Caracalla  had  assumed  the  names  of  several  conquered  nations; 
Pertinax  observed,  tJiat  the  name  of  Geticus  (he  had  obtained  some 
advantage  over  the  Goths,  or  Getse)  would  be  a  proper  addition  to 
Par  thicus,  Aiemannicus,  &c.     Hist.  August,  p.  89. 


*  The  most  valuable  paragraph  of  Dion,  which  the  indus./y  of  M.  Ma 
has  re«overed,  relates  to  this  daughter  of  Marcus,  executed  by  Caracalla 
Her  name,  as  appears  from  Froiito,  as  well  as  from  Dion,  -was  Comific.'a 
When  commanded  to  choose  the  kind  of  death  she  was  to  suffer,  she  burst 
into  womanish  tears ;  but  remembering  her  father  Marcus,  she  thus  .spoke  : — 
'  O  my  hapless  soul,  iipvipiStov,  animula,)  now  imprisoned  in  the  body,  burst 
{brih !  be  free !  fharVi/  ihem,  ho%vcver  reluctant  to  believe  it,  that  thou  art  the 
daughter  of  Wo^oj^."  She  then  laid  aside  all  her  ornaments,  and  preparias 
bers«jA'  for  doath,  ordered  her  veins  to  be  opened  Mai.  Fragm.  Yadcan.  it 
p.  Stag  ~U. 


A..  D.  212.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  158 

descenled  from  a  family  in  which  the  love  of  libe.tty  seemed 
an  hereditary  quality.^*  The  particular  causes  of  calumny 
and  suspicion  were  at  length  exhausted  ;  and  when  a  senator 
was  accused  of  being  a  secret  enemy  to  the  government,  the 
emperor  was  satisfied  with  the  general  proof  that  he  was  a 
man  of  property  and  virtue.  From  this  well-grounded  prin- 
ciple he  frequently  drew  the  most  bloody  inferences.! 

The  execution  of  so  many  innocent  citizens  was  bewailed 
by  the  secret  tears  of  their  friends  and  families.  The  death 
of  Papinian,  the  Praetorian  Proefect,  was  lamented  as  a  public 
calamity  .J  During  the  last  seven  years  of  Severus,  he  had 
exercised  the  most  important  offices  of  the  state,  and,  by  his 
salutary  influence,  guided  the  emperor's  steps  in  the  paths  of 
justice  and  moderation.  In  full  assurance  of  his  virtue  and 
abilities,  Severus,  on  his  death-bed,  had  conjured  him  to  watch 
over  the  prosperity  and  union  of  the  Imperial  family ."'  The 
honest  labors  of  Papinian  served  only  to  inflame  the  hatred 
which  Caracalla  had  already  conceived  against  his  father's 
minister.  After  the  murder  of  Geta,  the  Prajfect  was  com- 
manded to  exert  the  powers  of  his  skill  and  eloquence  in  a 
studied  apology  for  that  atrocious  deed.  The  philosophic 
Seneca  had  condescended  to  compose  a  similar  epistle  to  the 
senate,  in  the  name  of  the  son  and  assassin  of  Agrippina." 
"  That  it  was  easier  to  commit  than  to  justify  a  parricide," 
was  the  glorious  reply  of  Papinian  ;"  who  did  not  hesitate 
between  the  loss   of  life  and  that  of  honor.      Such  intrepia 

**  Dion,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1291.  He  was  probably  descended  from  Hel- 
vidius  Priscus,  and  Tlirasea  Paetus,  those  patriots,  whose  firm,  but 
useless  and  unseasonable,  virtue  has  been  immcrtalized  by  Tacitus.* 

■•"*  It  is  said  that  Papinian  was  himself  a  relation  of  the  empress 
Julia. 

'"  Tacit.  Annal.  xiv.  2. 

"  Hist.  August,  p.  88. 

*  M.  Guizot  is  indignant  at  this  "cold"  observation  of  Gibbon  on  the  no 
ble  character  of  Thrasea ;  but  he  admits  that  his  virtue  was  useless  to  tho 
public,  and  :;nseasonable  amidst  the  vices  of  his  age. — M. 

t  Caracalla  reproached  all  those  who  demanded  no  favors  of  hire.  "  1 
is  clear  that  if  you  make  me  no  requests,  you  do  not  trust  me  ;  if  you  do  not 
trust  me,  you  suspect  me ;  if  you  suspect  mc,  you  fear  me ;  if  you  fear 
me,  you  hate  me."  And  forthwith  he  condemned  them  as  couspiratcrs 
A  good  specimen  of  the  sorites  in  a  tyi-ant's  logic.  See  Fragm.  Vatican,  p 
J?0.— M. 

;  Papinian  was  no  longer  Praetorian  Praefcct.  Caracalla  had  deprived  hira 
of  that  office  immediately  after  the  death  of  Sevei-us.  Such  is  the  statement 
of  Dion ;  and  the  testimony  of  Spartian,  who  gives  Pa[)iiiian  the  Prajtoriau 
piwfecture  till  his  death,  is  of  little  weight  opposed  to  that  of  a  senator  then 
tiring  at  Rome. — W. 


I(JO  THE    DECLINE    AKD    FALL  [A.D.  'J13. 

virtue,  which  had  escaped  pure  and  unsulHed  from  the 
intrigues  of  courts,  the  habits  of  business,  and  the  arts  of  hia 
profession,  reflects  more  lustre  on  the  memory  of  Papinian, 
than  all  his  great  employments,  his  numerous  writings,  and 
the  superior  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  which  he  has  preserved 
through  every  age  of  the  Roman  jurisprudence.^" 

It  had  hitherto  been  the  pecuUar  felicity  of  the  Romans,  and 
n  the  worst  of  times  the  consolation,  that  the  virtue  of  the 
smperors  was  active,  and  their  vice  indolent.  Augustus, 
Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  Marcus  visited  their  extensive  domin- 
ions in  person,  and  their  progress  was  marked  by  acts  of  wis 
dom  and  beneficence.  The  tyranny  of  Tiberius,  Nero,  and 
Doraitian,  who  resided  almost  constantly  at  Rome,  or  in  the 
adjacent  villas,  was  confined  to  the  senatorial  and  equestrian 
orders.^^  But  Caracalla  was  the  common  enemy  of  mankind. 
He  left  the  capital  (and  he  never  returned  to  it)  about  a  year 
after  the  murder  of  Geta.  The  rest  of  his  reign  was  spent  in 
the  several  provinces  of  the  empire,  particularly  those  of  the 
East,  and  every  province  was  by  turns  the  scene  of  his  rapine 
and  cruelty.  The  senators,  compelled  by  fear  to  attend  his 
capricious  motions,  were  obliged  to  provide  daily  entertain- 
ments at  an  immertse  expense,  which  he  abandoned  with  con 
tempt  to  his  guards ;  and  to  erect,  in  every  city,  magnificent 
palaces  and  theatres,  which  he  either  disdained  to  visit,  or 
ordered  to  be  immediately  thrown  down.  The  most  wealthy 
families  were  ruined  by  partial  fines  and  confiscations,  and 
the  great  body  of  his  subjects  oppressed  by  ingenious  and 
aggravated  taxes."*  In  the  midst  of  peace,  and  upon  the 
slightest  provocation,  he  issued  his  commands,  at  Alexandria. 
in  Egypt,  for  a  general  massacre.  From  a  secure  post  in  the 
temple  of  Serapis,  he  viewed  and  directed  the  slaughter  of 
many  thousand  citizens,  as  well  as  strangers,  without  distin 
guishing  either  the  number  or  the  crime  of  the  sufferers  ; 
since,  as  he  coolly  informed  the  senate,  all  the  Alexandrians, 
those  who  had  perished,  and  those  who  had  escaped,  were 
alike  guilty." 

'^  With  regard  to  Papinian,  see  Heineccius's  Historia  Juris  Roma 
ni,  1  330,  &c. 

'-  Tiberius  and  Domitian  never  moved  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Rome.  Nero  made  a  short  journey  into  Greece.  "  Et  laudacorima 
?rincii)ura  usus  ex  jequo,  quamvis  procul  agentibus.  Saevi  proximi* 
ingruunt."     Tacit.  Hist.  iv.  74. 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxvii  p.  1294. 

•*  Dion,  L  IxxA-ii.  ji.  1307-      Herodiar.  L  iv.  n   158.      Tho  form»« 


A.D.  213.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  161 

Tlie  wise  instructions  of  Severus  never  maJe  anj-  l!u=5tirig 
impression  on  the  mind  of  his  son,  who,  althoug'h  not  destitute 
of  imagination  and  eloquence,  was  equally  devoid  of  ju3i2;nient 
and  humanity.^®  One  dangerous  maxim,  worthy  of  a  tyrant, 
was  remembered  and  abused  by  Caracalla.  "To  secure  tha 
affections  of  the  army,  and  to  esteem  the  rest  of  his  subjects 
as  of  littb  moment.""  But  the  liberality  of  the  father  had 
been  restrained  by  prudence,  and  his  indulgence  to  the  troops 
was  tempered  by  firmness  and  authority.  The  careless  pro 
fusion  of  the  son  was  the  policy  of  one  reign,  and  the  inevi- 
table ruin  both  of  the  army  and  of  the  empire.  The  vigor  of 
the  soldiers,  instead  of  being  confirmed  by  the  severe  disci 
pline  of  camps,  melted  away  in  the  luxury  of  cities.  The 
excessive  increase  of  their  pay  and  donatives'*  exhausted  the 

represents  it  as  a  cruel  massacre,  the  latter  as  a  perfidious  one  toa 
It  seems  probable  that  the  Alexandrians  has  irritated  the  tyrant  by 
their  railleries,  and  perhaps  by  their  tumults.* 

="  Dion,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1296. 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxvi.  p.  1284.  Mr.  Wotton  (Hist,  of  Rome,  p.  830) 
suspects  that  this  maxim  was  invented  by  Caracalla  himself,  and 
attributed  to  his  father. 

'^  Dion  (1.  Ixxviii.  p.  1343)  informs  us  that  the  extraordinary  gifts 
of  Caracalla  to  the  army  amounted  annually  to  seventy  millions 
of  drachma}  (about  two  millions  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds.)  There  is  another  passage  in  Dion,  concerning  the  military 
pay,  infinitely  curious,  were  it  not  obscure,  imperfect,  and  probably 
corrupt.  The  best  sense  seems  to  be,  that  the  Prffitorian  guards 
received  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  drachma;,  (forty  pounds  a  year,) 
(Dion,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1307.)  Under  the  reign  of  Augustus,  they  were 
paid  at  the  rate  of  two  drachmae,  or  denarii,  per  day,  720  a  year, 
(Tacit.  Annal.  i.  17.)  Domitian,  who  increased  the  soldiers'  pay  one 
fourth,  must  have  raised  the  Praetorians  to  960  drachmae,  (Gronoviua 
de  Pecunia  Veteri,  1.  iii.  c.  2.)  These  successive  augmentation? 
ruined  the  empire  ;  for,  with  the  soldiers'  pay,  their  numbers  too  were 
increased.  We  have  seen  the  Praetorians  alone  increased  from  10,000 
to  50,000  men.f  

*  After  the.se  massacres,  Caracalla  also  deprived  the  Alexandrians  of  theii 
■pcctacles  and  pubUo  feasts ;  he  divided  the  city  into  two  parts  by  a  wall 
with  to^vers  at  intervals,  to  prevent  the  peaceful  communications  of  the  citi- 
zens. Thus  was  treated  the  unhappy  Alexandria,  says  Dion,  by  the  savagt 
beast  of  Ausonia.  This,  in  fact,  was  the  epithet  wliich  the  oracle  had  ap- 
plied to  him ;  it  is  said,  indeed,  that  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  name, 
and  often  boasted  of  it.     Dion,  bcxvii.  p.  1307. — G. 

t  Valois  and  Reiniar  1  ave  explained  in  a  very  simple  and  probable  man 
pel  this  passage  of  Dion,  which  Gibl/oii  seems  to  mc  not  to  have  understooa 
■O  atros  Toif  arpaTioiTati  aO\a  rrj;  arparcdii,  rui?  ftiv  iv  tm  inpv'PopiKut  rcra 
yuivot;  is  x'^'<'S  Jia/crfaia;  rrti'rijx-ui'ra,  To'ii  ii  TrtcraxiajdjAids  ^ayifiAveiv 
He  ordered  that  the  soldiers  should  receive.  ai3  the  reward  of  ih>T  ncrT'cea 
the  Praetorians  1250  di'achms,  the  othcra  5000  drachms     Valois  thiuk«  tiuf 


162  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A,  D.  217- 

state  to  enrich  tbe  military  order,  whose  modesty  in  peace,  and 
service  m  wa:,  is  best  secured  by  an  honorable  poverty.  Th« 
demeanor  of  Caracalla  was  haughty  and  full  of  pride  ;  but  with 
the  troops  he  forgot  even  the  proper  dignity  of  his  rank, 
•sncouraged  their  insolent  familiarity,  and,  neglecting  the  esser:- 
tial  duties  of  a  general,  affected  to  imitate  the  dress  and 
manners  of  a  common  soldier. 

It  was  impossible  that  such  a  character,  and  such  conduct 
as  that  of  Caracalla,  could  inspire  either  love  or  esteem ;  but 
as  long  as  his  vices  were  beneficial  to  the  armies,  he  was  secure 
from  the  danger  of  rebellion.  A  secret  conspiracy,  provoked 
by  his  own  jealousy,  was  fatal  to  the  tyrant.  The  Praetorian 
praefecture  was  divided  between  two  ministers.  The  military 
department  was  intrusted  to  Adventus,  an  experienced  rather 
tJian  able  soldier ;  and  the  civil  affairs  were  transacted  by 
OpiUus  Macrinus,  who,  by  his  dexterity  in  business,  had  raised 
himself,  with  a  fair  character,  to  that  high  office.  But  his 
favor  varied  with  the  caprice  of  the  emperor,  and  his  life 
might  depend  on  the  slightest  suspicion,  or  the  most  casual 
circumstance.  Malice  or  fanaticism  had  suggested  to  an  Afri- 
can, deeply  skilled  in  the  knowledge  of  futurity,  a  very  dan 
gerous  prediction,  that  Macrinus  and  his  sou  were  destined  to 
reign  over  the  empire.  The  report  was  soon  diffused  through 
the  province;  and  when  the  man  was  sent  in  chains  to  Rome, 
he  still  asserted,  in  the  presence  of  the  prajfect  of  the  city,  the 
faith  of  his  prophecy.  That  magistrate,  who  had  received  the 
most  pressing  instructions  to  inform  himself  of  the  successors 
of  Caracalla,  immediately  communicated  the  examination  of 
the  African  to  the  Imperial  court,  which  at  that  time  resided 
in  Syria.  But,  notwithstanding  the  diligence  of  the  public 
.nessengers,  a  friend  of  Macrinus  found  means  to  apprise  him 
of  the  ajDproaching  danger.  The  emperor  received  the  letters 
from  Rome  ;  and  as  he  was  then  engaged  in  the  conduct  of  a 
chariot  race,  he  delivered  them   unopened  to  the  Praetorian 

the  numbers  have  been  transposed,  and  that  Caracalla  added  5000  draclims 
to  the  donations  made  to  the  Prffitorians,  1250  to  those  of  the  legionaries 
The  Prffltorians,  in  fact,  always  received  more  than  the  others.  The  error 
of  Gibbon  arose  from  his  considering  that  this  referred  to  the  annual  pay  of 
the  soldiers,  ^vllile  it  relates  to  the  sum  they  received  as  a  reward  for  their 
services  on  their  discharg-e :  aSXoi/ riis  aTparsia;  means  recompense  for  ser 
vice.  Augnstus  had  settled  that  the  PrsEtorians,  after  sixteen  campaigns, 
ihoiild  receive  5000  drachms :  the  legionaries  received  only  3000  after  twenty 
years.  Caracalla  added  5000  drachms  to  the  donative  of  tlie  Praetorians,  12^0 
to  that  of  the  legionaries.  Gibbon  appears  to  have  been  mistaken  both  in 
confounding  this  donative  on  discharge  with  the  annual  pay,  and  in  not  pay 
ing  attention  to  the  remai'k  of  Valois  on  the  transposition  of  the  mimbers  it 
the  text. — G 


A.  D.  21*?.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  16> 

Praefect,  directing  him  to  despatch  the  ordinaiy  AfTaii-s,  and  to 
report  the  more  important  business  that  might  be  contained  iu 
them.  Macrinus  read  his  fate,  and  resolved  to  prevent  it.  He 
inflamed  the  discontents  of  some  inferior  officers,  and  em 
ployed  the  hand  of  Martialis,  a  desperate  soldier,  who  had 
been  refused  the  rank  of  centurion.  The  devotion  of  Cara- 
calla  prompted  him  to  make  a  pilgrimage  from  Edessa  to  the 
celebrated  temple  of  the  Moon  at  Carrhse.*  He  was  attended 
by  a  body  of  cavalry :  but  having  stopped  on  the  road  for 
come  necessary  occasion,  his  guards  preserved  a  respectful 
distance,  and  Martialis,  approaching  his  person  under  a  pro- 
*ence  of  duty,  stabbed  him  with  a  dagger.  The  bold  assassin 
was  instantly  killed  by  a  Scythian  archer  of  the  ImperiaJ 
guard.  Such  was  the  end  of  a  monster  whose  life  disgraced 
human  nature,  and  whose  reign  accused  the  patience  of  the 
Eomans.^*  The  grateful  soldiers  forgot  his  vices,  remembered 
only  his  partial  hberality,  and  obliged  the  senate  to  prostitute 
their  own  dignity  and  that  of  religion,  by  granting  him  a  place 
among  the  gods.  Whilst  he  was  upon  earth,  Alexander  the 
Great  was  the  only  hero  whom  this  god  deemed  worthy  his 
admiration.  He  assumed  the  name  and  ensigns  of  Alexander, 
formed  a  Macedonian  phalanx  of  guards,  persecuted  the  dis- 
ciples of  Aristotle,  and  displayed,  with  a  puerile  enthusiasm, 
the  only  sentiment  by  which  he  discovered  any  regard  for 
virtue  or  glory.  We  can  easily  conceive,  that  after  the  battle 
of  Narva,  and  the  conquest  of  Poland,  Charles  XH.  (though 
he  still  wanted  the  more  elegant  accomplishments  of  the  son 
of  Phihp)  might  boast  of  having  rivalled  his  valor  and  mag- 
nanimity ;  but  in  no  one  action  of  his  life  did  Caracalla  ex- 
j)ress  the  faintest  resemblance  of  the  Macedonian  hero,  except 
in  the  murder  of  a  great  number  of  his  own  and  of  his  father's 
friends.'" 

After  the  extinction  of  the  house  of  Severus,  the  Roman 
world  remained  three  days  without  a  master.  The  choice  of 
the  army  (for  the  authority  of  a  distant  and  feeble  senate  was 

39  Dion,  1.  Ixxviii.  p.  1312.     Herodian,  1.  iv.p.  168. 

*'■  Tlie  fondness  of  Caracalla  for  tlio  name  and  ensigns  of  Alexander 
is  still  preserved  on  the  medals  of  that  emperor.  See  Spanhcira, 
de  Usu  Nuraisniatuin,  Dissertat.  xii.  Herodian  (1.  iv.  p.  1.01)  had  seen 
very  ridiculous  pictures,  in  which  a  figure  Avas  drawn  with  one  side  of 
the  face  like  Alexander,  and  the  other  like  Caracalla. 


"  Can-hsD,  now  Hairan,  between  Edessa  and  Nisibis,  famous  for  tba 
defeat  of  Crassus — the  Haran  from  whence  Abraham  set  out  for  tlie  land  of 
Canaan.  This  city  has  always  been  remarkable  tor  its  attuchmont  to  Saba 
'um  —  a 


164  IHE    iJECUNE    ANB    FALL  [A.  D.  211, 

little  regarded)  hung  in  anxious  ?uspense,  as  np  candidate 
presented  himself  whose  distinguished  birth  and  merit  could 
engage  their  attachment  and  unite  their  sufirages.  The  deci- 
sive weight  of  the  Pr^torian  guards  elevated  the  hopes  of  their 
prjefects,  and  these  powerful  ministers  began  to  assert  their 
legal  claim  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  the  Imperial  throne.  Ad- 
ventus,  however,  the  senior  pragfect,  conscious  of  his  age  and 
infirmities,  of  his  small  reputation,  and  his  smaller  abiUties, 
resigned  the  dangerous  h"Uor  to  the  crafty  ambition  of  his 
colleague  Macrinus,  whose  well-dissembled  grief  removed  all 
suspicion  of  his  being  acce-«iary  to  his  master's  death/'  The 
troops  neither  loved  nor  esteemed  his  character.  They  Qixs . 
their  eyes  around  in  search  of  a  competitor,  and  at  last  yielded 
with  reluctance  to  his  promises  of  unbounded  liberality  and 
indulgence.  A  short  time  after  his  accession,  he  conferred  on 
his  son  Diadumenianus,  at  the  age  of  only  ten  years,  the  Im- 
perial title,  and  the  popular  name  of  Antoninus.  The  beauti- 
ful figure  of  the  youth,  assisted  by  an  additional  donative,  for 
which  the  ceremony  furnished  a  pretext,  might  attract,  it  was 
hoped,  the  favor  of  the  army,  and  secure  the  doubtful  throne 
of  Macrinus. 

The  authority  of  the  new  sovereign  had  been  ratified  by  the 
cheerful  submission  of  the  senate  and  provinces.  They  ex- 
ulted in  their  unexpjected  deliverance  from  a  hated  tyrant,  and 
it  seemed  of  little  consequence  to  examine  into  the  virtues  of 
the  successor  of  Caracalla.  But  as  soon  as  the  first  transports 
of  joy  and  sui'prise  had  subsided,  they  began  to  scrutinize  the 
merits  of  Macrinus  with  a  critical  severity,  and  to  arraign  the 
nasty  choice  of  the  army.  It  had  hitherto  been  considered  as 
a  fundamental  maxim  of  the  constitution,  that  the  emperor 
must  be  always  chosen  in  the  senate,  and  the  sovereign  power, 
no  longer  exercised  by  the  whole  body,  was  always  delegated 
to  one  of  its  members.  But  Macrinus  waT  not  a  senator." 
The  sudden  elevation  of  the  Prajtorian  prsefects  betrayed  the 
meanness  of  their  origin ;  and  the  equestrian  order  was  still 
in  possession  of  that  great  ofllice,  which  commanded  with  arbi- 

<'  Herodian,  1.  iv.  p.  169.     Hist.  August,  p.  94. 

^2  Dion,  1.  Ixxxviii.  p.  1350.  Elagabalus  reproached  his  predecea- 
Bor  with  daring  to  seat  himself  on  the  throne;  though,  as  Prjetorian 
prefect,  he  could  not  have  been  admitted  into  the  senate  after  the 
voice  of  the  crier  had  cleared  the  house.  The  personal  favor  of 
Plautianus  and  Sejanus  had  broke  through  the  established  rule. 
They  rose,  indeed,  from  the  equestrian  order;  but  they  preserved 
the  praefecture,  with  the  rank  of  senator,  "uid  even  with  th*  otiD- 
colsliip. 


A.D.  217.]  OF    THE    IJOMAN    EMPIRE.  16B 

trary  sway  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  Jie  senate.  A  rnurraur 
of  indignation  was  heard,  that  a  man,  whose  obscure**  extrac- 
tion had  never  been  illustrated  by  any  signal  service,  should 
dare  to  invest  himself  with  tLe  j^urplo,  instead  of  bestowing  it 
on  some  distinguished  senator,  equal  in  birth  and  dignity  to  the 
splendor  of  the  Imperial  station.  As  soon  as  the  character  of 
\Jacrinus  was  surveyed  by  the  sharp  eye  of  discontent,  somo 
vices,  and  many  defects,  were  easily  discovered.  The  choice  of 
his  ministers  was  in  many  instances  justly  censured,  and  the 
dissatisfied  people,  with  their  usual  candor,  accused  at  onco  his 
indolent  tameness  and  his  excessive  severity." 

Ilis  rash  ambition  had  climbed  a  height  where  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  stand  with  firmness,  and  impossible  to  fall  without  in- 
stant destruction.  Trained  in  the  arts  of  courts  and  the  forms 
of  civil  business,  he  trembled  in  the  presence  of  the  fierce 
aud  undisciplined  multitude,  over  whom  lie  had  assumed  the 
command ;  his  military  talents  were  despised,  and  his  personal 
courage  suspected  ;  a  whisper  that  circulated  in  the  camp, 
disclosed  the  fatal  secret  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  late  em- 
peior,  aggravated  the  guilt  of  murder  by  the  baseness  of  hy- 
pocrisy, and  heightened  contempt  by  detestation.  To  alienato 
the  soldiers,  and  to  provoke  inevitable  ruin,  the  character  of  a 
reformer  was  only  wanting ;  and  such  was  the  peculiar  hard- 
ship of  his  fate,  that  Macrinus  was  compelled  to  exercise  that 
invidious  office.  The  prodigality  of  Caracalla  had  left  behind 
it  a  long  train  of  ruin  and  disorder  ;  and  if  that  worthless  ty- 
rant had  been  capable  of  reflecting  on  the  sure  consequences 
of  his  own  conduct,  he  would  perhaps  have  enjoyed  the  dark 
prospect  of  the  distress  and  calamities  which  he  bequeathed  to 
his  successors. 

In  the'  management  of  this  necessary  reformation,  Macri- 
nus proceeded  with  a  cautious  prudence,  which  would  have 


*'  He  wa3  a  native  of  Caesarea,  in  Numidia,  and  began  his  fortune 
by  serving  in  the  household  of  Plautian,  from  whose  ruin  he  narrowly 
escaped  His  enemie'?  asserted  that  he  was  born  a  slave,  and  had  ex- 
ercised, among  other  infamous  professions,  that  of  Gladiator.  Tho 
fashion  of  aspersing  the  birth  and  condition  of  an  adversary  seems  to 
have  lasted  from  the  time  of  the  Greek  orators  to  the  learned  gram 
marians  of  the  last  age. 

"  Both  Dion  and  Herod  Ian  speak  of  the  virtues  and  vices  of 
Mlcrinus  with  candor  and  impartiality;  but  the  author  of  his  hfo, 
in  the  Augustan  History,  s'^ems  to  have  implicitly  copied  some  of  the 
venal  writers,  employed  by  P>LTgabulus,  to  blacken  the  memory  of  hia 
predecessor. 


166  THE  DECLINE  AND  FAf.L        [A.  D  2lt 

restored  heall.h  and  vigor  to  the  Roman  army  in  an  easy  and 
almost  imperceptible  manner.  To  the  soldiers  already  engaged 
in  the  service,  he  was  constrained  to  leave  the  dangerous 
privileges  and  extravagant  pay  given  by  Caracalla ;  but  the 
new  recruits  were  received  on  the  more  moderate  though 
hberal  esfcabhshment  of  Severus,  and  gradually  formed  to 
mc-desty  and  obedience."  One  fatal  error  destroyed  the 
salutary  effects  of  this  judicious  plan.  The  numerous  army, 
assembled  in  the  East  by  the  late  emperor,  instead  of  being 
immediately  dispersed  by  Macrinus  through  the  several 
provinces,  was  suffered  to  remain  united  in  Syria,  during  the 
winter  that  followed  his  elevation.  In  the  luxurious  idleness 
of  their  quarters,  the  troops  viewed  their  strength  and  num- 
bers, communicated  their  complaints,  and  revolved  in  their 
minds  the  advantages  of  another  revolution.  The  veterans, 
instead  of  being  flattered  by  the  advantageous  distinction, 
were  alarmed  by  the  first  steps  of  the  emperor,  which  they 
considered  as  the  j^resage  of  his  future  intentions.  The 
recruits,  with  sullen  reluctance,  entered  on  a  service,  whoso 
labors  were  increased  while  its  rewards  were  diminished  by  a 
covetous  and  unwarlike  sovereign.  The  murmurs  of  the  army 
swelled  with  impunity  into  seditious  clamors  ;  and  the  partial 
mutinies  betrayed  a  spirit  of  discontent  and  disaffection  that 
waited  only  for  the  slightest  occasion  to  break  out  on  every 
side  into  a  general  rebellion.  To  minds  thus  disposed,  the  oc- 
casion soon  presented  itself. 

The  empress  Julia  had  experienced  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
fortune.  From  an  humble  station  she  had  been  raised  to 
greatness,  only  to  taste  the  superior  bitterness  of  an  exalted 
rank.  She  Avas  doomed  to  weep  over  the  death  of  one  of  her 
sons,  and  over  the  life  of  the  other.  The  cruel  fate  of  Cara- 
calla, though  her  good  sense  must  have  long  taught '  er  to 
expect  it,  awakened  the  feelings  of  a  mother  and  of  an  em- 
press. Notvpithstanding  the  respectful  civility  expressed  by 
the  usurper  towards  the  widow  of  Severus,  she  desceiiaed  with 
a  painful  struggle  into  the  condition  of  a  subject,  and  soon 
withdrew  herself,  by  a  voluntary  death,  from  the  anxious  and 


*''  Dion,  1.  Ixxxiii.  p.  1336.  The  sense  of  the  author  is  .is  ae<».  %g 
the  intention  of  the  emperor ;  but  Mr.  Wotton  has  mistakou  both,  Dy 
anderstanding  the  distinction,  no'i  of  veterans  and  recruits,  but  of  old 
Bud  now  legions.     History  of  Rome,  p.  34*7. 


A..  D.  218.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMl'IRE.  167 

humiliiving  dependence.''"*  Julia  Ma,'sa,  her  sister,  was 
ordered  to  leave  the  court  and  Antioch.  She  retired  to  Einesa 
with  an  immense  fortune,  the  fruit  of  twenty  years'  favor, 
accompanied  by  her  two  daughtei^s,  Soa?mias  and  Maina^ 
each  of  whom  was  a  widow,  and  each  had  an  only  son. 
BassianuSjf  for  that  was  the  name  of  the  son  of  Soa3mias,  was 
consecrated  to  the  honorable  ministry  of  high  priest  of  the  Sun ; 
and  this  holy  vocation,  embraced  either  from  prudence  or 
superstition,  contributed  to  raise  the  Syrian  youth  to  the  em- 
pire of  Rome.  A  numerous  body  of  troops  was  stationed  at 
Emesa ;  and  as  the  severe  discipline  of  Macrinus  had  con 
strain^-J  them  to  pass  the  winter  encamped,  they  were  eager 
to  rivenge  the  cruelty  of  such  unaccustomed  ^vi.dships.  Tho 
soldiiM-s,  who  resorted  in  crowds  to  the  tempie  of  the  Sun, 
beheld  with  veneration  and  delight  the  elegant  dress  and  figure 
if  the  young  pontiff ;  they  recognized,  or  they  thought  that 
they  recognized,  the  features  of  Caracalla,  whose  memory 
•■.hey  m>w  adored.  The  artful  Majsa  saw  and  cherished  their 
rising  partiality,  and  readily  sacrificing  lier  daughter's  repu- 
toition  to  the  fortune  of  her  grandson,  she  insinuated  that  Bas- 
•*ianus  was  the  natural  son  of  their  murdered  sovereign.  The 
♦ams  distributed  by  her  emissaries  with  a  lavish  hand  silenced 
every  objection,  and  tVe  profusion  sufficiently  proved  the 
affinity,  or  at  least  the  resemblance,  of  i  >assianus  with  the 
gr;at  original.  The  young  Antoninus  (fi_r  he  had  assumed 
ani  polluted  that  respectable  name)  was  declared  emperor  by 
the  troops  of  Emesa,  asserted  his  hereditary  right,  and  called 
aloud  on  the  armies  to  follow  the  standard  of  a  young  and 

**  Dion,  1.  Ixxviii.  p.  1330.      Tlie  abridgment  of  Xiphilin,  though 
less  particular,  is  in  this  place  clearer  than  the  original. 


*  As  soon  as  tnis  princess  heard  of  the  death  of  Caracalla,  she  wished  to 
starve  herself  to  death  :  the  respect  sho%\'n  to  her  by  Macrinus,  in  making'  no 
changre  in  her  attendants  or  her  court,  induced  her  to  prolong  her  life.  Bu" 
it  appears,  as  far  as  the  mutilated  text  of  Dion  and  the  imperfect  epitome 
rf  Xiphilin  permit  us  to  jud,e;e,  that  she  conceived  projects  of  ambition,  and 
endeavored  to  raise  herself  to  the  empire.  She  wished  to  tread  in  the  steps 
of  Semiramis  and  Nitocris,  whose  country  bordered  on  her  awn.  Macri- 
nus sent  her  an  order  immediately  to  leave  Antioch,  and  to  retire  wherever 
she  chose.  She  returned  to  her  fonner  purpose,  and  starved  herself  to 
death.— G. 

t  He  inherited  this  name  from  his  great-grandfather  oj'  the  ;'.iother's  side, 
Bassianus,  father  of  Julia  M^sa,  his  grandmother,  and  of  .Tulia  Domna,  wife 
of  Severus.  Victor  (in  his  epitome)  is  perhaps  tho  only  h'storian  who  has 
given  the  key  to  this  genealogy,  when  speak!  jg  of  Caracalla  Hie  Bussianua 
ex  avi  materni  noinine  dictus.  Caracalla,  Elag^ahalnp,  Avi  Alexander  Sov& 
rus,  bore  sacoesswely  this  name. — G. 


168  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  218 

uberal  princo,  who  had  taken  iip  arm,  to  revenge  his  fatbeHi 
deatli  and  the  oppression  of  the  mihtaiy  order.*' 

Whilst  a  conspiracy  of  women  and  eunuchs  was  concerted 
with  prudence,  and  conducted  with  rapid  vigor,  Maciinus,  who, 
by  a  decisive  motion,  might  have  cruslied  his  infant  enemy, 
floated  between  the  opposite  extremes  of  terror  and  security, 
wliich  alike  fixed  him  inactive  at  Antioch.  A  spirit  of  rebel- 
lion diffused  itself  through  all  the  camps  and  garrisons  of  Syria, 
successive  detachments  murdered  their  officers,"  and  joined 
the  party  of  the  rebels ;  and  the  tardy  restitution  of  military 
pay  and  privileges  was  imputed  to  the  acknowledged  weak- 
ness of  Macu'inus.  At  length  he  marched  out  of  Antioch,  to 
meet  the  increasing  and  zealous  army  of  the  young  pretender. 
His  own  troops  seemed  to  take  the  field  with  faintness  and 
reluctance ;  but,  in  the  heat  of  the.  battle,^*  the  Praetorian 
guards,  almost  by  an  involuntary  impulse,  asserted  the  supe- 
riority of  their  valor  and  discipline.  The  rebel  ranks  were 
broken ;  when  the  mother  and  grandmother  of  the  Syrian 
prince,  who,  according  to  their  eastern  custom,  had  attended 
the  army,  threw  themselves  from  their  covered  chariots,  and, 
by  exciting  the  compassion  of  the  soldiers,  endeavc  red  to 
animate  their  drooping  courage.  Antoninus  himself,  who,  in 
the  rest  of  his  life,  never  acted  like  a  man,  in  this  iir.portant 
crisis  of  his  fate,  approved  himself  a  hero,  mounted  his  horse, 
and,  at  the  head  of  his  rallied  troops,  charged  sword  in  hand 
among  the  thickest  of  the  enemy  ;  whilst  the  eunuch  Gannys,* 
whose  occupations  had  been  confined  to  female  cares  and  the 
soft  luxury  of  Asia,  displayed  the  talents  of  an  able  and  expe- 

*^  According  to  Lampridius,  (Hist.  August,  p.  135,)  Alcxaader 
Severus  lived  twenty-nine  years  three  months  and  seven  days.  As 
ho  was  killed  March  19,  235,  he  was  born  December  12,  205  and 
was  consequently  about  tliis  time  thirteen  years  old,  as  his  elder 
f.ousin  might  be  about  seventeen.  This  computation  suits  much 
better  the  liistory  of  the  young  princes  than  that  of  Horodian,  (1.  t. 
p.  181,)  who  represents  them  as  three  years  younger;  whilst,  by  an 
opposite  error  of  chronology,  he  lengthens  the  reign  of  Elagabalus  two 
years  beyond  its  real  duration.  For  the  particulars  of  the  conspiracy, 
sec  Dion,  1.  Ixxviii.  p.  1339.     Hcrodian,  1.  v.  p.  184 

**  By  a  most  dangerous  proclamation  of  the  pretended  Antoninus, 
every  soldier  who  brought  in  his  officer's  head  became  entitled  to  hia 
privite  estate,  as  well  as  to  his  military  commission. 

*'  Dion,  1.  Ixxviii.  p.  1345.  Herodian,  1.  v.  p.  186.  The  battle  wm 
fou^it  near  the  village  of  Iir.mae,  about  two-and-twenty  miles  firoja 
Ami  }ch. 

*  Ganiij-s  was  not  a  eunncb.     Dion,  p.  1355 — W 


.'^.  D.  218.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  189 

rienced  general.  Ine  battle  still  raged  with  doubtful  violeLce, 
and  Macriuus  might  have  obtained  the  victory,  had  he  not 
betrayed  his  o^vn  cause  by  a  shameful  and  precipitate  flight. 
His  cowardice  served  only  to  protract  his  life  a  few  days,  and 
to  stamp  deserved  ignominy  on  his  misfortunes.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  add,  that  his  son  Diadumenianus  was  involved  in 
the  same  fate.  As  soon  as  the  stubborn  Praetorians  could  be 
convinced  that  they  fought  for  a  prince  who  had  basely 
deserted  them,  they  surrendered  to  the  conqueror :  the  con- 
tending parties  of  the  Roman  army,  mingling  tears  of  joy  and 
tenderness,  united  luider  the  banners  of  the  imagined  son  of 
Caracalla,  and  the  East  acknowledged  with  pleasure  the  first 
enip«ror  of  Asiatic  extraction. 

The  letters  of  Macrinus  had  condescended  to  inform  the 
senate  of  the  slight  disturbance  occasioned  by  an  impostor  in 
Syria,  and  a  decree  immediately  passed,  declaring  the  rebel 
and  his  family  public  enemies ;  with  a  promise  of  pardon, 
however,  to  such  of  his  deluded  adherents  as  should  merit  it  by 
an  immediate  return  to  their  duty.  During  the  twenty  days 
that  elapsed  from  the  declaration  of  the  victory  of  Antoninus, 
(for  in  so  short  an  interval  was  the  fate  of  the  Roman  world 
decided,)  the  capital  and  the  provinces,  more  especially  those 
of  the  East,  were  distracted  with  hopes  and  fears,  agitated  with 
tumult,  and  stained  with  a  useless  effusion  of  civil  blood,  since 
whosoever  of  the  rivals  prevailed  in  Syria  must  reign  over  the 
empire.  The  specious  letters  in  which  the  young  conqueror 
announced  his  victory  to  the  obedient  senate  were  filled  with 
professions  of  virtue  and  moderation  ;  the  shining  examples  of 
Marcus  and  Augustus,  he  should  ever  consider  as  the  great 
rule  of  his  administration  ;  and  he  affected  to  dwell  with  pride 
on  the  striking  resemblance  of  his  own  age  and  fortunes  with 
those  of  Augustus,  who  in  the  earliest  youth  had  revenged,  by 
a  successful  war,  the  murder  of  his  father.  By  adopting  the 
style  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  son  of  Antoninus  and 
grandson  of  Severus,  he  tacitly  asserted  his  hereditary  claim 
to  the  empire  ;  but,  by  assuming  the  tribunitian  and  procon- 
sular powers  before  they  had  been  conferred  on  him  by  a 
decree  of  the  senate,  he  offended  the  delicacy  of  Roman  pre- 
judice. This  new  and  injudicious  violation  of  the  constitution 
was  probably  dictated  either  by  the  ignorance  of  his  Syrian 
oourtiers,  or  the  fierce  disdain  of  his  military  followers." 


'»  Dion,  L  Ixxix.  p.  1 358. 
VOL.  I H 


170  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A..  D.  219. 

As  the  attention  of  the  new  emperor  wa>  divptted  by  the 
most  trifling  amuseraents,  be  wasted  many  month?  in  bis  luxu* 
rioiis  progress  from  Syria  to  Italy,  passed  at  Nicomedia  his 
arst  winter  after  his  victoiy,  and  deferred  till  the  f^nsuing 
summer  his  triumphal  entry  into  the  capital.  A  faithful  pic 
ture,  however,  which  preceded  bis  arrival,  an'^'  was  placed  by 
his  immediate  order  over  the  altar  of  Victory  in  the  senat* 
house,  conveyed  to  the  Romans  the  just  but  unworthy  res«ra 
blance  of  his  person  and  manners.  He  was  drawn  in  h\p 
eacerdotal  robes  of  silk  and  gold,  after  the  loose  flowing  fashion 
of  the  Medes  and  Phoenicians ;  bis  head  was  covered  with  a 
lofty  tiara,  his  numerous  collars  and  bracelets  were  adorned 
with  gems  of  an  inestimable  value.  His  eyebrows  were  tinged 
with  black,  and  his  cheeks  painted  with  an  artificial  red  and 
white."  The  grave  senators  confessed  with  a  sigh,  that,  after 
having  long  experienced  the  stern  tyranny  of  their  own  coun- 
trymen, Rome  was  at  length  humbled  beneath  the  effeminate 
.uxury  of  Oriental  despotism. 

The  Sun  was  worshipped  at  Emesa,  under  the  name  of 
Elagabalus,"  and  under  the  form  of  a  black  conical  stone, 
which,  as  it  was  universally  believed,  had  fallen  from  heaven 
on  that  sacred  place.  To  this  protecting  deity,  Antoninus,  not 
without  some  reason,  ascribed  his  elevation  to  the  throne.  The 
display  of  superstitious  gratitude  was  the  only  serious  business 
of  his  reign.  The  triumph  of  the  god  of  Emesa  over  all  the 
religions  of  the  earth,  was  the  great  object  of  his  zeal  and 
vanity ;  and  the   appellation  of  Elagabalus  (for  he  presumed 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxix.  p.  1363.     Herodian,  1.  v.  p.  189. 

^^  Tliis  name  is  derived  by  the  learned  from  two  Syriac  words,  Ela 
a  God,  and  Gabal,  to  form,  the  forming  or  plaf?tic  god,  a  proper,  and 
even  happy  epithet  for  the  sun.*     Wotton's  History  of  Rome,  p.  378 


*  The  name  of  Elagahalus  has  been  disfigured  in  various  -ways.  Hero 
dian  calls  him  EXaiaj^d/JaAoj ;  Lampridius,  and  the  more  modem  ^vriters, 
make  him  Heliogabalus.  Dion  calls  him  Eleprabalus;  but  Elagabalus  was 
the  true  name,  as  it  appears  on  the  medals.  (P^ckhel.  de  Doct.  num.  vet.  t. 
viL  p.  250.)  As  to  its  etymologj-,  that  which  Gibbon  adduces  is  given  by 
Bochart,  Chan.  ii.  5 ;  but  Salmasius,  on  better  grounds,  (not.  in  Lamprid.  in 
Elagab.,)  derives  the  name  of  Elagabalus  from  the  idol  of  that  god,  repre 
sented  by  Herodian  and  the  medals  in  the  form  of  a  mountain,  (gibel  in  He 
brew,)  or  great  stone  cut  to  a  point,  with  marks  which  represent  the  sun. 
As  it  ^vas  not  permitted,  at  Hierapolis,  in  Syria,  to  make  statues  of  the  sun 
fcnd  moon,  because,  it  \vas  said,  they  are  themselves  sufficiently  visible,  the 
BTin  ^vas  represented  at  Emesa  in  the  form  of  a  great  stone,  ^vhich,  as  it  ap- 
peared, had  fallen  from  heaven.  Spanheim,  Caesar,  notes,  p.  4C. — {.i.  The 
oarac  of  Elagabalus,  in  "  nununis  rarius  legetur."  Rasche,  Lex.  Univ.  Re< 
Numm.     Rasche  quotes  tvfo. —  M 


h.  D.  219.]  OF    THE    ROMAN   EMPIRE.  IVl 

as  iwntiff"  and  favorite  to  adopt  that  sacred  n«iiie)  was  dearer 
to  him  than  all  the  titles  of  Imperial  greatness.  In  a  solemn 
procession  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  the  way  was  strewed 
with  gold  dust ;  the  black  stone,  set  in  precious  gems,  waa 
placed  on  a  chariot  drawn  by  six  milk-white  hoi^ses  richly 
caparisoned.  The  pious  emperor  held  the  reins,  and,  sup- 
2)orted  by  liis  ministers,  moved  slowly  backwards,  that  he 
might  perpetually  enjoy  the  felicity  of  the  divine  presence.  In 
a  magnificent  temple  raised  on  the  Palatine  Mount,  the  sacri- 
fices of  the  god  Elagabalus  were  celebrated  with  every  circum- 
stance of  cost  and  solemnity.  The  richest  wines,  the  most 
extraordinary  victims,  and  the  rarest  aromatics,  were  profusely 
consumed  on  his  altar.  Around  the  altar,  a  chorus  of  Syrian 
damsels  performed  their  lascivious  dances  to  the  sound  of 
barbarian  music,  whilst  the  gravest  personages  of  the  state  and 
army,  clothed  in  long  Phoenician  tunics,  officiated  in  the  mean- 
est functions,  with  affected  zeal  and  secret  indignation." 

To  this  temple,  as  to  the  common  centre  of  religious  wor- 
ship, the  Imperial  fanatic  attempted  to  remove  the  Ancilia, 
the  Palladium,"  and  all  the  sacred  pledges  of  the  feith  ol 
Numa.  A  crowd  of  inferior  deities  attended  in  various  sta- 
tions the  majesty  of  the  god  of  Emesa ;  but  his  court  was  still 
imperfect,  till  a  female  of  distinguished  rank  was  admitted  to 
his  bed.  Pallas  had  been  first  chosen  for  his  consort ;  but  as 
it  was  dreaded  lest  her  warlike  terrors  might  affright  the  soft 
delicacy  of  a  Syrian  deity,  the  Moon,  adorned  by  the  Africans 
under  the  name  of  Astarte,  was  deempd  a  more  suitable  com 
panion  for  the  Sun.  Her  image,  with  the  )'ich  offerings  of 
her  temple  as  a  marriage  jjortion,  was  transported  with  solemn 
pomp  from  Carthage  to  Rome,  and  the  day  of  these  mystic 
nuptials  was  a  general  festival  in  the  capital  and  throughout 
the  empire." 

A  rational  voluptuary  adheres  with  invariable  respect  to  the 
temperate  dictates  of  nature,  and  improves   the  gratifications 

"  Herodian,  1.  v.  p.  190. 

'*  He  broke  into  the  sanctuary  of  Vesta,  and  carried  away  a  statue, 
vliich  he  supposed  to  be  the  palladium;  but  the  vestals  boasted  that, 
ny  a  pio>>s  fraud,  they  had  imposed  a  counterfeit  image  on  the  profan<» 
intruder.     Hist.  August,  p.  lOD. 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxix.  p.  1360.  Herodian,  1.  v.  p.  193.  Tlie  subject* 
of  the  empire  TPere  obligee'  to  make  L'ber.al  presents  to  the  new- 
married  couple ;  an('  T^hn-teve.**  they  lv*d  pr^ni'sed  d"rL"g  tlv*  lift 
of  Elagabalus  was  carefully  exijict^a  uuJer  vhe  adiuiuisiTHuoo  id 
Mamiea. 


172  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       \l      >  .  21i. 

of  sense  by  social  intercourse,  endearing  connoctiom .  and  the 
Boft  coloring  of  taste  and  the  imagination.  But  E,.,igabalus, 
(I  speak  of  tlie  emperor  of  that  name,)  corrupted  by  uis  youth, 
his  country,  and  his  fortune,  abandoned  himself  to  the  grossest 
pleasures  with  ungoverned  fury,  and  soon  found  disgust  and 
satiety  in  the  midst  of  his  enjoyments.  The  inflammatory 
powers  of  art  were  summoned  to  his  aid :  the  contused  mul- 
titude of  women,  of  wines,  and  of  dishes,  and  the  studied 
variety  of  attitude  and  sauces,  served  to  revive  his  languid 
appetites.  New  terms  and  new  inventions  in  these  sciences, 
the  only  ones  cultivated  and  patronized  by  the  monarch,** 
signalized  his  reign,  and  transmitted  his  infamy  to  succeeding 
times.  A  capricious  prodigality  supplied  the  want  of  taste 
and  elegance ;  and  whilst  Elagabalus  lavished  away  thv) 
treasures  of  his  people  in  the  wildest  extravagance,  his  own 
voice  and  that  of  his  flatterers  applauded  a  spirit  of  magniii- 
cence  unknown  to  the  tameness  of  his  predecessors.  To  con 
found  the  order  of  seasons  and  climates,"  to  sport  with  the 
passions  and  prejudices  of  his  subjects,  and  to  subvert  every 
law  of  nature  and  decency,  were  in  the  number  of  his  most 
delicious  amusements.  A  long  train  of  concubines,  and  a 
rapid  succession  of  wives,  among  whom  was  a  vestal  virgin, 
ravished  by  force  from  her  sacred  asylum,'*  were  insufiicient 
to  satisfy  the  impotence  of  his  passions.  The  master  of  the 
Roman  world  affected  to  copy  the  dress  and  mannere  of  the 
female  sex,  preferred  the  distatf"  to  the  sceptre,  and  dishonored 
the  principal  dign.iies  of  the  empire  by  distributing  them 
among  his  numerous  lovers ;  one  of  whom  was  publicly  in- 
vested with  the  title  and  authority  of  the  emperor's,  or,  as  he 
more  properly  styled  himself,  of  the  empress's  husband.^* 

'*  The  invention  of  a  new  sauce  was  liberally  rewarded ;  but  if  it 
wa.a  not  relished,  the  inventor  was  confined  to  eat  of  nothing  else  till 
be  had  discovered  another  more  agreeable  to  the  Imperial  palate. 
Hist.  August,  p.  111. 

*'  He  never  would  eat  sea-fish  except  at  a  great  distance  frora  tho 
Bea;  he  then  would  distribute  vast  quantities  of  the  rarest  sorts, 
brought  at  an  immense  expense,  to  the  peasants  of  the  inland  country. 
Hist.  August,  p.  109. 

^8  Dion,  1.  Ixxix.  p.  1358.     Herodian,  1.  v.  p   192. 

'^  Hierocles  enjoyed  that  honor ;  but  he  would  have  been  sup- 
planted by  one  Zoticus,  had  he  not  contrived,  by  a  potion,  to  enervate 
the  powers  of  his  rival,  who,  being  found  on  trial  unequal  to  his  repu- 
tation, was  driven  with  ignominy  from  the  palace.  Dion,  1.  Ixxix, 
p.  1563,  lo6t.     A  dancer  was  made  praefect  of  the  city,  a  chariot*ei 


A.  D.  221.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  178 

It  may  seem  probable,  the  vices  and  follies  of  Elagabalua 
have  been  adorned  by  fancy,  and  blackened  by  prejudice." 
Yet,  confining  ourselves  to  the  public  scenes  displayed  before 
the  Roman  people,  and  attested  by  grave  and  contemporary 
historians,  their  inexpressible  infamy  surpasses  that  of  any 
other  age  or  country.  The  license  of  an  eastern  monarch  ia 
secluded  from  the  eye  of  curiosity  by  the  inaccessible  walls  of 
his  seraglio.  The  sentiments  of  honor  and  gallantry  have 
introduced  a  refinement  of  pleasure,  a  regard  for  decency, 
and  a  respect  for  the  public  opinion,  into  the  modern  courta 
of  Europe  ;*  but  the  corrupt  and  opulent  nobles  of  Home 
gratified  ever)'  vice  that  could  be  collected  from  the  mighty 
conflux  of  nations  and  manners.  Secure  of  impunity,  careless 
of  censure,  they  lived  without  restraint  in  the  patient  and 
humble  society  of  their  slaves  and  parasites.  The  emperor, 
in  his  turn,  viewing  every  rank  of  his  subjects  with  the  same 
contemptuous  indifference,  asserted  without  control  his  sover- 
eign privilege  of  lust  and  luxury. 

The  most  worthless  of  mankind  are  not  afraid  to  condemn 
in  others  the  same  disorders  which  they  allow  in  themselves ; 
and  can  readily  discover  some  nice  difference  of  age,  charac- 
ter, or  station,  to  justify  the  partial  distinction.  The  licentious 
soldiers,  who  had  raised  to  the  throne  the  dissolute  son  of 
Caracalla,  blushed  at  their  ignominious  choice,  and  turned 
with  disgust  from  that  monster,  to  contemplate  with  pleasure 
the  opening  virtues  of  his  cousin  Alexander,  the  son  of  Ma- 
maea.  The  crafty  Msesa,  sensible  that  her  grandson  Elaga- 
balus  must  inevitably  destroy  himself  by  his  own  vices,  had 
provided  another  and  surer  support  of  her  family.  Embracing 
a  favorable  moment  of  fondness  and  devotion,  she  had  per- 
suaded the  young  emperor  to  adopt  Alexander,  and  to  invest 
him  with  the  title  of  Caesar,  that  his  own  divine  occupations 
might  be  no  longer  interrupted  by  the  care  of  the  earth.     In 

prsefect  of  the  watch,  a  barber  prsefect  of  the  provisions.  These  thret 
ministers,  with  many  inferior  ofBcers,  were  all  recommended  encrmi 
tate.  mcmbrorum.     Hist.  August,  p.  105. 

'"  Even  the  credulous  compiler  of  his  life,  in  the  Au^stan  Hvi- 
ory  (p.  Ill)  is  inclined  to  suspect  that  his  vices  may  have  beea 
exaggerated. 

*  Wenck  has  justly  observed  that  Gibbou  should  have  reckoned  the  influ- 
ence of  Christianity  in  this  g^-eat  change.  In  the  most  savage  times,  and 
the  most  con-upt  courts,  since  the  introduction  of  Chri.stianity  there  bw* 
been  no  Neros  or  Doiuitiaus,  no  Commodus  or  Elagabalus. — M. 


114  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  222 

the  second  rank  that  amiable  prince  soon  acquired  the  affec- 
tions of  tlie  public,  and  excited  the  tyrant's  jealousy,  who 
resolved  to  terminate  the  dangerous  competition,  either  by  cor- 
rupting the  manners,  or  by  taking  away  the  life,  of  his  rival. 
His  arts  proved  unsuccessful ;  his  vain  designs  were  constantly 
discovered  by  his  own  loquacious  folly,  and  disappointed  by 
those  virtuous  and  faithful  servants  whom  the  prudence  of 
Maraaea  had  placed  about  the  person  of  her  son.  In  a  hasty 
sally  of  passion,  Elagabalus  resolved  to  execute  by  force  what 
he  had  been  unable  to  compass  by  fraud,  and  by  a  despotic 
sentence  degraded  his  cousin  from  the  rank  and  honors  of 
Caesar.  The  message  was  received  in  the  senate  witii  silence, 
and  in  the  camp  with  fury.  The  Praetorian  guards  swore  to 
protect  Alexander,  and  to  revenge  the  dishonored  majesty  of 
the  throne.  The  tears  and  promises  of  the  trembling  Elagabalus, 
who  only  begged  them  to  spare  his  life,  and  to  leave  him  in  tho 
possession  of  his  beloved  Hierocles,  diverted  their  just  indigna- 
tion ;  and  they  contented  themselves  with  empowering  their 
praefects  to  watch  over  the  safety  of  Alexander,  and  the  conduct 
of  the  emperor.*' 

It  was  impossible  that  such  a  reconciliation  should  last,  or 
that  even  the  mean  soul  of  Elagabalus  could  hold  an  empire 
on  such  humiliating  terms  of  dependence.  He  soon  attempted, 
by  a  dangerous  experiment,  to  try  the  temper  of  the  soldiers. 
The  report  of  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  the  natural  sus- 
picion that  he  had  been  murdered,  inflamed  their  passions 
into  fury,  and  the  tempest  of  the  camp  could  only  be  appeased 
by  the  presence  and  authority  of  the  popular  youth.  Provoked 
at  this  new  instance  of  their  affection  for  his  cousin,  and  their 
Contempt  for  his  person,  the  emperor  ventured  to  punish  some 
tf  the  leaders  of  the  mutiny.  His  unseasonable  severity  proved 
instantly  fatal  to  his  minions,  his  mother,  and  himself  Elaga- 
balus was  massacred  by  the  indignant  Praetorians,  his  mutilated 
corpse  dragged  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  and  thrown  into 
the  Tiber.  His  memory  was  branded  with  eternal  infamy  by 
the  senate ;  the  justice  of  whose  decree  has  been  ratified  by 
posterity.'* 

*»  Dion,  1.  bocix.  p.  1365.  Herodian,  1.  v.  p.  195 — 201.  Hist.  August. 
p.  105.  The  last  of  the  three  historians  seems  to  have  followed  tho 
best  authors  iu  his  account  of  the  i-evolution. 

**  The  aera  of  the  death  of  Elagabalus,  and  of  the  accession  of 
Alexander,  has  employed  the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  Pagi,  Tille- 
mont,  Valsecchi,  Vignoli.  and  Torre,  bishop  of  Adria.     The  qiiestioB 


6  D.  222.J     oy  the  roman  empire.  175 

in  the  room  oi  iiJagaDaius,  his  cousin  Alexander  waa 
raised  to  the  throne  by  tne  Praetorian  guards.  Ilis  relation  to 
the  family  of  Severus,  wnose  name  he  assumed,  was  the  same 
as  that  of  his  predecessor;  his  virtue  and  his  danger  had 
already  endeared  mm  to  the  Romans,  and  the  eager  liberality 
of  the  senate  conferred  upon  him,  in  one  day,  the  various  titles 
and  powei-s  of  the  Imperial  dignity."^  But  as  Alexander  waa 
a  modest  and  dutiful  youth,  of  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  the 
reins  of  government  were  in  the  hands  of  two  women,  of  his 
mother,  Mamaea,  and  of  Maesa,  his  grandmother.  After  the 
death  of  the  latter,  who  survived  but  a  short  time  the  elevation 
of  Alexander,  Mamcea  remained  the  sole  regent  of  her  son  and 
of  the  empire. 

In  every  age  and  country,  the  wiser,  or  at  least  the  stronger, 
of  the  two  sexes,  has  usurped  the  powers  of  the  state,  and 
confined  the  other  to  the  cares  and  pleasures  of  domestic 
life.  In  hereditary  monarchies,  however,  and  especially  iu 
those  of  modern  Europe,  the  gallant  spirit  of  chivalry,  and 
the  law  of  succession,  have  accustomed  us  to  allow  a  singular 
exception ;  and  a  woman  is  often  acknowledged  the  absolute 
sovereign  of  a  great  kingdom,  in  which  she  would  be  deemed 
incapable  of  exercising  the  smallest  employment,  civil  or  mil- 
ts most  assuredly  intricate ;  but  I  still  adhere  to  the  authority  of  Dion, 
the  truth  of  whose  calculations  is  undeniable,  and  the  purity  of  whose 
text  is  justified  by  the  agreement  of  XiphiUn,  Zonaras,  and  Cedrenus. 
Elagabalus  reigned  three  j'oars  nine  months  and  four  days,  from  his 
victory  over  Macrinus,  and  was  killed  March  10,  222.  But  what  sliall 
we  reply  to  the  medals,  undoubtedly  genuine,  which  reckon  the  fifth 
year  of  his  tribunitian  power  ?  We  shall  reply,  with  the  learned 
Valsecchi,  that  tlie  usurpation  of  Macrinus  was  annihilated,  and  that 
'.he  son  of  Caracalla  dated  his  reign  from  liis  father's  death  ?  After 
resolving  this  great  difficulty,  the  smaller  knots  of  this  question  may 
Ve  easily  vmtied,  or  cut  asunder.* 

"^  Hist.  August,  p.  114.     By  this  unusual  precipitation,  the  senate 

aeant  to  confound  the  hopes  of  pretenders,  and  prevent  the  factions 

f  the  armies. 


'  This  opinion  of  Valsecchi  has  been  triumphantly  contested  by  Eckhol, 
.  'ho  lias  shown  the  impossibility  of  rcconciliii;,'  it  with  the  medals  of  Elar 
I;,  balus,  and  has  given  the  most  satisfactory  explanation  of  rlic  five  Iribu- 
ni  tes  of  that  emperor.  He  ascended  the  throne  and  receive  i  the  tribani- 
tian  power  the  IGtli  of  May,  in  the  year  of  Home  971;  aid  on  tUo  Ist 
Jamiary  ^f  *.he  next  year,  U72,  he  began  a  new  tribunate,  according  to  tlie 
*astom  e«L."bli.s'iefl  by  preceding  emperors.  Daring  the  years  97U,  973,  974, 
he  en joye J  tn."  tribunal e,  and  commenced  his  fifth  in  the  year  975,  during 
which  he  -ya.'  knled  ok  the  10th  March.  P^ckliel  de  Doct.  Num.  viii.  -130 
ka— Q. 


l'Y6  THE    DECLINE    AND    F.iLL  [A  D.  222. 

itarj.  But  as  the  Rouian  emperors  were  still  consideud  as 
the  generals  and  magistrates  of  the  repullic,  their  wives  and 
mothers,  although  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Augusta 
were  never  associated  to  their  personal  honors ;  and  a  female 
reign  would  have  appeared  an  inexpiable  prodigy  in  the  eyec 
Df  those  primitive  Kojxians,  who  married  w'ithout  love,  or 
oved  without  delicacy  and  respect."  The  haughty  Agrip- 
pina  aspired,  indeed,  to  share  the  honors  of  the  empire  which 
she  had  conferred  on  her  son ;  but  her  mad  ambition,  detested 
by  every  citizen  who  felt  for  the  dignity  of  Rome,  was  disap 
pointed  by  the  artful  firmness  of  Seneca  and  Burrhus."  The 
good  sense,  or  the  indifference,  of  succeeding  princes,  restrained 
them  from  oftendiug  the  prejudices  of  their  subjects ;  and  it 
was  reserved  for  the  profligate  Elagabalus  to  discharge  the  acts 
of  the  senate  with  the  name  of  his  mother  Sosemias,  who  was 
placed  by  the  side  of  the  consuls,  and  subscribed,  as  a  regular 
member,  the  decrees  of  the  legislative  assembly.  Her  more 
prudent  sister,  Mamsea,  declined  the  useless  and  odious  pre- 
rogative, and  a  solemn  law  was  enacted,  excluding  women  for- 
ever from  the  senate,  and  devoting  to  the  infernal  gods  the 
head  of  the  wretch  by  whom  this  sanction  should  be  violated." 
The  substance,  not  the  pageantry,  of  power,  was  the  object  of 
Mamaea's  manly  ambition.  She  maintained  an  absolute  and 
lasting  empire  over  the  mind  of  her  son,  and  in  his  aftection 
the  mother  could  not  brook  a  rival.  Alexander,  with  her  con- 
sent, married  the  daughter  of  a  patrician ;  but  his  respect  for 
his  father-in-law,  and  love  for  the  empress,  were  inconsistent 
with  the  tenderness  or  interest  of  Mamsea.  The  patrician  was 
executed  on  the  ready  accusation  of  treason,  and  the  wife  oi 
Alexander  driven  'vith  ignominy  from  the  palace,  and  banished 
into  iVfrica."" 


'*  Metellu3  Numidicus,  the  censor,  acknowledged  to  the  Roman 
people,  in  a  public  oration,  that  had  kind  nature  allowed  us  to  exist 
without  the  help  of  women,  we  should  be  dehvered  from  a  very 
troublesome  companion ;  and  he  could  recommend  matrimony  only 
as  the  sacrifice  of  private  pleasure  to  public  duty.  Aulus  Gellius, 
16. 

«*  Tacit.  Annal.  xiii.  5.  •* 

•"  Hist.  August,  p.  102,  107. 

'''  Dion,  1.  Lxxx.  p.  1369.  Herodian,  1.  vi.  p.  206.  Hist.  August 
p  131.  Herodian  represents  the  patrician  as  innocent.  The  Augus- 
tan  History,  on  the  authority  of  Dexippus,  condemns  him,  as  guilty 
of  a  conspiracy  against  the  Ufa  of  Alexander.  It  is  impossible  to  pro- 
nounce betweon  them ;  but  Dion   is  an  irreproachable  witness  of  the 


A.  D.  222.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMriRE.  lYl 

Notwithstanding  this  act  of  jealous  cruelty,  as  well  as  soma 
instances  of  avarice,  with  which  Mamaja  is  cnarged,  the  gen- 
eral tenor  of  her  administration  was  equally  for  the  benefit  of 
her  son  and  of  the  empire.  With  the  approbation  of  the 
senate,  she  chose  sixteen  of  the  wisest  and  most  virtuous 
senators  as  a  perpetual  council  of  state,  before  whom  every 
public  business  of  moment  was  debated  and  determined, 
The  celebrated  Ulpian,  equally  distinguished  by  his  knowledge 
of,  and  his  respect  for,  the  laws  of  Koine,  was  at  their  head ; 
and  the  prudent  firmness  of  this  aristocracy  restored  order  and 
authority  to  the  government.  As  soon  as  they  had  purged  the 
city  from  foreign  superstition  and  luxury,  the  remains  of  the 
capricious  tyranny  of  Elagabalus,  they  applied  themselves 
to  remove  his  worthless  creatures  from  every  department 
of  the  public  administration,  and  to  supply  their  places  with 
men  of  virtue  and  ability.  Learning,  and  the  love  of  justice, 
became  the  only  recommendations  for  civil  offices ;  valor,  and 
the  love  of  discipline,  the  only  qualifications  for  military  employ 
ments."' 

But  the  most  important  care  of  Mamoea  and  her  wise  coun- 
sellors, was  to  form  the  character  of  the  young  emperor,  on 
whose  personal  qualities  the  happiness  or  misery  of  the 
Roman  world  must  ultimately  depend.  The  fortunate  soil 
assisted,  and  even  prevented,  the  hand  of  cultivation.  An 
excellent  understanding  soon  convinced  Alexander  of  the 
advantages  of  virtue,  the  pleasure  of  knowledge,  and  the 
necessity  of  labor.  A  natural  mildness  and  moderatioa  of 
temper  preserved  him  from  the  assaults  of  passion,  and  tlie 
allurements  of  vice.  His  unalterable  regard  for  his  mother, 
and  his  esteem  for  the  wise  Ulpian,  guarded  his  unexperienced 
youth  from  the  poison  of  flattery.* 

jealousy  and  cruelty  of  Mamtea  towards  the  young  empress,  whose 
nard  fate  Alexander  lamented,  but  durst  not  oppose. 

63  Herodian,  1.  vi.  p.  203.  Hist.  August,  p.  119.  The  latter  insin- 
uates, that  when  any  law  was  to  be  passed,  the  council  was  assisted  by 
R  number  of  able  lawyers  and  experienced  senators,  whose  opinions 
were  separately  given,  and  taken  down  in  writing. 

*  Alexander  received  into  his  chapel  all  the  relifrions  which  prevailed  in 
the  empire ;  he  admitted  Jesus  Christ,  Ahraham,  Orphcu.?,  Apollonius  of 
Tyana,  &e.  It  was  almost  certain  that  his  niotiicr  Mamoea  had  instructed 
hun  in  the  morality  of  Christianity.  Historians  in  general  agree  in  calliiig 
Ler  a  Cliristian ;  there  is  reason  to  helieve  that  she  had  begun  to  have  a 
taslo  fur  the  principles  of  Christianity.  (See  Tiliemont,  Alexander  Seve- 
ro«)      Gihbon  ha.s   not   noticed   this  circumstance;   he   appears   to    hove 


178  THE    DECXINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  222, 

The  simple  journal  of  liis  ordinary  occupations  exhibits  a 
pleasing  picture  of  an  accomplished  emperor/'  and,  with 
Bome  allowance  for  the  difference  of  manners,  might  well 
deserve  the  imitation  of  modern  princes.  Alexander  rose 
earlj  :  the  first  moments  of  the  day  were  consecrated  to  pri- 
vate devotion,  and  his  domestic  chapel  was  filled,  with  the 
'jnages  of  those  heroes,  who,  by  improving  or  reforming 
human  life,  had  deserved  the  grateful  reverence  of  posterity. 
But  SIS  he  deemed  the  service  of  mankind  the  most  acceptable 
worship  of  the  gods,  the  greatest  part  of  his  morning  hours 
was  employed  in  his  council,  where  he  discussed  pubhc 
aflfairs,  and  determined  private  causes,  with  a  patience  and 
discretion  above  his  years.  The  dryness  of  business  was 
relieved  by  the  charms  of  literature ;  and  a  portion  of  time 
was  always  set  apart  for  his  favorite  studies  of  poetry,  histo- 
ry, and  philosophy.  The  works  of  Virgil  and  Horace,  the 
republics  of  Plato  and.  Cicero,  formed  his  taste,  enlarged  his 
understanding,  and  gave  him  the  noblest  ideas  of  man  and 
government.  The  exercises  of  the  body  succeeded  to  those 
of  the  mind ;  and  Alexander,  who  was  tall,  active,  and  robust, 
surpassed  most  of  his  equals  in  the  gymnastic  arts.  Ee- 
freshed  by  the  use  of  the  bath  and  a  slight  dinner,  he 
resumed,  with  new  vigor,  the  business  of  the  day;  and,  till 
the  hour  of  supper,  the  principal  meal  of  the  Romans,  he  was 
attended  by  his  secretaries,  with  whom  he  read  and  answered 
the  multitude  of  letters,  memorials,  and  petitions,  that  must 
have  been  addressed  to  the  master  of  the  greatest  part  of  the 

*3  See  his  life  in  the  Augustan  History.  The  undistinguishing 
coinpiler  has  buried  these  interesting  anecdotes  under  a  load  of  trivial 
#-od  unmeaning  cucumstances. 


wished  to  lower  the  character  of  this  empres.s  ;  he  has  throughout  followed 
the  narrative  of  Herodiau,  who,  by  the  acknowledgment  of  Capitoliuus 
himself,  detested  Alexander.  Witliout  believing  the  exaggerated  praises 
of  Lampridius,  he  ouglit  not  to  have  followed  the  unjust  severity  of  Hero- 
diau, and,  above  all.  not  to  have  forgotten  to  say  that  the  virtuous  Alex- 
ander Severus  had  insured  to  the  Jews  the  preservation  of  their  privileges, 
and  permitted  the  exercise  of  Christianity.  Hist.  Aug.  p.  121.  The 
Christians  had  established  their  worship  in  a  public  place,  of  which  the 
victuallers  (cauponarii)  claimed,  not  the  property,  but  possession  by  cus- 
tom. Alexander  answered,  that  it  was  better  that  the  place  should  be  used 
for  the  .service  of  God,  m  any  fonn,  than  for  victuallers. — G.  I  have 
scrupled  to  omit  this  note,  as  it  contains  some  points  worthy  of  notice ;  bat 
it  is  very  unjust  to  Gibbon,  who  mentions  almost  all  the  circumstances, 
which  he  is  accused  of  omitting,  in  another,  and,  according  to  his  plan,  t 
fitter  olace,  and,  perhaps,  iu  stronger  tenns  than  M.  Guizot.  See  Chap 
Jtvi.-  M. 


A.  D.  222 -235.]       of  the  roman  empire.  179 

world.  His  table  was  served  with  the  most  frugal  simplicity 
and  whenever  he  was  at  liberty  to  consult  his  own  inclination, 
the  company  consisted  of  a  few  select  friends,  men  of  learn- 
ing and  virtue,  amongst  whom  Ulpian  wjis  constantly  invited. 
Their  conversation  was  familiar  and  instructive ;  and  the 
pauses  were  occasionally  enlivened  by  the  recital  of  some 
pleasing  composition,  which  supplied  the  place  of  the  dancers, 
comedians,  and  even  gladiators,  so  frequently  summoned  to  the 
tables  of  the  rich  and  luxurious  Romans."  The  dress  of 
Ale.\ander  was  plain  and  modest,  his  dem  ^anor  courteous  and 
aflfable :  at  the  proper  hours  his  palace  was  open  to  all  his 
subjects,  but  the  voice  of  a  crier  was  heard,  as  in  the  Eleu- 
sinian  mysteries,  pronouncing  the  same  salutary  admonition : 
"  Let  none  enter  these  holy  walls,  unless  lie  is  conscious  of  a 
pure  and  innocent  mind."  " 

Such  a  uniform  tenor  of  life,  which  left  not  a  moment  for 
vice  or  folly,  is  a  better  ^^roof  of  the  wisdom  and  justice  of 
Alexander's  governme».t,  than  all  the  trifling  details  preserved 
in  the  compilation  of  Lampridius.  Since  the  accession  of 
Commodus,  the  Roman  world  had  experienced,  during  the 
term  of  forty  years,  the  successive  and  various  vices  of  four 
tyrants.  From  the  death  of  Elagabalus,  it  enjoyed  an  aus- 
picious calm  of  thirteen  years.*"  The  provinces,  relieved  from 
the  oppressive  taxes  invented  by  Caracalla  and  his  pretended 
son,  flourished  in  peace  and  prosperity,  under  the  administration 
of  magistrates,  who  were  convinced  by  experience  that  to 
deserve  the  love  of  the  subjects,  was  their  best  and  only  method 
of  obtaining  the  favor  of  their  sovereign.  While  some  gentle 
restraints  were  imposed  on  the  innocent  luxury  of  the  Roman 
people,  the  price  of  provisions  and  the  interest  of  money,  were 
reduced  by  the  paternal  care  of  Alexander,  whose  prudent 
liberality,  without  distressing  the  industrious,  supplied  the 
wants  and  amusements  of  the  populace.  The  dignity,  the 
freedom,  the  authority  of  the  senate  was  restored ;  and  every 
vnrtuous  senator  might  approach  the  person  of  the  emperor 
without  a  fear  and  without  a  blush. 

TO  See  the  13th  Satire  of  Juvenal. 
"  Hist.  August,  p.  119. 


*  Wenck  observes  that  Gibbon,  enchanted  with  the  virtue  of  Alexander 
has  heightened,  particularly  in  this  sentence,  its  effect  on  the  stale  of  tha 
world.  His  own  account,  w^hich  follows,  of  the  insun-ections  and  foreigr* 
Wars,  is  not  in  hannony  with  this  beauti''ul  picture. — M. 


180  THE    DECLINE    AND    FAIX        [A.  D.  222-2»t, 

The  name  of  Antoninus,  ennobled  by  the  virtues  of  Piua 
and  Marcus,  had  been  communicated  bj  adoption  to  the  dis- 
solute Verus,  and  by  descent  to  the  ciuel  Commodus.  It 
became  the  honorable  appellation  of  the  sons  of  Se  rerus,  was 
bestowed  on  young  Diadumenianus,  and  at  length  prostituted 
to  the  infamy  of  the  high  priest  of  Emesa.  Alexander, 
though  pressed  by  the  studied,  and,  perhaps,  sincere  impor- 
tunity of  the  senate,  nobly  refused  the  borrowed  lustre  of  a 
name ;  whilst  in  his  whole  conduct  he  labored  to  restore  the 
glories  and  felicity  of  the  age  of  the  genuine  Antonines." 

In  the  civil  administration  of  Alexander,  wisdom  was 
enforced  by  i)ower,  and  the  people,  sensible  of  the  public 
felicity,  repaid  their  benefactor  with  their  love  and  gratitude. 
There  still  remained  a  greater,  a  more  necessary,  but  a  more 
difficult  enterprise ;  the  reformation  of  the  military  order, 
whose  interest  and  temper,  confirmed  by  long  impunity,  ren- 
dered them  impatient  of  the  restraints  of  discipline,  and  care- 
less of  the  blessings  of  public  tranquillity.  In  the  execution  of 
his  design,  the  emperor  affected  to  display  his  love,  and  to 
conceal  his  fear  of  the  army.  The  most  rigid  economy  in 
every  other  branch  of  the  administration  sujipfed  a  fund  of 
gold  and  silver  for  the  ordinary  pay  and  the  extraordinary 
rewards  of  the  troops.  In  tlieir  marches  he  relaxed  the 
severe  obligation  of  carrying  seventeen  days'  provision  on 
their  shoulders.  Ample  magazines  were  formed  along  the 
public  roads,  and  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  enemy's  coun- 
try, a  numerous  train  of  mules  and  camels  waited  on  their 
haughty  laziness.  As  Alexander  despaired  of  correcting  the 
luxury  of  his  soldiers,  he  attempted,  at  least,  to  direct  it  to 
objects  of  martial  pomp  and  ornament,  fine  horses,  splendid 
armor,  and  shields  enriched  with  silver  and  gold.  He  shared 
whatever  fatigues  he  was  obliged  to  impose,  visited,  in  person, 
the  sick  and  wounded,  preserved  an  exact  register  of  their 
services  and  his  own  gratitude,  and  expressed  on  every  occa- 
sion, the  warmest  regard  for  a  body  of  men,  whose  welfare, 
jis  he  afiected   to  declare,  was  so  closely  connected  with   that 

'*  See,  in  the  Hist.  August,  p.  116,  117,  the  whole  coutest  between 
Alexander  and  tbc  senate,  extracted  from  the  journals  of  that  assem- 
bly. It  happened  on  the  sixth  of  March,  probably  of  the  year  223, 
wlien  the  Romans  had  enjoyed,  almost  a  twelvemonth,  the  blessinge 
of  his  reign.  Before  the  appellation  of  Antoninus  was  offered  him  as  a 
title  of  honor,  the  senate  vraifed  to  s^e  whether  Alexandt-^  -wouiil  ooi 
Meumc  it  as  a  family  name. 


A.  D.  222-235.]      of  the  roman  empikk.  ISl 

of  the  state."  By  the  most  gentle  arts  be  hiboied  to  insj)ir« 
the  fierce  multitude  with  a  sense  of  duty,  and  to  restore,  at 
least  a  faint  image  of  that  discipline  to  which  the  Romans 
owed  their  empire  over  so  many  other  nations,  as  warlike  and 
more  powerful  than  themselves.  But  his  prudence  was  vain, 
his  courage  fatal,  and  the  attempt  towards  a  reformation  served 
only  to  inflame  the  ills  it  was  meant  to  cure. 

The  PrjEtorian  guards  were  attached  to  the  youth  of  Alex- 
vider.  They  loved  him  as  a  tender  pupil,  whom  they  had 
saved  from  a  tyrant's  fury,  and  placed  on  the  Imperial  throne. 
That  amia])le  prince  was  sensible  of  the  obligation ;  but  as 
his  gratitude  was  restrained  within  the  limits  of  reason  and 
'ustice,  they  soon  were  more  dissatisfied  with  the  virtues  of 
Alexander,  than  they  had  ever  been  with  the  vices  of  Elaora- 
balus.  Their  praefect,  the  wise  Ulpian,  was  the  friend  of  the 
laws  and  of  the  people ;  he  was  considered  as  the  enemy  of 
the  soldiers,  and  to  his  pernicious  counsels  every  scheme  of 
reformation  was  imputed.  Some  trifling  accident  blew  up 
their  discontent  into  a  furious  mutiny ;  and  the  civil  war 
raged,  during  three  days,  in  Rome,  whilst  the  life  of  that  ex- 
cellent minister  was  defended  by  the  gratefal  people.  Terri- 
fied, at  length,  by  the  sight  of  some  houses  in  flames,  and  by 
the  threats  of  a  general  conflagration,  the  people  yielded  with 
a  sigh,  and  left  the  virtuous  but  unfortunate  Ulpian  to  his  fate. 
He  was  pursued  into  the  Imperial  palace,  and  massacred  at 
the  feet  of  his  master,  who  vaiidy  strove  to  cover  him  with 
the  purple,  and  to  obtain  his  pardon  from  the  inexorable  sol- 
diers.* Such  was  the  deplorable  weakness  of  government, 
that  the  emperor  was  unable  to  revenge  his  murdered  friend 

"  It  was  a  favorite  saying  of  the  emperor's,  Se  railites  magis  servare, 
quam  seipsurc  ,  quod  salus  publica  in  his  esset.     Hist.  Aug.  p.  130. 


*  Gibbon  has  confounded  two  events  altogether  different — the  quan-el  of 
the  people  with  the  ProBtorians,  which  lasted  three  days,  and  the  assassins 
tiou  of  Ulpian  by  the  latter.  Dion  relates  first  tlie  death  of  Ulpian  ,  alter 
wards,  reverting  back  according  to  a  manner  which  is  usual  with  him,  he 
Bays  that  during  the  life  of  Ulpian,  there  had  been  a  war  of  three  days  be- 
tween the  Pra'torians  and  the  people.  But  Ulpian  was  not  the  cause.  Dion 
Bays,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  was  occasioned  by  some  unimportant  circum- 
stance ;  whilst  he  assigns  a  weighty  reason  for  the  murder  of  Ulpian,  tho 
Judgment  by  which  that  Pranorian  praefect  had  condemned  his  predecessors, 
(Jhrestus  and  Flaviau,  to  death,  whom  the  soldiers  withed  to  revenge.  Zo' 
«imu«  (1.  1,  c.  xi.)  attributes  tliis  sentence  to  Manuura ;  but,  even  then,  tJi« 
iroops  might  have  imputed  it  to  Ulpian,  who  had  reaped  all  the  advaiitag* 
ftiui  \*  as  others  ise  odious  to  tliem. — W. 


ltJ-2  THE    DECLINE    AND    FAIL        [A.  D. 'J 2 2-2 3* 

and  liis  insulted  dignity,  witliout  stooping  to  the  arts  of 
patience  and  dissimulation.  Epagathus,  the  princijal  leader 
of  the  mutiny,  was  removed  from  Rome,  by  the  honorable, 
employment  of  prsefect  of  Egypt:  from  that  high  rank  he 
was  gently  degraded  to  the  government  of  Crete ;  and  when 
at  length,  his  popularity  among  the  guards  was  efiaced  bj 
time  and  absence,  Alexander  ventured  to  inflict  the  tardy  but 
deserved  punishment  of  his  dimes.'*  Under  the  reign  of  a 
just  and  virtuous  prince,  the  tyranny  of  the  army  threatened 
with  instant  death  his  most  faithful  ministers,  who  were  sus- 
pected of  an  intention  to  correct  their  intolerable  disorders. 
The  historian  Dion  Cassius  had  commanded  the  Pannonian 
legions  with  the  spirit  of  ancient  discipline.  Their  brethren 
of  Rome,  embracing  the  common  cause  of  military  license, 
demanded  the  head  of  the  reformer.  Alexander,  however, 
instead  of  yielding  to  their  seditious  clamors,  showed  a  just 
sense  of  his  merit  and  services,  by  appointing  him  his  col- 
eague  in  the  consulship,  and  defraying  from  his  own  treasury 
the  expense  of  that  vain  dignity :  but  as  was  justly  appre- 
hended, that  if  the  soldiers  beheld  him  with  the  ensigns  of  his 
ofiice,  they  would  revenge  the  insult  in  his  blood,  the  nominal 
first  magistrate  of  the  state  retired,  by  the  emperor's  advice, 
from  the  city,  and  spent  the  greatest  part  of  his  consulship  at 
his  villas  in  Campania."* 

The  lenity  of  the  emperor  confirmed  the  insolence  of  the 
troops ;  the  legions  imitated  the  example  of  the  guards,  and 
defended  their  prerogative  of  licentiousness  with  tho  same 
furious  obstinacy.  The  administration  of  Alexander  was  an 
unavailing  struggle  against  the  corruption  of  his  age.  In 
'^llvricum,  m  Mauritania,  in  Armenia,  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Ger- 

'*  Though   the   author   of    the   hfe   of  Alexander   (Hist.   August 

E.  182)  mentions  the  sedition  raised  against  Ulpian  by  the  soldiers, 
e  conceals  the  catastrophe,  as  it  might  discover  a  we.akness  in  the 
administration  of  his  hero.  From  this  designed  omission,  we  may 
judge  of  the  weight  and  candor  of  that  author. 

'^  For  an  account  of  Ulpian's  fate  and  his  own  danger,  see  the 
mutilated  conclusion  of  Dion's  History,  L  Ixxx.  p.  1371. 


*  Dion  possessed  no  estates  in  Campania,  and  was  not  rich.  He  only 
says  diat  the  emperor  advised  him  to  reside,  during  liis  consulate,  in  some 
p^  <ics  out  of  Rome ;  that  he  returned  to  Rome  after  the  end  of  his  consul- 
ate, and  had  an  uiterview  with  the  emperor  in  Campania.  He  asked  and 
oijtained  leave  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  life  in  his  native  city,  ^Nice, 
in  Bithynia  :)  it  was  there  that  he  finished  his  histoi-y,  which  closes  with  hi* 
lecond  consulship. — W. 


A- D.  222-235.]     of  the  roman  empire.  183 

• 
many,  frcili  mutinies  perpetually  broke  out ;  his  officers  ivere 
murjered,  his  authority  was  insulted,  and  his  lite  at  last  sacri 
ficed  to  the  fierce  discontents  of  the  army.'"  One  particulai 
fact  well  deserves  to  be  recorded,  as  it  illustrates  the  manners 
of  the  troops,  and  exhibits  a  singular  instance  of  their  return 
to  a  sense  of  duty  and  obedience.  Whilst  the  empei'or  lay  at 
Antiocli,  in  his  Persian  expedition,  the  particulars  of  which  we 
shall  he'cafter  relate,  the  punishment  of  some  soldiers,  who 
had  been  discovered  in  the  baths  of  women,  excited  a  sedition 
in  the  legion  to  which  they  belonged.  Alexander  ascended 
his  tribunal,  and  with  a  modest  firmness  represented  to  the 
armed  multitude  the  absolute  necessity,  as  well  as  his  inflex- 
ible resolution,  of  correcting  the  vices  introduced  by  his  impure 
predecessor,  and  of  maintaining  the  discipline,  which  could  not 
be  relaxed  without  the  ruin  of  the  Roman  name  and  empire. 
Their  clamors  interrupted  his  mild  expostulation.  "  Reserve 
your  shout,"  said  the  undaunted  emperor,  "  till  you  take  th-e 
field  against  the  Persians,  the  Germans,  and  the  Sarmatians. 
Be  silent  in  the  presence  of  your  sovereign  and  benefactor, 
who  bestows  upon  you  the  corn,  the  clothing,  and  the  money  of 
the  provinces.  Be  silent,  or  I  shall  no  longer  style  j'ou  sol- 
ders, but  citizens,^''  if  those  indeed  who  disclaim  the  laws  of 
Rome  deserve  to  be  ranked  among  the  meanest  of  the  people." 
His  menaces  inflamed  the  fury  of  the  legion,  and  their  bran- 
dished arms  already  threatened  his  person.  "  Your  courage," 
resumed  the  intrepid  Alexander,  "would  be  more  nobly  dis- 
played in  the  field  of  battle ;  me  you  may  destroy,  you  cannot 
intimidate  ;  and  the  severe  justice  of  the  republic  would  punish 
your  crime  and  revenge  my  death."  The  legion  still  persisted 
in  clamorous  sedition,  when  the  emperor  pronounced,  with  a 
kud  voice,  the  decisive  sentence,  '■'■Citizens!  lay  down  your 
arms,  and  depart  in  peace  to  your  respective  habitations." 
The  tempest  was  instantly  appeased :  the  soldiers,  filled  with 
grief  and  shame,  silently  confessed  the  justice  of  tlieir  punish- 
ment, and  the  power  of  discipline,  yielded  up  their  arms  and 
military  ensigns,  and  retired  in  confusion,  not  to  their  camp, 
but  to  the  several  inns  of  the  city.  Alexander  enjoyed,  dur- 
ing thirty  days,  the  edifying  spectacle  of  their   repentance ; 

*•  Annot.  Reimar.  ad  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixxx.  p.  1369. 

'^  Julius  Caisar  had  appeased  a  seditiou  with  the  same  word,  Quit  ':■ 
tea;  which,  thus  opposed  to  soldiers,  was  used  in  a  sense  of  contempt, 
and  reduced  the  offenders  to  <he  loss  honorable  condition  of  mer« 
citisens.     Tacit.  Anna],  i.  43. 


184  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A,  D.^ 22-235 

nor  did  be  restore  them  to  their  former  rank  in  the  army,  tili 
he  had  punished  with  death  those  tribunes  whose  connivance 
Jiad  occasioned  the  mutiny.  The  grateful  legion  served  the 
emperor  whilst  living,  and  revenged  him  when  dead.'* 

The  resolutions  of  the  multitude  generally  depend  on  a 
moment ;  and  the  caprice  of  passion  might  equally  determine 
the  seditious  legion  to  lay  down  their  arms  at  the  emperor's 
feet,  or  to  plunge  them  into  his  breast.  Perhaps,  if  this  sin- 
gular transaction  had  been  investigated  by  the  penetration  of 
a  philosppher,  we  should  discover  the  secret  causes  which  on 
that  occasion  authorized  the  boldness  of  the  prince,  and  com- 
manded the  obedience  of  the  troops ;  and  perhaps,  if  it  had 
been  related  by  a  judicious  historian,  we  should  find  this 
action,  worthy  of  Caesar  himself,  reduced  nearer  to  the  level 
of  probability  and  the  common  standard  of  the  character  of 
Alexander  Severus.  The  abilities  of  that  amiable  prince 
seem  to  have  been  inadequate  to  the  difficulties  of  his  situa- 
tion, the  firmness  of  his  conduct  inferior  to  the  purity  of  his 
intentions.  His  virtues,  as  well  as  the  vices  of  Llagabalus, 
contracted  a  tincture  of  weakness  and  effeminacy  from  the 
soft  cliniHte  of  Syria,  of  which  he  was  a  native ;  though  he 
blushed  at  his  foreign  origin,  and  listened  with  a  vain  compla- 
cency to  the  flattering  genealogists,  who  derived  his  race  from 
the  ancient  stock  of  Roman  nobility."  The  pride  and  avr 
rice  of  his  mother  cast  a  shade  on  the  glories  of  his  reign ;  an 
by  exacting  from  his  riper  years  the  same  dutiful  obedience 
which  she  had  justly  claimed  from  his  unexperienced  youth, 
Mamaea  exposed  to  public  ridicule  both  her  son's  character 
and  her  own.*°     The  fatigues  of  the  Persian  war  irritated  the 

"  Hist.  August,  p.  132. 

"  From  the  Metelli.  Hist.  August,  p.  119.  The  choice  was  judi 
cjous.  lu  one  short  period  of  twelve  years,  the  Metelli  could  reckon 
seven  consulships  and  five  triumphs.  See  Velleius  Paterculus,  ii.  1 1 
and  the  Fasti. 

""  The  life  of  Alexander,  in  the  Augustan  History,  is  the  mere  idea 
of  a  perfect  prince,  an  awkward  imitation  of  the  Cyropa;dia.  Tlie 
account  of  his  reign,  as  given  by  Herodian,  is  rational  and  moderate, 
consistent  with  the  general  history  of  the  age  ;  and,  in  some  of  th« 
most  invidious  particulars,  confirmed  by  the  decisive  fragments  of 
Dion.  Yet  from  a  very  paltry  prejudice,  the  greater  number  of  oui 
nndern  writers  abuse  Herodian,  and  copy  the  Augustan  History 
See  Mess,  de  Tillemont  and  Wotton.  From  the  opposite  prejudice, 
the  empetor  Julian  (in  Caesarib.  p.  315)  dwells  with  a  visible  satisfao- 
Uon  on  the  effeminate  weakness  of  the  Syrian,  and  the  ridicnloiv 
avarice  of  his  mother. 


A.  D.  222-235.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  18ft 

military  dis(»iitont ;  the  unsuccsssful  event*  degraded  the  rep- 
utation of  the  emperor  as  a  general,  and  even  as  x  soldier 
Every  cause  prepared,  and  every  circumstance  liastened,  a 
revolution,  which  distracted  the  Roman  empiie  with  a  long 
Beries  of  intestine  calamities. 

The  dissolute  tyranny  of  Commodus,  the  civil  wars  occa- 
sioned by  his  death,  and  the  new  maxims  of  policy  introduced 
Dy  the  house  of  Severus,  had  all  contributed  to  increase  the 
dangerous  power  of  the  army,  and  to  obliterate  the  faint 
image  of  laws  and  liberty  that  was  still  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  the  Romans.  The  internal  change,  which  under- 
mined the  foundations  of  the  empire,  we  have  endeavored  to 
explain  with  some  degree  of  order  and  pers2)icuity.  The 
pei"sonal  characters  of  the  emperors,  their  victories,  laws,  fol- 
lies, and  fortunes,  can  interest  us  no  farther  than  as  they  are 
connected  with  the  general  histoiy  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  monarchy.  Our  constant  attention  to  that  great  object 
will  not  suffer  us  to  overlook  a  most  important  edict  of  An- 
toninus Caracalla,  which  communicated  to  all  the  free  inhab 
Itants  of  the  empire  the  name  and  privileges  of  Roman  cit- 
izens. His  unbounded  liberality  flowed  not,  however,  from 
the  sentiments  of  a  generous  mind ;  it  was  the  sordid  result  of 
avarice,  and  will  naturally  be  illustrated  by  some  observations- 
on  the  finances  of  that  state,  from  the  victorious  ages  of  the 
commonwealth  to  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus. 

The  siege  of  Veil  in  Tuscany,  the  first  considerable  enter- 
prise of  the  Romans,  was  protracted  to  the  tenth  year,  much 
less  by  the  strength  of  the  place  than  by  the  unskilfulness  of 

*  Historians  are  divided  as  to  the  success  of  the  campaign  against  the 
Persians;  Herodian  alone  speaks  of  defeat.  Lampridius,  Eutropius,  Victor, 
and  others,  say  tliat  it  ^vas  very  glorious  to  Alexander ;  tliat  he  beat  Ar- 
taxerxes  in  a  great  battle,  and  repelled  him  from  the  frontiers  of  the  empire. 
This  much  is  certain,  that  Alexander,  on  his  return  to  Rome,  (Lamp.  Hist 
Aug.  c.  56,  133,  134,)  received  the  Iwnors  of  a  triumph,  and  that  he  said,  it 
his  oration  to  the  people,  ftuirites,  vicimus  Persas,  milites  divites  reduximus, 
vobis  congiai'ium  poUicemur,  eras  ludos  circenses  Persicos  donabimus.  Al- 
exander, says  Eckliel,  had  too  much  modesty  and  wisdom  to  pennit  himself 
to  ^l^ceive  honors  which  ought  only  to  be  the  reward  of  victory,  if  he  had 
not  deserved  them  ;  he  would  have  contented  himself  with  dissembling  liig 
losses.  Eckhcl,  Doct.  Num.  vet.  vii.  270.  The  medals  represent  him  as  in 
triumph ;  one,  among  others,  displays  him  crowned  by  Victory  between 
two  rivers,  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris.  P.  M.  Til.  P.  xii.  Cos.  iii.  PP. 
Iinperator  paludatus  D.  hastam.  S.  parazonium,  stat  inter  duos  tluvios  humi 
^centes,  et  ab  accedente  retro  Victoria  coronatur.  .'E.  max.  mod.  (Maa. 
Beg.  Gall.)  Although  Gibbon  treats  this  question  more  in  detail  wlion  ha 
•peaks  of  the  Persian  monarcny.  I  have  thought  fit  to  place  here  what  cob 
tradicta  his  opinion. — G 


18fJ  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.D.  222-23ft 

the  btjsiegers.  The  unaccustomed  hardships  cf  so  many  win- 
ter cau'.paigns,  at  the  distance  of  near  twenty  miles  from 
home,*'  required  more  than  common  encouragements  ;  and 
the  senate  wisely  prevented  the  clamors  of  the  people,  by  the 
institution  of  a  regular  pay  for  the  soldiers,  which  was  levied 
by  a  general  tribute,  assessed  according  to  an  equitable  pro- 
portion on  the  property  of  the  citizens/*  During  moi-e  than 
two  hundred  years  after  the  conquest  of  Veii,  the  victories  of 
the  republic  added  less  to  the  wealth  than  to  the  power  of 
Rome.  The  states  of  Italy  paid  their  tribute  in  military  ser- 
vice only,  and  the  vast  force,  both  by  sea  and  land,  which  was 
exerted  in  the  Punic  wars,  was  maintained  at  the  expense  of 
the  Romans  themselves.  That  high-spirited  people  (sucu  is 
often  the  generous  enthusiasm  of  freedom)  cheerfully  sub- 
mitted to  the  most  excessive  but  voluntary  burdens,  in  the  just 
confidence  that  they  should  speedily  enjoy  the  rich  harvest  of 
their  labors.  Their  expectations  were  not  disappointed.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  years,  the  riches  of  Syracuse,  of  Car- 
thage, of  Macedonia,  and  of  Asia,  were  brought  in  triumph  to 
Rome.  The  treasures  of  Perseus  alone  amounted  to  near  two 
iniOions  sterling,  and  the  Roman  people,  the  sovereign  of  so 
many  nations,  was  forever  delivered  from  the  weight  of  taxes.*' 
The  increasing  revenue  of  the  provinces  was  found  sufficient  to 
defray  the  ordinary  establishment  of  war  and  government,  and 
the  superfluous  mass  of  gold  and  silver  was  deposited  in  the 
temple  of  Saturn,  and  reserved  for  any  unforeseen  emergency 
of  the  state.** 

History  has   never,  perhaps,    suffered    a   greater    or   more 

*'  According  to  the  more  accurate  Dionysius,  the  city  itself  waa 
nAj  a  hundred  stadia,  or  tAvelve  miles  and  a  half,  from  Rome,  though 
some  out-posts  might  be  advanced  farther  on  the  side  of  Etruria. 
Nardini,  in  a  professed  treatise,  has  combated  the  popular  opinion  and 
the  authority  of  two  popes,  and  has  removed  Veii  from  Civita  Castel- 
lana,  to  a  httle  spot  called  Isola,  in  the  midway  between  Rome  and  the 
Lake  Bracciano.* 

'^  See  the  4th  and  5tli  books  of  Livy.  In  tlie  Roman  census,  prop- 
irty,  power,  and  taxation  were  commensurate  with  each  other. 

"  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  1.  xxxiii.  c.  3.  Cicero  de  Offic.  ii.  22.  I'lutarch, 
n  P.  ^mil.  p.  275. 

**  See  a  tine  description  of  this  accumulated  wealth  of  ages  in 
(^cau's  Phars.  1.  iii.  v.  155,  <fec. 


•  See  th«;  iute^est^ug  account  of  the  site  and  ruins  of  Veii  in  Sir  W  OeQ'i 
lotK)grs{iliy  ofKomc  and  its  Virinf'y.  v.  ii.  p.  303. — M. 


A.  D.  222-2 3 5.]      of  the  roman  empire.  IW 

Irreparable  injury  than  in  the  loss  of  the  curious  register*  be- 
queathed by  Augustus  to  the  senate,  in  which  that  experienced 
prince  so  accurately  balanced  the  revenues  and  expenses  of 
the  Roman  empire,**  Deprived  of  this  clear  and  comprehen- 
sive estimate,  we  are  reduced  to  collect  a  few  imperfect  hints 
from  such  of  the  ancients  as  have  accidentally  turned  aside 
from  the  splendid  to  the  more  useful  parts  of  history.  We 
are  informed  that,  by  the  conquests  of  Pompey,  the  tributes 
of  Asia  were  raised  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
millions  of  drachms ;  or  about  four  millions  and  a  half  ster- 
ling,** f  Under  the  last  and  most  indolent  of  the  Ptolemies, 
the  revenue  of  Egypt  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  twelve 
thousand  five  hundred  talents  ;  a  sum  equivalent  to  more  than 
two  millions  and  a  half  of  our  money,  but  which  was  after- 
wards considerably  improved  by  the  more  exact  economy  of 
the  Romans,  and  the  increase  of  the  trade  of' Ethiopia  and 
India,*^  Gaul  was  enriched  by  rapine,  as  Egypt  was  by  com- 
merce, and  the  tributes  of  those  two  great  provinces  have 
been  compared  as  nearly  equal  to  each  other  in  value.**  The 
ten  thousand  Euboic  or  Phoenician  talents,  about  four  millions 
sterling,*"  which  vanquished  Carthage  was  condemned  to  pay 
Avithin  the  term  of  fifty  years,  Avere  a  slight  acknowledgment 
of  the  superiority  of  Rome,""  and  cannot  bear  the  least  pro* 

*^  Tacit,  in  Annal.  i.  11.  It  seems  to  have  existed  in  the  time  of 
Appian. 

'"'  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  p.  642. 

"  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  p.  798. 

•**  Velleius  Pateiculus,  I.  ii.  c.  39.  He  seems  to  give  the  preference 
to  the  revenue  of  Gaul. 

^^  The  Euboic,  the  Phcsnician,  and  the  Alexandrian  talents  Avere 
•*ouble  in  Av^eiglit  to  the  Attic.  See  Hooper  on  ancient  weiglits  and 
measures,  p.  iv.  c.  5.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  same  talent  Avaa 
carried  from  Tyre  to  Carthage. 

"  Polyb.  1.  XV.  c.  2. 

*  Sec  Rationarium  imperii.  Compare  besides  Tacitus,  Suet.  Aug.  c.  ult. 
Dion,  p  8.32.  Other  emperors  kept  and  publislicd  similar  registers.  See 
a  dissertation  of  Dr.  Wolle,  do  Rationario  imperii  Rom.  Leipsig,  1773.  The 
last  book  of  Appian  also  contained  the  statistics  of  the  Roman  empire,  but 
It  is  lost. — "W. 

t  Wenck  contests  the  accuracy  of  Gibbon's  version  of  Plutarch,  ;ind  sup- 
poses that  Pompey  only  raised  the  revenue  from  .50,000.000  to  8"), 000, 000  of 
drachms;  but  the  text  of  Plutarch  seems  clearly  to  mean  that  his  concjuesli 
added  8.5,000,000  to  the  ordinary  revenue.  Wencli  adds,  "  Phitarch  saya 
in  another  part,  that  Antony  made  Asia  pay,  at  one  time,  200,000  talents, 
that  is  to  say,  38,875,000/.  sterling."  But  Appian  explains  this  by  saying 
ihat  it  was  the  revenue  of  ten  years,  which  brings  the  annual  revenue,  al 
the  time  of  Anl^iy,  to  3,875,000/.  sterling. — M. 


188  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  222-296, 

portion  with  the  taxes  afterwards  raised  both  on  the  lands  and 
on  the  persons  of  the  inliabitants,  when  the  feitile  coast  of 
Africa  was  reduced  into  a  province."' 

Spain,  by  a  very  singnhir  fatality,  was  the  Peru  and  Mexico 
of  the  old  world.  The  discovery  of  the  rich  western  conti- 
nent by  the  Phoenicians,  and  the  oppression  of  the  simple 
natives,  who  were  compelled  to  labor  in  their  own  mines  for 
the  benefit  of  strangers,  form  an  exact  type  of  the  more  recent 
history  of  Spanish  America.'^  The  Phoenicians  were  acquaint- 
ed only  with  the  sea-coast  of  Spain  ;  avarice,  as  well  as  am- 
bition, carried  the  arms  of  Rome  and  Carthage  into  the  heart 
of  the  country,  and  almost  every  part  of  the  soil  was  found 
pregnant  with  copper,  silver,  and  gold.*  Mention  is  made  of  a 
mine  near  Carthagena  which  yielded  every  day  twenty-five 
thousand  drachms  of  silver,  or  about  three  hundred  thousand 
pound:?  a  year.®*  Twenty  thousand  pound  weight  of  gold  was 
annually  received  from  the  provinces  of  Asturia,  Gallicia,  and 
Lusitania.** 

We  want  both  leisure  and  materials  to  pursue  this  curious 
inquiry  through  the  many  potent  states  that  were  annihilated 
in  the  Roinan  empire.  Some  notion,  however,  may  be  formed 
of  the  revenue  of  the  provinces  where  considerable  wealth  had 
been  deposited  by  nature,  or  collected  by  man,  if  we  observe 
the  sever^i  attv"*ntion  that  was  directed  to  the  abodes  of  solitude 
and  sterili*.y.  Augustus  once  received  a  petition  from  the  in- 
habitants of  Gyarus,  humbly  praying  that  they  might  be  re- 
lieved from  one  third  of  their  excessive  impositions.  Theii 
whole  tax  amounted  indeed  to  no  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  drachms,  ov  about  five  pounds  :  but  Gyarus  was  a  littlo 
island,  or  rather  a  rocl^,  of  the  ^"Egean  Sea,  destitute  of  fresh 
water  and  every  neco'^f^ry  of  life,  and  inhabited  only  by  a  fev» 
wretched  fishermen.** 


"'  Appian  in  Punicis,  p.  84. 

"^  Diodorus  Siculus,  1.  5.  CiMli's  was  built  by  the  Phoaniciaca 
a  little  more  than  a  thousand  yeai3  beJoie  Chri.st.  See  Veil.  Pa 
ter.  i.  2. 

"  Strabo,  1.  iii.  p.  148. 

'•  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  L  xxxiii.  c.  S.  K-j  men^if^s  lilf-^wi^f  a  slI 
rcr  mine  in  Dabnatia,  that  yielded  cverj'  day  fil'*y  pound?  to  Lht 
Atftte. 

•*  Strabo,  1.  x.  p.  485.     Tacit.  AnnaL  iii.  t.9,  a.^Q  jr.  80.     S<m»  u 


Compare  Heeren's  Researches  vol  i.  part  U.  p  4'  f>\  k'.  -  II 


A-D.  222-235.J      of  the  roman  empire.  1M 

From  the  faint  glimmerings  of  sucli  doubtful  and  scattered 
lights,  we  should  be  inolined  to  believe,  1st,  That  (with  every 
fair  allowance  for  the  difterences  of  times  and  circumstances) 
the  general  income  of  the  Roman  provinces  could  seldom 
imount  to  less  than  fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  our  money  ;*' 
and,  2dly,  That  so  ample  a  revenue  must  have  been  fully 
adequate  to  all  the  expenses  of  the  moderate  government 
instituted  by  Augustus,  whose  court  was  the  modest  family 
of  a  private  senator,  and  whose  military  establishment  was 
calculated  for  the  defence  of  the  frontiers,  without  any  aspir- 
ing views  of  conquest,  or  any  serious  apprehension  of  a  foreign 
invasion. 

Notwithstanding  the  seeming  probability  of  both  these  con- 
clusions, the  latter  of  them  at  least  is  positively  disowned  by 
the  language  and  conduct  of  Augustus.  It  is  not  easy  to 
determine  whether,  on  this  occasion,  he  acted  as  the  common 
father  of  the  Roman  world,  or  as  the  oppressor  of  liberty ; 
whether  he  wished  to  relieve  the  pi'ovinces,  or  to  impoverish 
the  senate  and  the  equestrian  order.  But  no  sooner  had  he 
assumed  the  reins  of  government,  than  he  frequently  inti- 
mated the  insufficiency  of  the  tributes,  and  the  necessity  of 
throwing  an  equitable  proportion  of  the  public  burden  upon 
Rome  and  Italy .f     In  the  prosecution  of  this  unpopular  design, 

Fom-nefort  (Voyages  au  Levant,  Lettre  viii.)  a  very  lively  picture  of 
the  actual  misery  of  Gyarus. 

""  Lipsius  de  magnitudine  Romana  (I.  ii.  c.  3)  computes  the  reve- 
nue at  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  gold  crowns ;  but  his  whole 
book,  though  learned  and  ingenious,  betrays  a  very  heated  imagina- 
tion.* 

*  If  Justus  Lipsius  has  exasTgerated  the  revenue  of  the  Roman  empire 
Gibbon,  on  the  other  hand,  has  undeiTated  it.  He  fixes  it  at  fifteen  ot 
tu-enty  millions  of  our  money.  But  if  we  take  only,  on  a  moderate  calcula 
tion,  the  taxes  in  the  provinces  which  he  has  already  cited,  they  wdll  amount, 
considering  the  augmentations  made  by  Au.gustus,  to  nearly  that  sum 
There  remain  also  the  provinces  of  Itah',  of  lUiretia,  of  Noricum,  Pannonia. 
and  Greece,  &c.,  &c.  Let  us  pay  attention,  besides,  to  the  prodigious  ex- 
penditure of  some  einperors,  (Suet.  Vesp.  IG ;)  we  shall  see  that  such  a  rev- 
enue could  not  be  sufficient.  The  autliors  of  the  Universal  Ili.story,  part 
xji.,  assign  forty  millions  sterling  as  the  sum  to  about  which  the  public  rev- 
enue might  amount. — G.  from  W. 

t  It  is  not  a.stonishing  that  Augustus  held  this  langnage.  The  senate  de- 
clared also  under  Nero,  that  the  state  could  not  exi.^t  w'idiout  the  imposts  as 
well  augmented  as  founded  by  Augustus.  Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  50.  After  the 
ftH^liiion  of  the  different  tributes  paid  by  Italy,  an  abolition  which  took  place 
A  U.  64K,  694,  and  G9o,  the  state  derived  no  revenues  from  that  great  coun 
try,  but  the  twentieth  j)art  of  the  manumissions,  (vicesima  manumissionum,) 
and  Cicero  laments  this  in  many  places,  part'cularly  in  his  epistles  to  Atti 
va»,  ii.  15. — G.  from  \V. 


190  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  222-235 

he  advanced,  however,  by  cautious  and  well-weighed  steps 
The  introduction  of  customs  was  followed  by  the  establish 
ment  of  an  excise,  and  the  scheme  of  taxation  was  completed 
by  an  artful  assessment  on  the  real  and  personal  property  of 
the  Roman  citizens,  who  had  been  exempted  from  any  kind 
of  contribution  above  a  century  and  a  half. 

I.  In  a  great  empire  like  that  of  Rome,  a  natural  balance 
of  money  must  have  gradually  established  itself  It  has  been 
already  observed,  that  as  the  wealth  of  the  provinces  was 
attracted  to  the  capital  by  the  strong  hand  of  conquest  and 
power,  so  a  considerable  part  of  it  was  restored  to  the  indus- 
trious provinces  by  the  gentle  influence  of  commerce  and  arts. 
In  the  reign  of  Augustus  and  his  successors,  duties  Averf 
imposed  on  every  kind  of  merchandise,  which  through  a  thou- 
sand channels  flowed  to  the  great  centre  of  opulence  and  lux- 
ury ;  and  in  whatsoever  manner  the  law  was  expressed,  it 
was  the  Roman  purchaser,  and  not  the  provincial  merchant, 
who  paid  the  tax."  The  rate  of  the  customs  varied  from  the 
eighth  to  the  fortieth  part  of  the  value  of  the  commodity  ;  and 
we  have  a  right  to  suppose  that  the  variation  was  directed  by 
the  unalterable  maxims  of  policy  ;  that  a  higher  duty  was 
fixed  on  the  articles  of  luxury  than  on  those  of  necessity,  and 
that  the  productions  raised  or  manufactured  by  the  labor  of 
the  subjects  of  the  empire  were  treated  with  more  indulgence 
than  was  shown  to  the  pernicious,  or  at  least  the  unpopular, 
commerce  of  Arabia  and  India.'*  There  is  still  extant  a  long 
but  imperfect  catalogue  of  eastern  commodities,  which  about 
the  time  of  Alexander  Severus  were  subject  to  the  payment 
of  duties ;  cinnamon,  myrrh,  pepper,  ginger,  and  the  whole 
tribe  of  aromatics  a  great  variety  of  precious  stones,  among 
which  the  diamond  was  the  most  remarkable  for  its  price, 
and   the  emerald  for  its  beauty ;  "^  Parthian  and  Babylonian 

"  Tacit.  Annal.  xiii.  31.* 

"*  See  Pliny,  (Hist.  Natur.  1.  vi.  c.  23,  Ixii.  c.  18.)  His  observation 
that  the  Indian  commodities  were  sold  at  Rome  at  a  hundred  times 
their  original  price,  may  give  us  some  notion  of  the  produce  of  tho 
customs,  since  that  original  price  amounted  to  more  than  eight  himdred 
thousand  pounds. 

°"  The  ancients  were  unacquainted  with  tlie  art  of  cutting 
diamonds. 

"  The  customs  fportoria)  existed  in  the  times  of  the  ancient  kint's  of  Rome 
They  were  suppressed  in  Italy,  A.  U.  6!'4,  by  the  Prajlor,  Ceci!i"s  MfteUai 
NexK>*     Angnstup  (?nly  rpestiWislied'tliem      See  note  above. — W. 


A..  D.  2 2 '2-2 3 5.]      of  xfrK  Roman  empire.  !•! 

leather,  cottons,  silks,  both  i-aw  and  manufactured,  ebony 
ivory,  and  eunuchs.'""  We  may  observe  that  the  use  and 
value  of  those  effeminate  slaves  gradually  rose  with  the  decline 
of  the  empire. 

If.  The  excise,  introduced  by  Augustus  after  the  civil  wars, 
was  extremely  ■  moderate,  but  it  was  general.  It  se.'dom 
exceeded  one  per  cent. ;  but  it  comprehended  whatever  was 
sold  in  the  markets  or  by  public  auction,  from  the  most  con- 
isiderable  purchases  of  lands  and  houses,  to  those  minute 
objects  which  can  only  derive  a  value  from  their  infinite  mul- 
titude and  daily  consumption.  Such  a  tax,  as  it  affects  the 
body  of  the  people,  has  ever  been  the  occasion  of  clamor  and 
discontent.  An  emperor  well  acquainted  with  the  wants  and 
resources  of  the  state  was  obliged  to  declare,  by  a  public  edict, 
that  the  support  of  the  army  depended  in  a  great  measure  on 
the  produce  of  the  excise.'" 

III.  When  Augustus  resolved  to  establish  a  permanent  mil- 
itary force  for  the  defence  of  his  government  against  foreign 
and  domestic  enemies,  he  instituted  a  peculiar  treasury  for  the 
pay  of  the  soldiers,  the  rewards  of  the  veterans,  and  the  extra- 
ordinary expenses  of  war.  The  ample  revenue  of  the  excise, 
though  peculiarly  appropriated  to  those  uses,  was  found  inad- 
equate. To  supply  the  deficiency,  the  emperor  suggested  a 
new  tax  of  five  per  cent,  on  all  legacies  and  inheritances. 
But  the  nobles  of  Rome  were  more  tenacious  of  property  than 
of  freedom.  Their  indignant  murmurs  were  received  by 
Augustus  with  his  usual  temper.  He  candidly  referred  the 
whole  business  to  the  senate,  and  exhorted  them  to  provide 
for  the  public  service  by  some  other  expedient  of  a  less  odious 
nature.  They  were  divided  and  perplexed.  He  insinuated 
to  them,  that  their  obstinacy  would  oblige  him  to  propose 
a  general  land  tax  and  capitation.  They  acquiesced  in 
silence."*     The  new  imposition   on   legacies  and  inheritances 

""'  M.  Bouchaud,  in  his  treatise  de  I'lmpot  chez  les  Romains,  has 
transcribed  this  catalogue  from  the  Digest,  ard  attempts  to  illustrate 
it  by  a  very  prolix  commentary.* 

"*'  Tacit.  Annal.  i.  78.  Two  years  afterwards,  the  reduction  of  the 
poor  kingdom  of  Cappadocia  gave  Tiberius  a  pretence  for  diminishing 
the  excise  to  one  half,  lint  the  relief  v/as  of  very  short  duration. 

'"  Dion  Cassias,  1.  Iv.  p.  704,  1.  Ivi.  p.  8-25.f  " 


*  Tn  the  Pandects,  I.  .30,  t.  M,  do  Publican.     Compare  Ciccrn  in  Vorrem, 

II    <•.   ,.C~li.~W. 

t  Dion  neither  mentions  tins   pmpoMtion    nor  the   capitniion.      He  tmtf 


'■1C2  THE    DECllXE    AND    FALL        [A.D.  222-2?5 

was,  however,  mitigated  by  some  j'esti'ictions.  It  did  not  take 
place  unless  the  object  was  of  a  certain  value,  most  probably 
of"  fifty  or  a  hundred  pieces  of  gold ;'°'  nor  could  it  be  exacted 
from  the  nearest  of  kin  on  the  fether's  side.'"  When  the 
rights  of  nature  and  poverty  were  thus  secured,  it  seemed 
reasonable,  that  a  stranger,  or  a  distant  relation,  who  acquired 
an  unexpected  accession  of  fortune,  should  cheerfully  resign  a 
twentieth  part  of  it,  for  the  benefit  of  the  state.'"* 

Such  a  tax,  plentiful  as  it  must  prove  in  every  wealthy  com- 
munity, v^as  most  happily  suited  to  the  situation  of  the  Romans, 
who  could  frame  their  arbitrary  wills,  according  to  the  dictates 
of  reason  or  caprice,  without  any  restraint  from  the  modern 
fetters  of  entails  and  settlements.  From  various  causes,  the 
partiality  of  paternal  affection  often  lost  its  influence  over  the 
stern  patriots  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  dissolute  nobles 
of  the  empire  •  and  if  the  father  bequeathed  to  his  son  the 
fourth  part  of  his  estate,  he  removed  all  ground  of  legal 
complaint.'"'  But  a  rich  childish  old  man  was  a  domestic 
tyrant,  and  his  power  increased  with  his  years  and  infirmities. 
A  servile  crowd,  in  which  he  frequently  reckoned  praetors  and 
consuls,  courted  his  smiles,  pampered  his  avarice,  applauded 
his  follies,  served  his  passions,  and  waited  with  impatience  for 
his  death.  The  arts  of  attendance  and  flattery  were  formed 
into  a  most  lucrative  science ;  those  who  professed  it  acquired 
a  peculiar  appellation ;  and  the  whole  city,  according  to  the 
lixely  descriptions  of  satire,  was  divided  between  two  parties, 
the  hunters  and  their  game.""  Yet,  while  so  many  unjust  and 
extravagant  wills  were  every  day  dictated  by  cunning  and  sub- 
scribed by  folly,  a  few  were  the  result  of  rational  esteem  and 
virtuous  gratitude.  Cicero,  who  had  so  often  defended  the 
lives  and  fortunes  of  his  fellow-citizens,  was  rewarded  with 
legacies  to  the  amount  of  a  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 

""  The  sum  is  only  fixed  by  conjecture. 

'"*  As  the  Roman  law  subsisted  for  many  ages,  the  Coijnati,  or  re 
lations  on  tlie  mother's  side,  were  not  called  to  the  succession.  This 
harsh  institution  was  gradually  undermined  by  humanity,  and  finally 
abolished  by  Justinian 

'"  Plin.  Panegyric,  c.  37. 

""  See  Heineccius  in  the  Antiquit.  Juris  Romani,  1.  ii. 

=  "  Horat.  1.  ii.  Sat.  v.     Potron.  c.  116,  &c.     PUn.  1.  ii.  Epist.  20. 

tays  that  the  emperor  imposed  a  tax  upon  laiitled  property,  and  sent  ev.iry 
//here  men  employed   to  make  a  survey,  without  fixing  how  much,  anfl  fci 
fei)w  much  each  was  to  pay.    The  scnator.s  then  preferred  giving  their  asa 
tbe  tax  on  legacies  and  iuheritaaces. — W. 


A.D. '222-235.J     o.w  the  roman  empire. 


lys 


pouuds ;  '**  nor  do  the  friends  of  the  younger  PHny  seem  to 
Lave  been  less  generous  to  that  amiable  orator.'"'  Whatever 
was  the  motive  of  the  testator,  the  treasury  claimed,  without 
distinction,  the  twentieth  part  of  his  estate :  and  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  generations,  the  whole  property  of  the  subject 
must  have  gradually  passed  through  the  coffers  of  the  state. 

In  the  first  and  golden  years  of  the  reign  of  Nero,  that 
prince,  from  a  desire  of  popularity,  and  perhaps  from  a  blind 
onpulse  of  benevolence,  conceived  a  wish  of  abolishing  the 
Dppression  of  the  customs  and  excise.  The  wisest  senators 
applauded  his  magnanimity  :  but  they  diverted  him  from  the 
execution  of  a  design  which  would  have  dissolved  the  strength 
and  resources  of  the  republic.'"*  Had  it  indeed  been  possible 
to  realize  this  dream  of  fancy,  such  princes  as  Trajan  and  the 
Antonines  would  surely  have  embraced  with  ardor  the  glorious 
opportunity  of  conferring  so  signal  an  obligation  on  mankind. 
Satisfied,  however,  with  alleviating  the  public  burden,  they 
attempted  not  to  remove  it.  The  mildness  and  precision  of 
their  laws  ascertained  the  rule  and  measure  of  taxation,  and 
protected  the  subject  of  every  rank  against  arbitrary  interpreta- 
tions, antiquated  claims,  and  the  insolent  vexation  of  the  farm- 
ere  of  the  revenue.'"  For  it  is  somewhat  singular,  that,  in 
every  age,  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  Roman  governors  perse- 
vered in  this  pernicious  method  of  collecting  the  principal 
branches  at  least  of  the  excise  and  customs."' 

The  sentiments,  and,  indeed,  the  situation,  of  Caracalla  were 
very  different  from  those  of  the  Antonines.  Inattentive,  or 
rather  averse,  to  the  welfare  of  his  people,  he  found  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  gratifying  the  insatiate  avarice  which 
he  bad  excited  in  the  array.  Of  the  several  impositions  intro- 
duced by  Augustus,  the  twentieth  on  inheritances  and  legacies 
was  the  most  fruitful,  as  well  as  the  most  comprehensive. 
As  its  influence  was  not  confined  to  Rome  or  Italy,  the  prod- 
uce continually  increased  with  the  gradual  extension  of  the 

!<•«  Cicero  in  Philip,  ii.  c.  16. 

'""  See  liis  epistles.  Every  such  will  gave  him  an  occasion  of  dia- 
claying  his  reverence  to  the  dead,  and  liis  justice  to  the  living.  He 
reconciled  both  in  his  behavior  to  a  son  who  had  been  disinherited  by 
his  mother,  (v.  1.) 

""  Tacit.  Annal.  xiii.  50.     Esprit  des  Loix,  1.  xii.  c.  19. 

"'  See  Pliny's  Panegyric,  the  Augustan  History,  and  Bur  man.  do 
Vectigal.  passim. 

""  The  tributes  (properly  so  called)  were  not  farmed-,  since  the 
gooa  piinces  often  remitted  many  millions  of  arrears. 

^'^OL.  I — I 


i04  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  222-235 

Roman  City.  The  new  citizens,  though  charged,  on  equal 
terms,*'^  with  the  payment  of  new  taxes,  which  had  not 
affected  them  as  subjects,  derived  an  ample  compensation 
from  the  rank  they  obtained,  the  privileges  they  acquired,  and 
the  fair  prospect  of  honors  and  fortune  that  was  thrown  open 
to  their  ambition.  But  the  favor  which  implied  a  distinction 
was  lost  in  the  prodigality  of  Caracalla,  and  the  reluctant  pro- 
vincials were  compelled  to  assume  the  vain  title,  and  the  real 
obligations,  of  Roman  citizens.*  Nor  was  the  rapacious  son  of 
Severus  contented  with  such  a  measure  of  taxation  as  had 
appeared  sufficient  to  his  moderate  predecessors.  Instead  of 
a  twentieth,  he  exacted  a  tenth  of  all  legacies  and  inherit- 
ances ;  and  during  his  reign  (for  the  ancient  proportion  was 
restored  after  his  deatti)  he  crushed  alike  every  part  of  the 
empire  under  the  weight  of  his  iron  sceptre."* 

When  all  the  provincials  became  liable  to  the  pecuhar  im- 
positions of  Roman  citizens,  they  seemed  to  acquire  a  legal 
exemption  from  the  tributes  which  they  had  paid  in  their 
former  condition  of  subjects.  Such  were  not  the  maxims  of 
government  adopted  by  Caracalla  and  his  pretended  son.  The 
old  as  well  as  the  new  taxes  were,  at  the  same  time,  levied  in 
the  j)rovinces.  It  was  reserved  for  the  virtue  of  Alexander  to 
relieve  them  in  a  great  measure  from  this  intolerable  grievance, 
by  reducing  the  tributes  to  a  thirteenth  part  of  the  sum  exacted 
at  the  time  of  his  accession."^  It  is  impossible  to  conjecture 
the  motive  that  engaged  him  to  spare  so  trifling  a  remnant  of 

"'  The  situation  of  the  new  citizens  is  minutely  described  by  Pliny, 
(Panegyric,  c.  37,  38,  39.)  Trajan  published  a  law  very  much  in  their 
favor. 

^^*  Dion,  1.  Ixxvii.  p.  1295. 

""  He  who  paid  ten  aurei,  the  usual  tribute,  was  charged  with  no 
more  than  the  third  part  of  an  aureus,  and  proportional  pieces  of  gold 
were  coined  by  Alexander's  order.  Hist.  August,  p.  127,  with  the 
commentary  of  Salmasius.  , 

*  Gibbon  has  adopted  the  ophiion  of  Spanhcim  and  of  Burman,  which 
attributes  to  Caracalla  this  edict,  which  gave  the  right  of  the  city  to  all 
the  mhabitants  of  the  provinces.  This  opinion  may  be  disputed.  Several 
passages  of  Spartianus,  of  Aurelius  Victor,  and  of  Aristides,  attribute 
this  edict  to  Marc.  Aurelius.  Sue  a  learned  essay,  entitled  Joh.  P.  Mahueri 
Coram,  de  Marc.  Aur.  Antonino  Constitutionis  de  Civitate  Universe  Orbi 
Romano  data  auctore.  Halee,  1772,  8vo.  It  appears  that  Marc.  Aureliua 
made  some  modifications  of  this  edict,  which  released  the  provincials  from 
some  of  the  charges  imposed  by  the  right  of  the  city,  and  deprived  tbev  of 
Bome  of  the  advantages  which  it  conferred.  Caracalla  annulled  thesi  awxli 
fications. — W. 


A.  D.  222-235.]      of  the  roman  empire.  195 

the  public  evil ;  but  the  noxious  weed,  which  had  not  been 
totally  eradicated,  again  sprang  up  with  the  most  luxuriant 
growth,  and  in  the  succeeding  age  darkened  the  Roman  world 
with  its  deadly  shade.  In  the  course  of  this  history,  we  ahall 
be  too  often  summoned  to  explain  the  land  tax,  the  capitation, 
and  the  heavy  contributions  of  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  meat,  which 
were  exacted  from  the  provinces  for  the  use  of  the  court,  the 
army,  and  the  capital. 

As  long  as  Rome  and  Italy  were  respected  as  the  centre  of 
government,  a  national  spirit  was  preserved  by  the  ancient,  and 
insensibly  imbibed  by  the  adopted,  citizens.  The  principal 
commands  of  the  army  were  filled  by  men  who  had  received 
a  liberal  education,  were  well  instructed  in  the  advantages  of 
laws  and  letters,  and  who  had  risen,  by  equal  stops,  through 
the  regular  succession  of  civil  and  military  honors."*  To 
their  influence  and  example  we  may  partly  ascribe  t!ie  modest 
obedience  of  the  legions  during  the  two  first  centuries  of  the 
Imperial  histoiy. 

But  when  the  last  enclosure  of  the  Roman  constitution  was 
trampled  down  by  Caracalla,  the  separation  of  professions 
gradually  succeeded  to  the  distinction  of  ranks.  The  more 
polished  citizens  of  the  internal  provinces  were  alone  qualified  tc 
act  as  lawyers  and  magistrates.  The  rougher  trade  of  arms  was 
abandoned  to  the  peasants  and  barbarians  of  the  fi'ontiers,  who 
knew  no  country  but  their  camp,  no  science  but  that  of  wa: 
no  civil  laws,  and  scarcely  those  of  military  discipline.  With 
bloody  hands,  savage  manners,  and  desperate  resolutions,  they 
sometimes  guarded,  but  much  oftener  subverted,  the  throne  of 
the  emperors. 

"*  See  the  lives  of  Ap;ricola,  Vespasian,  Trajan,  Severus,  and  hi* 
three  eompetitors ;  and  indeed  of  all  the  eminent  men  c  f  tboee  timea. 


190  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  222-235 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    ELEVATION     AND     TYRANNY    OF    MAXIMIN. REBELLION    IS 

AFRICA  AND  ITALY,  UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SENATE. 
CIVIL  WARS  AND  SEDITIONS. VIOLENT  DEATHS  OF  MAX- 
IMIN   AND    HIS    SON,    OF    MAXIMUS     AND     BALBINUS,    AND    OF 

THE    THREE    GORDIANS. USURPATION    AND    SECULAR     GAMES 

OF    PHILIP. 

Of  the  various  forms  of  government  which  have  prevailed 
in  the  world,  an  hereditary  monarchy  seems  to  present  the 
fairest  scope  for  ridicule.  Is  it  possible  to  relate  without  an 
indignant  smile,  that,  on  the  father's  decease,  the  property  of 
a  nation,  hke  that  of  a  drove  of  oxen,  descends  to  his  infant 
son,  as  yet  unknown  to  mankind  and  to  himself;  and  that  the 
bravest  warriors  and  the  wisest  statesmen,  relinquishing  their 
natural  right  to  empire,  approach  the  royal  cradle  with  bended 
knees  and  protestations  of  inviolable  fidelity  ?  Satire  and 
declamation  may  paint  these  obvious  topics  in  the  most  daz- 
zling colors,  but  our  more  serious  thoughts  will  respect  a  useful 
prejudice,  that  establishes  a  rule  of  succession,  independent 
of  the  passions  of  mankind ;  and  we  shall  cheerfully  acquiesce 
in  any  expedient  which  deprives  the  multitude  of  the  dan- 
gerous, and  indeed  the  ideal,  power  of  giving  themselves  a 
master. 

In  the  cool  shade  of  retirement,  we  may  easily  devise  im- 
aginary forms  of  government,  in  which  the  sceptre  shall  be 
constantly  bestowed  on  the  most  worthy,  by  the  free  and 
incorrupt  suffrage  of  the  whole  community.  Experience  ovei- 
turns  these  airy  fabrics,  and  teaches  us,  that  in  a  large  society, 
the  election  of  a  monarch  can  never  devolve  to  the  wisest,  oi 
to  the  most  numerous  part  of  the  people.  The  army  is  tlie 
only  order  of  men  sufficiently  united  to  concur  in  the  same 
sentiments,  and  powerful  enough  to  impose  them  on  the  rest 
of  their  fellow-citizens  ;  but  the  temper  of  soldiers,  habituated  at 
once  to  violence  and  to  slavery,  renders  them  very  unfit  guardi- 
ans of  a  legal,  or  even  a  civil  constitution.  Justice,  humanity, 
or  political  wisdom,  are  qualities  they  are  too  little  acquamted 
with  in  themselves,  to  appreciate   them   in  others.     Valcr  will 


A.  D.  222-235.]        OF    THE    UOMA.N    EMPIRE.  191 

acquire  their  esteem,  and  liberality  will  purchase  their  suf- 
frage ;  but  the  first  of  these  merits  is  often  lodged  in  the  most 
savage  breasts ;  the  latter  can  only  exert  itself  at  the  expense 
of  the  public ;  and  both  may  be  turned  against  the  possessor 
of  the  throne,  by  the  ambition  of  a  daring  rival. 

The  superior  prerogative  of  birth,  when  it  has  obtained  the 
sancticn  of  time  and  popular  opinion,  is  the  plainest  and  least 
invidious  of  all  distinctions  among  mankind.  The  acknowl- 
edged right  extinguishes  the  hopes  of  faction,  and  the  con- 
scious security  disarms  the  cruelty  of  the  monarch.  To  the 
firm  establishment  of  this  idea  we  owe  the  peaceful  succes- 
sion and  mild  administration  of  European  monarchies.  To 
the  defect  of  it  we  must  attribute  the  frequent  civil  wars, 
through  which  an  Asiatic  despot  is  obliged  to  cut  his  way  to 
the  throne  of  his  fathers.  Yet,  even  in  the  East,  the  sphere 
of  contention  is  usually  limited  to  the  princes  of  the  reigning 
house,  and  as  soon  as  the  more  fortunate  competitor  has 
removed  his  brethren  by  the  sword  and  the  bowstring,  he  no 
longer  entertains  any  jealousy  of  his  meaner  subjects.  But 
the  Roman  empire,  after  the  authority  of  the  senate  had  sunk 
into  contempt,  was  a  vast  scene  of  confusion.  The  royal,  and 
even  noble,  families  of  the  provinces  had  long  since  been  led 
in  triumph  before  the  car  of  the  haughty  republicans.  The 
ancient  families  of  Rome  had  successively  fallen  beneath  the 
tyranny  of  the  Caesars ;  and  whilst  those  princes  were  shackled 
by  the  forms  of  a  commonwealth,  and  disappointed  by  the 
repeated  failure  of  their  posterity,'  it  was  impossible  that  any 
idea  of  hereditary  succession  should  have  taken  root  in  the 
minds  of  their  subjects.  The  right  to  the  throne,  which  none 
could  claim  from  birth,  every  one  assumed  from  merit.  The 
daring  hopes  of  ambition  were  set  loose  from  the  salutary 
restraints  of  law  and  prejudice;  and  the  meanest  of  mankind 
might,  without  folly,  entertain  a  hope  of  being  raised  by  valoi 
and  fortune  to  a  rank  in  the  army,  in  which  a  single  crime 
would  enable  him  to  wrest  the  sceptre  of  the  world  from  his 
feeble  and  unpopular  master.  After  the  murder  of  Alexander 
Severus,  and  the  elevation  of  Maximin,  no  emperor  could 
think   himself    safe   upon    the    throne,   and    every    barbarian 

*  There  had  been  no  example  of  three  successive  generations  on 
tlie  throne ;  only  three  instances  of  sons  v/ho  succeeded  their  fathcra 
The  marriages  of  the  Ciesars  (notwithstanding  the  perraission,  and 
the  fre(juent  practice  of  divorces;  were  {generally  unfruitfiiL 


198  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  222-235 

peasaut  of  the  frontier  might  aspire  to  that  august,  but  dan 
gerous  station. 

About  thirty-two  years  before  that  event,  the  emperor  Seve- 
rus,  returning  from  an  eastern  expedition,  halted  in  Tiirace,  to 
celebrate,  with  military  games,  the  birthday  of  his  younger  son, 
Geta.  The  country  flocked  in  crowds  to  behold  their  sovereign, 
and  a  young  barbarian  of  gigantic  stature  earnestly  solicited,  ia 
his  rude  dialect,  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  contend  for  the 
prize  of  wrestling.  As  the  pride  of  discipline  would  have  been 
disgraced  in  the  overthrow  of  a  Roman  soldier  by  a  Thraciau 
peasant,  he  was  matched  with  the  stoutest  followers  of  the 
camp,  sixteen  of  whom  he  successively  laid  on  the  ground. 
His  victory  was  rewarded  by  some  trifling  gifts,  and  a  permis- 
sion to  enlist  in  the  troops.  The  next  day,  the  happy  barbarian 
was  distinguished  above  a  crowd  of  recruits,  dancing  and  exult- 
ing after  the  fashion  of  his  country.  As  soon  as  he  perceived 
that  he  had  attracted  the  emperor's  notice,  he  instantly  ran  up 
to  his  horse,  and  followed  him  on  foot,  without  the  least  ap- 
pearance of  fatigue,  in  a  long  and  rapid  career.  "  Thracian," 
said  Severus  with  astonishment,  "  art  thou  disposed  to  wrestle 
after  thy  race  ?"  "  Most  willingly,  sir,"  replied  the  unwearied 
youth  ;  and,  almost  in  a  breath,  overthrew  seven  of  the  strong- 
est soldiers  in  the  army.  A  gold  collar  was  the  prize  of  his 
matchless  vigor  and  activity,  and  he  was  immediatey  appointed 
to  serve  in  the  horseguards  who  always  attended  on  the  person 
of  the  sovereign.' 

Maximin,  for  that  was  his  name,  though  born  on  the  terri- 
b)ries  of  the  empire,  descended  from  a  mixed  race  of  barba- 
rians. His  father  was  a  Goth,  and  his  mother  of  the  nation 
of  the  Alani.  He  displayed  on  every  occasion  a  valor  equal 
to  his  strength ;  and  his  native  fierceness  was  soon  tempered 
or  disguised  by  the  knowledge  of  the  world.  Under  the  reign 
of  Severus  and  his  son,  he  obtained  the  rank  of  centurion, 
with  the  favor  and  esteem  of  both  those  princes,  the  former 
of  whom  was  an  excellent  judge  of  merit.  Gratitude  forbade 
Maximin  to  serve  under  the  assassin  of  Caracalla.  Honor 
taught  him  to  decline  the  effeminate  insults  of  Elagabalus.  On 
the  accession  of  Alexander  he  returned  to  court,  and  was 
placed  by  that  prince  in  a  station  useful  to  the  service,  and 
honorable  to  himself.  The  fourth  legion,  to  which  he  was 
appointed  tribune,  soon  became,  under  his  care,  the  best  dia- 

»  Hist.  August  p.  138. 


A..D  222-235.J     of  the  roman  empire.  199 

cipliued  of  the  whole  army.  With  the  general  applause  of 
the  soldiers,  who  bestowed  ou  their  favorite  hero  the  names  of 
Ajax  and  Uercules,  he  was  successively  promoted  to  the  first 
military  command ;  *  and  had  not  he  still  retained  too  much 
of  his  savage  origin,  the  emperor  might  perhaps  have  given 
his  own  sister  in  marriage  to  the  sou  of  Maximin.* 

Instead  of  securing  his  fidelity,  these  favors  served  only  to 
inflame  the  ambition  of  the  Thracian  peasant,  who  deemed 
his  fortune  inadequate  to  his  merit,  as  long  as  he  was  con- 
strained to  acknowledge  a  superior.  Though  a  stranger  to 
^ea  wisdom,  he  was  not  devoid  of  a  selfish  cunning,  which 
cjhowed  him  that  the  emperor  had  lost  the  aftection  of  the 
army,  and  taught  him  to  improve  their  discontent  to  his  own 
advantage.  It  is  easy  for  faction  and  calumny  to  shed  their 
poison  on  the  administration  of  the  best  of  princes,  and  to 
accuse  even  their  virtues  by  artfully  confounding  them  with 
those  vices  to  which  they  bear  the  nearest  affinity.  The  troops 
listened  with  pleasure  to  the  emissaries  of  Maximin.  They 
blushed  at  their  own  ignominious  patience,  which,  during  thir- 
teen years,  had  supported  the  vexatious  discipline  imposed  by 
an  effeminate  Syrian,  the  timid  slave  of  his  mother  and  of  the 
senate.  It  was  time,  they  cried,  to  cast  away  that  useless 
phantom  of  the  civil  power,  and  to  elect  for  their  prince  and 
general  a  real  soldier,  educated  in  camps,  exercised  in  war, 
who  would  assert  the  glory,  and  distribute  among  his  com- 
panions the  treasures,  of  the  empire.  A  great  army  was  at 
that  time  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  emperor  himself,  who,  almost  immediately  after 
his  return  from,  tlie  Persian  war,  had  been  obliged  to  march 
against  the  barbarians  of  Germany.  The  important  care  of 
training  and  reviewing  the  new  levies  was  intrusted  to  Max- 
,rain.  One  day,  as  he  entered  the  field  of  exercise,  the  troops- 
either  from  a  sudden  impulse,  or  a  formed  conspiracy,  saluted 
him  emperor,  silenced  by  thoir  loud  acclamations  his  obstinate 
refusal,  and  hastened  to  consummate  their  rebellion  by  the 
murder  of  Alexander  Severus. 

*  Hist.  August,  p.  140.  Herodian,  1.  vi.  p.  223.  Aurclius  Victor. 
By  comparing  these  authors,  it  should  seem  tliat  Maximin  liad  the  par- 
ticular command  of  the  Tribellian  horse,  with  the  general  commission 
of  discipHning  the  recruits  of  the  whole  army.  His  biographer  cught 
to  have  market!,  with  more  care,  his  exploits,  and  the  successive  stepa 
•f  his  military  promotions. 

*  See  the  original  letter  of  Alexander  Severus,  Hist.  August  p  149 


290  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  235 

The  circumstances  of  his  death  are  variously  related.  The 
writers,  who  suppose  that  he  died  in  ignorance  of  the  ingrati- 
tude and  ambition  of  Maximin,  affirm,  that,  after  taking  a  fru- 
gal repast  in  the  sight  of  the  array,  he  retired  to  sleep,  and 
that,  about  the  seventh  hour  of  the  day,  a  part  of  his  own 
guards  broke  into  the  imperial  tent,  and,  with  many  wounds, 
assassinated  their  virtuous  and  unsuspecting  prince.''  If  we 
credit  another,  and  indeed  a  more  probable  account,  Maximin 
was  invested  with  the  purple  by  a  numerous  detachment,  a! 
the  distance  of  several  miles  from  the  head-quarters ;  and  he 
trusted  for  success  rather  to  the  secret  wishes  than  to  the  public 
declarations  of  the  great  army.  Alexander  had  sudicient  time 
to  awaken  a  faint  sense  of  loyalty  among  the  troops  ;  but  theii 
reluctant  professions  of  fidelity  quickly  vanished  on  the  appear- 
ance of  Maximin,  who  declared  himself  the  friend  and  advocate 
of  the  military  order,  and  was  unanimously  acknowledged  em- 
peror of  the  Komans  by  the  applauding  legions.  The  son  of  ■ 
Maraaea,  betrayed  and  deserted,  withdrew  into  his  tent,  desir- 
ous at  least  to  conceal  his  approaching  fate  from  the  insults  of 
the  multitude.  He  was  soon  followed  by  a  tribune  and  some 
centurions,  the  ministers  of  death ;  but  instead  of  receiving 
with  manly  resolution  the  inevitable  stroke,  his  unavailing 
cries  and  entreaties  disgraced  the  last  moments  of  his  life,  and 
converted  into  contempt  some  portion  of  the  just  pity  which 
his  innocence  and  misfortunes  must  inspire.  His  mother, 
Mamaea,  whose  pride  and  avarice  he  loudly  accused  as  the 
cause  of  his  ruin,  perished  with  her  son.  The  most  faithful  of 
his  friends  were  sacrificed  to  the  first  fury  of  the  soldiers. 
Others  Avere  reserved  for  the  more  deliberate  cruelty  of  the 
usurper ;  and  those  who  experienced  the  mildest  treatment, 
were  stripped  of  their  employments,  and  ignominiously  driven 
from  the  court  and  army.* 

The  former  tyrants,  Caligula  and  Nero,  Commodus  and 
Caracalla,  were  all  dissolute  and  unexperienced  youths,'  edu- 

*  Hist.  August,  p.  135.  I  have  softened  some  of  the  most  improba- 
ble circumstances  of  this  wretched  biographer.  From  his  ill-worded 
narration,  it  should  seem  tliat  the  prince's  buffoon  having  accidentally 
entered  the  tent,  and  awakened  the  slumbering  monarch,  the  fear  of 
punishment  urg(xl  him  to  persuade  the  disaffected  soldiers  to  commit 
tiie  murder. 

'  Ilerodian,  1.  vi.  223—227. 

'  Caligula,  the  eldest  of  the  four,  was  only  twenty-five  years  of  aga 
when  he  ascended  the  throne ;  Caracalla  was  twenty-three,  Commcdui 
nineteen,  and  Nero  no  more  than  seventeen. 


\.  D.  235.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  201 

cated  in  the  purple,  and  corrupted  by  the  pride  of  empire,  the 
luxury  of  Rome,  and  the  perfidious  voice  of  flattery.  Tha 
cruelty  of  Maxiniin  was  derived  from  a  difterent  source,  the 
fear  of  contempt.  Though  he  depended  on  the  attachn.ent 
of  the  soldiers,  who  loved  him  for  virtues  like  their  own,  he 
was  conscious  that  his,  mean  and  barbarian  origin,  his  savage 
appearance,  and  his  total  ignorance  of  the  arts  and  institutions 
of  civil  life,*  formed  a  very  unfavorable  contrast  with  the 
amiable  manners  of  the  unhappy  Alexander.  He  remera- 
bered,  that,  in  his  humbler  fortune,  he  had  often  waited  before 
the  door  of  the  haughty  nobles  of  Rome,  and  had  been  denied 
admittance  by  the  insolence  of  their  slaves.  He  recollected 
too  the  friendship  of  a  few  who  had  relieved  his  poverty,  and 
assisted  his  rising  liopes.  But  those  who  had  spurned,  and 
those  who  had  protected,  the  Thracian,  were  guilty  of  tho 
same  crime,  the  knowledge  of  his  original  obscurity.  For 
this  crime  many  were  put  to  death ;  and  by  the  execution  of 
several  of  his  benefactors,  Maximin  published,  in  characters 
of  blood,  the  indelible  history  of  his  baseness  and  ingrat- 
itude." 

The  dark  and  sanguinary  soul  of  the  tyrant  was  open  to 
every  suspicion  against  those  among  his  subjects  who  were  the 
most  distinguished  by  their  birth  or  merit.  Whenever  he  was 
alarmed  with  the  sound  of  treason,  his  cruelty  was  unbounded 
and  unrelenting.  A  conspiracy  against  his  life  was  either 
discovered  or  imagined,  and  Magnus,  a  consular  senator,  was 
named  as  the  principal  author  of  it.  Without  a  witness,  with- 
out a  trial,  and  without  an  opportunity  of  defence,  Magnus,  with 
four  thousand  of  his  supposed  accomplices,  was  put  to  death. 
Italy  and  the  whole  empire  were  infested  with  innumerable 
spies  and  informers.  On  the  slightest  accusation,  the  first  of 
the  Roman  nobles,  who  had  governed  provinces,  commanded 
armies,  and  been  adorned  with  the  consular  and  triumpha^ 
ornaments,  were  chained  on  the  public  carriages,  and  hurried 
away  to  the  emperor's  presence.  Confiscation,  exile,  or 
simple  death,  were  esteemed  uncommon  instances  of  hia 
lenity.     Some  of  the  unfortunate  sufterers  he  ordered  to  be 

8  It  appears  that  he  was  totafly  ignorant  of  the  Greek  language  * 
which,  from  its  universal  use  in  conversation  and  letters,  was  an  essen- 
tial part  of  every  liberal  education. 

»  Hist.  August,  p.  141.  Herodian,  1.  vii.p.  237.  The  latter  of  thes« 
fcistorians  1ms  been  most  unjustly  censiu-ed  for  sparing  the  vices  ot 
Maximin. 


202  THE    DECLINE    AND    PALL  [A.  D.  L*35. 

sewed  up  in  che  hides  of  slaughtered  animals,  others  to  be 
exposed  to  wild  beasts,  others  again  to  be  beaten  to  death  with 
clubs.  During  the  three  years  of  his  reign,  he  disdained  to 
visit  either  Rome  or  Italy.  His  camp,  occasionally  removed 
from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  to  those  of  the  Danube,  was  ttie 
seat  of  his  stern  despotism,  whicli  trampled  on  every  principle 
of  law  and  justice,  and  was  supported  by  the  avowed  power  of 
the  sword."  No  man  of  noble  birth,  elep^ant  accomplish- 
ments, or  knowledge  of  civil  business,  was  suffered  near  his 
person  ;  and  the  court  of  a  Roman  emperor  revived  the  idea 
of  those  ancient  chiefs  of  slaves  and  gladiators,  whose  savage 
power  had  left  a  deep  impression  of  terror  and  detestation." 

As  long  as  the  cruelty  of  Maximin  was  confined  to  the 
illustrious  senators,  or  even  to  the  bold  adventurers,  who  in 
the  court  or  army  expose  themselves  to  the  caprice  of  for- 
tune, the  body  of  the  people  viewed  their  sufferings  with  in- 
difference, or  perhaps  with  pleasure.  But  the  tyrant's  ava- 
rice, stimulated  by  the  insatiate  desires  of  the  soldiers,  a^ 
length  attacked  the  public  property.  Every  city  of  the  em- 
pire was  possessed  of  an  independent  revenue,  destined  to 
purchase  corn  for  the  multitude,  and  to  supply  the  expenses 
of  the  games  and  entertainments.  By  a  single  act  of  author- 
ity, the  whole  mass  of  wealth  was  at  once  confiscated  for  the 
use  of  the  Imperial  treasury.  The  temples  were  stripped  of 
their  most  valuable  offerings  of  gold  and  silver,  and  the 
statues  of  gods,  heroes,  and  emperors,  were  melted  down  and 
coined  into  money.  These  impious  orders  could  not  be  exe- 
cuted without  tumults  and  massacres,  as  in  many  places  the 
fieople  chose  rather  to  die  in  the  defence  of  their  altars,  than 
to  behold  in  the  midst  of  peace  their  cities  exposed  to  the 
rapine  and  cruelty  of  war.     The  soldiers  themselves,  among 

1°  The  wife  of  Maximin,  by  insinuating  wise  counsels  with  female 
gentleness,  sometmies  brought  back  the  tyrant  to  the  way  of  truth  and 
humanity.  See  Ammianus  MarcelUuus,  1.  xiv.  c.  1,  where  he  alludes 
to  the  fact  which  he  had  more  fully  related  under  the  reign  of  the 
Gordians.  We  may  collect  from  the  medals,  that  Paullina  was  the 
name  of  this  benevolent  empress ;  and  from  the  title  of  Diva,  that  she 
died  before  Maximin.  (Valesius  ad  loc.  cit.  Ammian.)  Spanheini 
de  U.  et  P.  If.  torn.  ii.  p.  300.* 

"  lie  was  compared  to  Spartacus  and  Athenio.  Hist.  August,  p 
141. 

*  Kwo  may  believe  Sy»  cellus  and  Zonaras,  in  was  Maximixj  himself  whi 
ordered  her  ieath  — G 


A.  0.23?.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  208 

whom  this  sacrilegious  plunder  was  distributed,  received  it 
with  a  blusli ;  and  hardened  as  they  were  in  acts  of  violence, 
they  dreaded  the  just  reproaches  of  their  friends  and  relations. 
Throughout  the  Koman  world  a  general  cry  of  indignation 
was  heard,  imploring  vengeance  on  the  common  enemy  of 
human  kind  ;  and  at  length,  by  an  act  of  private  oppression,  a 
peaceful  and  unarmed  province  was  driven  into  rebellion  against 
him." 

The  procurator  of  Afi'ica  was  a  servant  worthy  of  such  a 
master,  who  considered  the  fines  and  confiscations  of  the  rich 
as  one  of  the  most  fruitful  branches  of  the  Imperial  revenue. 
An  iniquitous  sentence  had  been  pronounced  against  some 
opulent  youths  of  that  country,  the  execution  of  which  would 
have  stripped  them  of  far  the  greater  part  of  their  patrimony. 
In  this  extremity,  a  resolution  that  must  either  complete  or 
prevent  their  ruin,  was  dictated  by  despair.  A  respite  of 
three  days,  obtained  with  difficulty  from  the  rapacious  treas- 
urer, was  employed  in  collecting  from  their  estates  a  great 
number  of  slaves  and  peasants  blindly  devoted  to  the  com- 
mands of  their  lords,  and  armed  with  the  rustic  weapons  of 
clubs  and  axes.  The  leaders  of  the  conspiracy,  as  they  were 
admitted  to  the  audience  of  the  procurator,  stabbed  him  with 
the  daggers  concealed  under  their  garments,  and,  by  the  as- 
sistance of  their  tumultuary  train,  seized  on  the  little  town  of 
Thysdrus,''  and  erected  the  standard  of  rebellion  against  the 
sovereign  of  the  Roman  empire.  They  rested  their  hopes  on 
the  hatred  of  mankind  against  Maximin,  and  they  judiciously 
resolved  to  oppose  to  that  detested  tyrant  an  emperor  whose 
mild  virtues  had  already  acquired  the  love  and  esteem  of  the 
Romans,  and  whose  authority  over  the  province  would  give 
weight  and  stability  to  the  enterprise.  Gordianus,  their  pro- 
consul, and  the  object  of  their  choice,  refused,  with  unfeigned 
reluctance,  the  dangerous  honor,  and  begged  with  tears,  that 
they  would  suffer  him  to  terminate  in  peace  a  long  and  inno- 
cent life,  without  staining  his  feeble  age  with  ci\'il  blood. 
Their  menaces  compelled  him  to  accept  the  Imperial  purple, 
his  only  refuge,  indeed,  against  the  jealous  cruelty  of  Max- 
's Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  238.     Zosini.  1.  i-  p.  15. 

>3  In  the  fertile  territory  of  Byzacium,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  the  south  of  Carthage.  This  city  was  decorated,  probably  by  the 
Gordiaiis,  with  the  title  of  colony,  and  with  a  fine  amphitheatre,  which 
is  still  in  a  very  perfect  state.  See  Itinerar.  Wesseling,  p.  69 ;  and 
Shaw's  Travels,  p.  117. 


204  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  23^ 

ixuiri;  since,  according  to  the  reasoning  of  tyrants,  those  whq 
nave  been  esteemed  worthy  of  the  throne  deserve  death,  and 
those  who  deUberate  have  already  rebelled." 

The  family  of  Gordianus  wns  one  of  the  most  illustiious 
of  the  Roman  senate.  On  the  father's  side  he  was  descended 
from  the  Gracchi ;  on  his  mother's,  from  the  emperor  Trajan. 
A  great  estate  enabled  him  to  support  the  dignity  of  his  birth, 
and  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  he  displayed  an  elegant  taste  and 
beneficent  disposition.  The  palace  in  Rome,  formerly  inhab- 
ited by  the  great  Pompey,  had  been,  during  several  genera- 
tions, in  the  possession  of  Gordian's  family.^*  It  was  distin- 
guished by  aucient  trophies  of  naval  victories,  and  decorated 
with  the  works  of  modern  painting.  His  villa  on  the  road  to 
Praeneste  was  celebrated  for  baths  of  singular  beauty  and  ex 
tent,  for  three  stately  rooms  of  a  hundred  feet  in  length,  and 
for  a  magnificent  portico,  supported  by  two  hundred  columns 
of  the  four  most  curious  and  costly  sorts  of  marble."  The 
public  shows  exhibited  at  his  expense,  and  in  which  the  people 
were  entertained  with  many  hundreds  of  wild  beasts  and  glad- 
iators," seem  to  surpass  the  fortune  of  a  subject ;  and  whilst 
the  liberality  of  other  magistrates  was  confined  to  a  few  sol- 
emn festivals  at  Rome,  the  magnificence  of  Gordian  was 
repeated,  when  he  was  aedile,  every  month  in  the  year,  and 
extended,  during  his  consulship,  to  the  principal  cities  of  Italy. 
He  was  twice  elevated  to  the  last-mentioned  dignity,  by  Car- 
acalla  and  by  Alexander ;    for  he   possessed    the   uncommon 

'*  Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  239.     Hist.  August,  p.  153. 

'^  Hist.  Aug.  p.  152.  The  celebrated  house  of  Pompey  in  carinia 
was  usurped  by  Marc  Antony,  and  consequently  became,  after  the 
Triumvir's  death,  a  part  of  tlie  Imperial  domain.  The  emperor  Trajan 
allowed,  and  even  encouraged,  the  rich  senators  to  purchase  those 
magnificent  and  useless  phices,  (Plin.  Panegyric,  c.  50 ;)  and  it  may 
seem  probable,  that,  on  this  occasion,  Pompey's  house  came  '«to  the 
possession  of  Gordian's  great-grandfather. 

"  The  Claudian,  the  Numidian,  the  Carystian,  and  tlie  Synnadian 
The  colors  of  Roman  marbles  have  been  faintly  described  and  imper- 
fectly distinguished.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  Carystian  was  a 
eea-green,  and  that  the  marble  of  Synnada  was  white  mixed  with 
cval  spots  of  purple.     Sec  Salmasius  ad  Hist.  August,  p.  164. 

"  Hist.  August,  p.  151,  152.  He  sometimes  gave  five  hundred 
pair  of  gladiators,  never  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty.  He  oEce 
^ave  for  the  use  of  the  circus  one  hundred  Sicilian,  and  as  many  Cap- 
padocian  horees.  The  animals  designed  for  hunting  were  chiefly 
bears,  boars,  bulls,  stags,  elks,  wUd  asses,  <fec.  Elephants  and  Uoni 
•eem  to  have  been  appropiiated  tc  Imperial  niagnificenc©. 


A  D.  237.J  or  the  roman  empire.  208 

talent  of  aci;uiriug  the  esteem  of  virtuous  princos,  witLom 
alarming  the  jealousy  of  tyrants.  His  long  life  was  inno- 
cently spent  in  the  study  of  letters  and  the  peaceful  honoi's 
of  Rome ;  and,  till  he  wfts  named  proconsul  of  Africa  by  the 
iroice  of  the  senate  and  the  approbation  of  Alexander,'*  he 
a2:)]>carf  prudently  to  have  declined  the  command  of  armies  j 
and  th(  government  of  provinces.*  As  long  as  that  emperor 
li\ed,  Africa  was  happy  under  the  administration  of  his 
worthy  representative:  after  the  barbarous  Maximin  had 
usurped  the  throne,  Gordianus  alleviated  the  miseries  which 
he  was  unable  to  prevent.  When  he  reluctantly  accepted  the 
purple,  he  was  above  fourscore  years  old  ;  a  last  and  val- 
uable remains  of  the  happy  age  of  the  Antonincs,  whose  vir- 
tues he  revived  in  his  own  conduct,  and  celebrated  in  an  ele- 
gant poem  of  thirty  books.  With  the  venerable  proconsul, 
his  son,  who  had  accompanied  him  into  Africa  as  his  lieuten- 
ant, was  likewise  declared  emperor.  His  manners  were  less 
pure,  but  his  character  was  equally  amiable  with  that  of  his 
father.  Twenty-two  acknowledged  concubines,  and  a  library 
of  sixty-two  thousand  volumes,  attested  the  variety  of  his  in- 
clinations ;  and  from  the  productions  which  he  left  behind 
him,  it  appears  that  the  former  as  well  as  the  latter  were 
designed  for  use  rather  than  for  ostentation."  The  Roman 
people  acknowledged  in  the  features  of  the  younger  Gordian 
the  resemblance  of  Scipio  Afiicanus,f  recollected  with  pleas- 
ure that  his  mother  was  the  granddaughter  of  Antoninus 
Pius,  and  rested  the  public  hope  on  those  latent  virtues  which 
had  hitherto,  as  they  fondly  imagined,  lain  concealed  in  the 
luxurious  indolence  of  private  life. 

As  soon  as  the  Gordians  had  appeased  the  first  tumuH  of  a 
popular  election,  they  removed  their  court  to  Carthage.  They 
were  received  with  the  acclamations  of  the  Africans,  who 
honored  their  virtues,  and  who,  since  the  visit  of  Hadrian,  had 

'*  See  the  original  letter,  in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  152,  which 
at  once  shows  Alexander's  respect  for  the  authority  of  the  senate, 
and  his  esteem  for  the  proconsul  appointed  by  that  assembly, 

*'  By  each  of  his  concubines,  the  younger  Gordian  left  three  or 
four  children.  His  hterary  productions,  though  less  numerovis,  were 
4y  TiQ  means  contemptible. 


*  Herodian  expressly  says  that  he  had  administered  many  provinces,  lib 
iti.  10.— W. 
t  Not  the  personal   likeness,  but  the  family  descent  &"om  the  SciplM 


206  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A..D.237. 

never  04 held  the  majesty  of  a  Roman  emperor.  But  these 
vain  acclamations  neither  strengthened  nor  confirmed  the  title 
of  tae  Gordians.  They  were  induced  by  principle,  as  well  aa 
interest,  to  solicit  the  approbation  of  the  senate ;  and  a  depu- 
tation of  the  noblest  provincials  was  sent,  without  delay,  to 
Rome,  to  relate  and  justify  the  conduct  of  their  countrymen, 
who,  having  long  suffered  with  patience,  were  at  length 
resolved  to  act  with  vigor.  The  letters  of  the  new  princes 
were  modest  and  respectful,  excusing  the  necessity  which  had 
obliged  them  to  accept  the  Imperial  title ;  but  submitting  their 
election  and  their  fate  to  the  supreme  judgment  of  the  senate.** 
The  inclinations  of  the  senate  were  neither  doubtful  nor 
divided.  The  birth  and  noble  alliances  of  the  Gordians  had 
iutimately  connected  them  with  the  most  illustrious  houses  of 
Rome.  Their  fortune  had  created  many  dependants  in  that 
assembly,  their  merit  had  acquired  many  friends.  Their  mild 
administration  opened  the  flattering  prospect  of  the  restoration, 
not  only  of  the  civil  but  even  of  the  republican  government. 
The  terror  of  military  violence,  which  had  first  obliged  the 
senate  to  forget  the  murder  of  Alexander,  and  to  ratify  the 
election  of  a  barbarian  peasant,'"  now  produced  a  contrary 
effect,  and  provoked  them  to  assert  the  injured  rights  of  free- 
dom and  humanity.  The  hatred  of  Maximin  towards  the 
senate  was  declared  and  implacable ;  the  tamest  submission 
had  not  appeased  his  fury,  the  most  cautious  innocence  would 
not  remove  his  suspicions ;  and  even  the  care  of  their  own 
safety  urged  them  to  share  the  fortune  of  an  enterprise,  of 
which  (if  unsuccessful)  they  were  sure  to  be  the  first  victims. 
These  considerations,  and  perhaps  others  of  a  more  private 
nature,  were  debated  in  a  previous  conference  of  the  consuls 
und  the  magistrates.  As  soon  as  their  resolution  was  decided, 
they  convoked  in  the  temple  of  Gostor  the  whole  bodj  of  the 
senate,  according  to  an  ancient  form  of  secrecy,*^  calculated 
to  awaken  their  attention,  and  to  conceal  their  decrees. 
"  Conscript  fathers,"  said  the  consul  Syllanus,  "  the  two 
Gordians,  both  of  consular  dignity,  the  one  your  proconsul, 

'"  Herodiaa,  1.  vii.  p.  243.     Hist.  August,  p.  144. 

*  Quod  tamen  patres  dum  periculosum  existimant ;  inermes  armato 
■esi.stere  approbaverunt. — Aurelius  Victor. 

'^  Even  the  servants  of  the  house,  the  scribes,  &c.,  were  excluded, 
4Bid  their  office  was  filled  by  the  senators  themselves.  We  are  obliged 
W)  the  Augustan  History,  p.  159,  for  preserving  tliis  curious  example 
of  the  old  discipline  of  the  commonwealth. 

M 


A.D,23'?.]  OF    THE    ROMAS    EMPIRE.  20"? 

the  other  your  lieutenant,  have  been  declared  emperors  by 
the  general  consent  of  Africa.  Let  us  return  thanks,"  ha 
boldly  continued,  "  to  the  youth  of  Thysdrus  ;  let  us 
return  thanks  to  the  faithful  people  of  Carthage,  our  gen- 
erous deliverers  from  a  horrid  monster —  Why  do  you 
hear  me  thus  coolly,  thus  timidly  ?  Why  do  you  cast  those 
anxious  looks  on  each  other  ?  Why  hesitate  ?  Maximin  is  a 
public  enemy  !  may  his  enmity  soon  expire  with  him,  and  may 
we  long  enjoy  the  prudence  and  felicity  of  Gordian  the  father, 
the  valor  and  constancy  of  Gordian  the  son  !'"  "^  The  nobio 
ardor  of  the  consul  revived  the  languid  spirit  of  the  senate. 
By  a  unanimous  decree,  the  election  of  the  Gordians  was 
ratified,  Maximin,  his  son,  and  his  adherents,  were  pronounced 
enemies  of  their  countr}-,  and  liberal  rewards  were  offered  to 
whomsoever  had  the  courage  and  good  fortune  to  destroy 
them. 

During  the  emperor's  absence,  a  detachment  of  the  Pra3- 
torian  guards  remained  at  Rome,  to  protect,  or  rather  to 
command,  the  capital.  The  praefect  Vitalianus  had  signalized 
his  fidelity  to  Maximin,  by  the  alacrity  with  which  he  had 
obeyed,  and  even  prevented  the  cruel  mandates  of  the  tyrant. 
His  death  alone  could  rescue  the  authority  of  the  senate,  and 
the  lives  of  the  senators  from  a  state  of  danger  and  suspense. 
Before  their  resolves  had  transpired,  a  quaestor  and  some  trib- 
unes were  commissioned  to  take  his  devoted  life.  They 
executed  the  order  with  equal  boldness  and  success  ;  and, 
with  their  bloody  daggers  in  their  hands,  ran  through  the 
streets,  proclaiming  to  the  people  and  the  soldiers  the  news  of 
the  happy  revolution.  The  enthusiasm  of  hberty  was  sec- 
onded by  the  promise  of  a  large  donative,  in  lands  and  money ; 
the  statues  of  Maximin  were  thrown  down  ;  the  capital  of  the 
empire  acknowledged,  with  transport,  the  authority  of  the  two 
Gordians  and  the  senate ;  '*  and  the  example  of  Rome  was 
followed  by  the  rest  of  Italy. 

A  new  spirit  had  arisen  in  that  assembly,  whose  long 
patience  had  been  insulted  by  wanton  despotism  and  military 
license.  The  senate  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  and, 
with  a  calm  intrepidity,  prepared  to  vindicate  by  arms  the 
cause    of    freedom.      Among    the   consular   senators   recom 


*•  This  spirited  speech,  translated  from  the  Au^stan  historian,  p. 
186,  seems  transcribed  by  him  from  the  origina  registers  of  the  senat« 
**  Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  244 


208  THE  DECXINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  237 

mended  by  tlioir  merit  and  services  to  the  favor  of  the  emperoi 
Alexander,  it  was  easy  to  select  twenty,  not  unequal  to  the 
command  of  an  army,  and  the  conduct  of  a  war.  To  these 
was  the  defence  of  Italy  intrusted.  Each  was  appointed  to 
act  in  his  respective  department,  authorized  to  enroll  and 
discipline  the  Italian  youth  ;  and  instructed  to  fortify  the  porta 
and  highways,  against  the  impending  invasion  of  Maximin. 
A  number  of  deputies,  chosen  from  the  most  illustrious  of 
the  senatorian  and  equestrian  orders,  were  despatched  at  the 
same  time  to  tlie  governors  of  the  several  provinces,  earnestly 
conjuring  them  to  fly  to  the  assistance  of  their  country,  and 
to  remind  the  nations  of  their  ancient  ties  of  friendship  with 
the  Roman  senate  and  people.  The  general  respect  with 
which  these  deputies  were  received,  and  the  zeal  of  Italy  and 
the  provinces  in  favor  of  the  senate,  sufficiently  prove  that  the 
subjects  of  Maximin  were  reduced  to  that  uncommon  distress, 
in  which  the  body  of  the  people  has  more  to  fear  from 
oppression  than  from  resistance.  The  consciousness  of  that 
melancholy  truth,  inspires  a  degree  of  persevering  fury, 
seldom  to  be  found  in  those  civil  wars  which  are  artificially 
supported  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  factious  and  designing 
leaders.''* 

For  while  the  cause  of  the  Gordians  was  embraced  with 
such  diffusive  ardor,  the  Gordians  themselves  were  no  more. 
The  feeble  court  of  Carthage  was  alarmed  by  the  rapid 
approach  of  Capelianus,  governor  of  Mauritania,  who,  with 
a  small  band  of  veterans,  and  a  fierce  host  of  barbarians, 
attacked  a  faithful,  but  imwarlike  province.  The  younger 
Gordian  sallied  out  to  meet  the  enemy  at  the  head  of  a  few 
guards,  and  a  numerous  imdisciplined  multitude,  educated  in 
the  peaceful  luxury  of  Carthage.  His  useless  valor  served  only 
to  procure  him  an  honorable  death  on  the  field  of  battle.  His 
aged  father,  whose  reign  had  not  exceeded  thirty-six  days,  put 
an  end  to  his  life  on  the  first  news  of  the  defeat.  Carthage, 
d3stitute  of  defence,  opened  her  gates  to  the  conqueror,  and 
Africa  was  exposed  to  the  rapacious  cruelty  of  a  slave,  obliged 
to  satisfy  his  unrelenting  master  with  a  large  account  of  blood 
and  treasure.'" 


"  Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  247, 1.  viii.  p.  277.     Hist.  August,  p  156 — 168. 

*'  Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  2.54.  Hist.  August,  p.  1.50 — 160.  We  may 
obeerve,  that  one  month  and  six  days,  for  the  reign  of  Gordian,  is  a 
juBt   correctnn  of  Casaubon  and  Panviiiius.  instead    of  the   absurd 


A.  D.  237.'!  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  SOf 

The  fate  of  the  Gordians  filled  Rome  with  just  bvit  jinex- 
pected  terror.  The  senate,  convoked  in  the  temple  of 
Concord,  affected  to  transact  the  common  business  of  the 
day ;  and  seemed  to  decline,  with  trembling  anxiety,  the  con- 
sideration of  their  own  and  the  public  danger.  A  silent 
consternation  prevailed  in  the  assembly,  till  a  senator,  of  the 
name  and  family  of  Trajan,  awakened  his  brethren  from  their 
fatal  lethargy.  He  represented  to  them  that  the  choice  of 
cautious,  dilatory  measures  had  been  long  since  out  of  their 
power ;  that  Maximin,  implacable  by  nature,  and  exasperated 
by  injuries,  was  advancing  towards  Italy,  at  the  head  of  the 
military  force  of  the  empire  ;  and  that  their  only  remaining 
alternative  was  either  to  meet  him  bravely  in  the  field,  or 
tamely  to  expect  the  tortures  and  ignominious  death  reserved 
for  unsuccessful  rebellion.  "We  have  lost,"  continued  he, 
"  two  excellent  princes  ;  but  unless  we  desert  ourselves, 
the  hopes  of  the  republic  have  not  perished  with  the  Gordians. 
Many  are  the  senators  whose  virtues  have  deserved,  and 
whose  abilities  would  sustain,  the  Imperial  dignity.  Let 
us  elect  two  emperors,  one  of  whom  may  conduct  the  war 
against  the  public  enemy,  whilst  his  colleague  remains  at 
Rome  to  direct  the  civil  administration.  I  cheerfully  expose 
myself  to  the  danger  and  envy  of  the  nomination,  and  give 
my  vote  in  favor  of  Maximus  and  Balbinus.  Ratify  my 
choice,  conscript  fathers,  o'r  appoint  in  their  place,  others 
more  worthy  of  the  empire."  The  general  apprehension 
silenced  the  whispers  of  jealousy ;  the  merit  of  the  candidates 
was  universally  acknowledged  ;  and  the  house  resounded  with 
the  sincere  acclamations  of  "  Long  life  and  victory  to  the  em- 
perors Maximus  and  Balbinus.  You  are  happy  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  senate ;  may  the  republic  be  happy  under  your 
administration !"  " 

The  virtues  and  the  reputation  of  tlie  new  emperors  jus- 
tified the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the  Romans.  The  varioua 
nature  of  their  talents  seemed  to  appropriate  to  each  his  pecu- 
liar department  of  peace  and  war,  without  leaving  room  for 

reading  of  one  year  and  six  months.  See  Commentnr.  p.  19S.  Zosi- 
mus  relates,  1.  i.  p.  17,  that  the  two  Gordians  perished  by  a  tempest  in 
the  midst  of  their  navigatiou.  A  strange  ignorance  of  history,  or  a 
ttrange  abuse  of  metaphors! 

"  See  the  Augustan  History,  p.  16G,  from  the  registers  of  the  sett 
ate  ;  the  date  is  confessedly  faulty  but  the  coincidence  of  the  ApoUin*' 
Ttan  fi^ames  enables  us  to  correct  it. 


110  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  287 

jealous  euiulatioii.  Balbinus  was  an  aclra''refi  orator,  a  pool 
of  disi  nguished  fame,  and  a  wise  magistrate,  who  had  exer- 
cised with  innocence  and  applause  the  civil  jurisdiction  in 
Almost  all  the  interior  provinces  cf  the  empire.  His  birth  was 
noble,*'  his  fortune  affluent,  his  manners  liberal  and  atfable. 
In  him  the  love  of  pleasure  was  corrected  by  a  sense  of 
dignity,  nor  had  the  habits  of  ease  deprived  him  of  a  capacity 
for  business.  The  mind  of  Maxim  us  was  formed  in  a  rougher 
mould.  By  his  valor  and  abihties  he  had  raised  himself  from 
the  meanest  origin  to  the  first  employments  of  the  state  and 
army.  His  victories  over  the  Sarmatians  and  the  Germans, 
the  austerity  of  his  life,  and  the  rigid  impartiality  of  his  jus- 
tice, while  he  was  a  Praefect  of  the  city,  commanded  the 
esteem  of  a  people  whose  ati'ections  were  engaged  in  favor 
of  the  more  amiable  Balbinus.  The  two  colleagues  had  both 
been  consuls,  (Balbinus  had  twice  enjoyed  that  honorable 
office,)  both  had  been  named  among  the  twenty  lieutenants 
of  the  senate ;  and  since  the  one  was  sixty  and  the  other  sev- 
enty-four years  old,'''  they  had  both  attained  the  full  maturity 
of  age  and  experience. 

After  the  senate  had  conferred  on  Maximus  and  Balbinus 
an  equal  portion  of  the  consular  and  tribunitian  powers,  the 
title  of  Fathers  of  their  country,  and  the  joint  office  of  Su- 
preme Pontiff,  they  ascended  to  the  Capitol  to  return  thanks 
to  the  gods,  protectors  of  Rome.^'  The  solemn  rites  of  sacri- 
fice were  disturbed  by  a  sedition  of  the  people.  The  licen- 
tious multitude  neither  loved  the  rigid  Maximus,  nor  did  they 

^^  He  was  descended  from  Cornelius  Balbus,  a  noble  Spaniard,  and 
the  adopted  son  of  Theophanes,  the  Greek  historian.  Balbus  ob- 
tained the  freedom  of  Rome  by  the  favor  of  Pompey,  and  preserved  it 
by  the  eloquence  of  Cicero.  (See  Orat.  pro  Cornel.  Balbo.)  The 
friendship  of  Caesar,  (to  whom  he  rendered  the  most  important  secret 
Bervices  in  the  civil  war)  raised  him  to  the  consulship  and  the  pontifi- 
cate, honors  never  yet  possessed  by  a  stranger.  The  nephew  of  thia 
Balbus  triumphed  over  the  Garamantes.  See  Dictionnaire  de  Bayle, 
Bu  mot  Balbus,  where  he  distinguishes  the  several  persons  of  that 
name,  and  rectifies,  with  his  usual  accuracy,  the  mistakes  of  former 
writers  concerning  them. 

^^  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  622.  But  little  dependence  is  to  be  had  on 
the  authority  of  a  modern  Greek,  so  grossly  ignorant  of  the  history 
of  the  third  century,  that  he  creates  several  imaginary  emperors,  and 
confounds  th>se  who  really  existed 

*^  HerodLan,  1.  vii.  p.  256,  supposes  that  the  senate  was  at  first 
convoked  in  the  Capitol,  and  is  very  eloquent  on  the  occasion.  Th« 
Angiistar  History  p.  116,  seems  much  more  authentic. 


A.  D.  237.J        OF  TUB  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  311 

sufEciently  fear  the  mild  and  humane  Balbinus.  Their  in- 
creasing numbers  surrounded  the  temple  of  Jupiter;  with 
obstinate  clamors  they  asserted  their  inherent  right  of  con- 
senting to  the  election  of  their  sovereign ;  and  demanded, 
with  an  a2)parent  moderation,  that,  besides  the  two  emperors, 
chosen  by  the  senate,  a  third  should  be  added  of  the  family  of 
the  Gordians,  as  a  just  return  of  gratitude  to  those  princes  who 
had  sacrificed  their  hves  for  the  republic.  At  the  head  of  tlie 
city-guards,  and  the  youth  of  the  equestrian  order,  Maxiraua 
and  Balbinus  attempted  to  cut  their  way  through  the  seditious 
multitude.  The  multitude,  armed  with  sticks  and  stones, 
drove  them  back  into  the  Capitol.  It  is  prudent  to  yield  when 
the  contest,  whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  it,  must  be  fatal  to 
both  parties.  A  boy,  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  the  grand- 
son of  the  elder,  and  nephew  *  of  the  younger  Gordian,  was 
produced  to  the  people,  invested  with  the  ornaments  and  title 
of  Caesar.  The  tumult  was  appeased  by  this  easy  conde- 
scension ;  and  the  two  emperors,  as  soon  as  they  had  been 
peaceably  acknowledged  in  Rome,  prepared  to  defend  Italy 
against  the  common  enemy. 

Whilst  in  Rome  and  Africa,  revolutions  succeeded  each 
other  with  such  amazing  rapidity,  that  the  mind  of  Maximin 
■was  agitated  by  the  most  furious  passions.  lie  is  said  to  have 
received  the  news  of  the  re"bellion  of  the  Gordians,  and  of  the 
decree  of  the  senate  against  him,  not  with  the  temper  of  a 
man,  but  the  rage  of  a  wild  beast ;  which,  as  it  could  not 
discharge  itself  on  the  distant  senate,  threatened  the  life  of  his 
son,  of  his  friends,  and  of  all  who  ventured  to  approach  his  per- 
son. The  grateful  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  Gordians 
was  quickly  followed  by  the  assurance  that  the  senate,  laying 
aside  all  hopes  of  pardon  or  accommodation,  had  substituted 
in  their  room  two  emperors,  with  whose  merit  he  could  not  be 
unacquainted.  Revenge  was  the  only  consolation  left  to  Mux- 
imin,  and  revenge  could  only  be  obtained  by  arms.  The 
strength  of  the  legions  had  been  assembled  by  Alexander  from 
all  parts  of  the  empire.  Three  successfnl  campaigns  against 
the  Germans  and  the  Sarmatians,  had  raised  their  fame,  con- 
firmed their  discipline,  and  even  increased  their  numbers,  by 
filling  the  ranks  with  the  flower  of  the  barbarian  youth.  The 
life  of  Maximin  had  been  spent  in  war,  and  the  candid  severity 
Jif  history  cannot  refuse  him  the  valor  of  a  soldier,  or  even  thu 


•  According  to  some,  the  Bon.- 


212  THE    DECLINE    AND    KALL  [A.  D.  237 

abilities  of  an  experienced  general."  It  might  naturally  bo 
expected,  that  a  prince  of  such  a  character,  instead  of  suffering 
the  rebellion  to  gain  stability  by  delay,  should  immediately 
have  marched  from  the  banks  of  the  Danube  to  those  of  the 
Tyber,  and  that  his  victorious  army,  instigated  by  contempt 
for  the  senate,  and  eager  to  gather  the  spoils  of  Italy,  should 
have  burned  with  impatience  to  finish  the  easy  and  lucrative 
conquest.  Yet  as  far  as  we  can  trust  to  the  obscure  chro 
nology  of  that  period,^^  it  appears  that  the  operations  of  some 

^'  In  Herodian,  1.  vii.  p.  249,  and  in  the  Augustan  History,  -we 
have  tliree  several  orations  of  Maximin  to  his  army,  on  the  rebellion 
of  Africa  and  Rome :  M.  de  Tillemont  has  very  justly  observed  that 
they  neither  agree  with  each  other  nor  with  truth.  Histoire  des 
Empereurs,  torn.  iii.  p.  799. 

'■  The  carelessness  of  the  writers  of  that  age,  leaves  us  in  a  sin- 
gular perplexity.  1.  We  know  that  Maximus  and  Balbinus  were 
killed  during  the  Capitoline  games.  Herodian,  1.  viii.  p.  285.  The 
authority  of  Censorinus  (de  Die  Natali,  c.  18)  enables  us  to  fix 
those  games  with  certainty  to  the  year  238,  but  leaves  us  in  igno- 
rance of  the  month  or  day.  2.  The  election  of  Gordian  by  the 
senate  is  fixed  with  equal  certainty  to  the  27th  of  May ;  but  we  are 
at  a  loss  to  discover  whether  it  was  in  the  same  or  the  preceding 
year.  Tillemont  and  Muratori,  who  maintain  the  two  opposite  opin 
ions,  bring  into  the  field  a  desultory  troop  of  authorities,  conjectures 
and  probabilities.  The  one  seems  to  draw  out,  the  other  to  contract 
the  series  of  events  between  those  periods,  more  than  can  be  well 
reconciled  to  reason  and  liistory.  Yet  it  is  necessary  to  choose  between 
them.* 

*  Eckhel  has  more  recently  treated  these  chronological  questions  with  a 
perspicuity  \vhich  gives  great  probability  to  his  conclusions.  Setting  aside 
all  the  historians,  whose  contradictions  are  irreconcilable,  he  has  only  con- 
sulted the  medals,  and  has  arranged  the  events  before  us  in  the  following 
order : — 

Maximin,  A.  U.  990,  after  having  conquered  the  Germans,  reenters 
Pannonia,  establishes  his  winter  quarters  at  Sirmium,  and  prepare?  himseli 
to  make  war  against  the  people  of  the  North.  In  the  year  991,  in  the  cal 
ends  of  January,  commences  his  fourth  tribunate.  Tlie  Gordians  are 
chosen  emperors  in  Africa,  probably  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  ot 
March.  The  senate  confirms  this  election  with  joy,  and  declares  Maximin 
the  enemy  of  Rome.  Five  days  after  he  had  heard  of  tliis  revolt,  Maximin 
sets  out  from  Sirmium  on  his  march  to  Italy.  These  events  took  place 
about  the  beginning  of  April;  a  little  after,  the  Gordians  are  slain  in 
Africa  by  Capellianus,  procurator  of  Mauritania.  The  senate,  in  its  alarm, 
names  as  emperors  Balbus  and  Maximus  Pupiauus,  and  intrusts  the  latter 
with  the  war  against  Maximin.  Maximin  is  stopped  on  his  road  near 
Aquileia,  by  the  want  of  provisions,  and  by  the  melting  of  the  snows :  he 
begins  the  siege  of  Aquileia  at  the  end  of  April.  Pupianus  assembles 
his  army  at  Ravemia.  Maximiji  and  his  son  are  assassinated  by  the  sol- 
diars  enraged  at  the  resistance  of  Aquileia :  and  this  was  probably  in 
the  middle  of  May.  Pupianus  returns  to  Rome,  ajid  assumes  the  govera- 
tnent  with  Balbinus ;  they  are  assassinated  towards  tlie  end  ot  July 
Gordian  the  younger  ascends  the  tlirone,  Eckhel  de  Doct.  Ntun.  Vet  vii 
895.— G 


A.  1>.  238-1  O^   '^"^    ROMAN    EMPIRK.  218 

foreign  war  deferred  the  Italian  expedition  till  the  ensuing 
spring.  From  the  prudent  conduct  of  Maximin,  wo  may  learn 
that  the  savage  features  of  his  character  have  been  exag- 
gerated by  the  pencil  of  party,  that  his  passions,  however 
impetuous,  submitted  to  the  force  of  reason,  and  that  the  bar- 
barian possessed  something  of  the  generous  spirit  of  Sylla,  wKo 
subdued  the  enemies  of  Rome  before  he  suffered  himself  to  re" 
venge  his  private  injuries.'^ 

When  the  troops  of  Maximin,  advancing  in  excellent  order, 
arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  Julian  Alps,  they  were  terrified  by 
the  silence  and  desolation  that  reigned  on  the  frontiers  of  Italy. 
The  villages  and  open  towns  had  been  abandoned  on  their 
approach  by  the  inhabitants,  the  cattle  was  driven  away,  the 
provisions  removed  or  destroyed,  the  bridges  broken  down, 
nor  was  any  thing  left  which  could  afford  either  shelter  or  sub- 
sistence to  an  invader.  Such  had  been  the  wise  orders  of  the 
generals  of  the  senate  :  whose  design  was  to  protract  the  war, 
to  ruin  the  army  of  Maximin  by  the  slow  operation  of  famine, 
and  to  consume  his  strength  in  the  sieges  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Italy,  which  they  had  plentifully  stored  with  men  and 
provisions  from  the  deserted  country.  Aquileia  received  and 
withstood  the  first  shock  of  the  invasion.  The  streams  that 
issue  from  the  head  of  the  Hadriatic  Gulf,  swelled  by  the  melt- 
ing of  the  winter  snows,'*  opposed  an  unexpected  obstacle  to 
the  arms  of  Maximin.  At  length,  on  a  singular  bridge,  con- 
structed with  art  and  difficulty,  of  large  hogsheads,  he  trans- 
ported his  army  to  the  opposite  bank,  rooted  up  the  beautiful 
vineyards  in  the  neighborhood  of  Aquileia,  demolished  the 
suburbs,  and  employed  the  timber   of   the    buildings   in  the 

'^  Velleius  Patcrculus,  1.  ii.  c.  24.  The  president  de  Montesqiiien 
(in  his  dialogue  between  Sylla  and  Eucrates)  expresses  the  sentimenta 
of  the  dictator  in  a  spirited,  and  even  a  sublime  manner. 

'*  Muratori  (Annali  d'  Italia,  torn.  ii.  p.  294)  thinks  the  melting 
of  the  snows  suits  better  with  the  months  of  June  or  July,  than 
with  those  of  February.  The  opinion  of  a  man  who  passed  his  life 
between  the  Alps  and  the  Apennines,  is  undoubtedly  of  great 
weight ;  yet  I  observe,  1.  That  the  long  winter,  of  which  Muratori 
takes  advantage,  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  Latin  version,  and  not  in 
tlie  Greek  text  of  Herodian.  2.  That  the  vicissitudes  of  suns  and 
rains,  to  which  the  soldiers  of  Maximin  were  exposed,  (Herodian,  L 
riii.  p.  277,)  denote  the  spring  rather  than  the  summer.  We  may 
observe,  likewise,  that  these  several  streams,  as  they  melted  into  one, 
composed  the  Timavus,  so  poetically  (in  every  sense  of  the  word)  de- 
scribed by  Virgil.  They  are  about  twelve  miles  to  the  eivst  of  Aquileia, 
See  Cluver.  Italia  Autiqua,  torn.  i.  p.  Ib9;  tbc. 


214  TUE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  288 

engines  and  towers,  with  which  on  every  side  he  attacked  the 
city.  Ihe  walls,  fallen  to  decay  during  the  security  of  a  long 
peace,  had  been  hastily  repaired  on  this  sudden  emergency : 
but  the  firmest  defence  of  Aquileia  consisted  in  the  constancy 
of  the  citizens  ;  all  ranks  of  whom,  instead  of  being  dismayed, 
were  animated  by  the  extreme  danger,  and  their  knowledge 
of  the  tyrant's  unrelenting  temper.  Their  courage  was  sup- 
ported  and  directed  by  Crispinus  and  Menophilus,  two  of  the 
twenty  lieutenants  of  the  senate,  who,  with  a  small  body  of 
regular  troops,  had  thrown  themselves  into  the  besieged  place. 
The  army  of  Maximin  was  repulsed  in  repeated  attacks,  his 
machines  destroyed  by  showers  of  artificial  fire ;  and  the 
generous  enthusiasm  of  the  Aquileians  was  exalted  into  a  con- 
fidence of  success,  by  the  opinion  that  Belenus,  their  tutelar 
deity,  combated  in  person  in  the  defence  of  his  distressed 
worshippers.^^ 

The  emperor  Maxiraus,  who  had  advanced  as  for  as  Ra 
venna,  to  secure  that  important  place,  and  to  hasten  the  mili- 
tary preparations,  beheld  the  event  .of  the  war  in  the  more 
faithful  mirror  of  reason  and  policy.  He  was  too  sensible, 
that  a  single  town  could  not  resist  the  persevering  efforts  of  a 
great  array  ;  and  he  dreaded,  lest  the  enemy,  tired  with  the 
obstinate  resistance  of  Aquileia,  should  on  a  sudden  relinquish 
the  fruitless  siege,  and  march  directly  towards  Rome.  The 
fate  of  the  empire  and  the  cause  of  fi'eedom  must  then  be 
committed  to  the  chance  of  a  battle ;  and  what  arms  could  he 
oppose  to  the  veteran  legions  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube  ? 
Some  troops  newly  levied  among  the  generous  but  enervated 
youth  of  Italy ;  and  a  body  of  German  auxiliaries,  on  whose 
firmness,  in  the  hour  of  trial,  it  was  dangerous  to  depend.  In 
the  midst  of  these  just  alarms,  the  stroke  of  domestic  conspir- 
acy punished  the  crimes  of  Maximin,  and  delivered  Rome  and 
the  senate  from  the  calamities  that  would  surely  have  attended 
the  victory  of  an  enraged  barbarian. 

The  people  of  Aquileia  liad  scarcely  experienced  any  of 
the  common  miseries  of  a  siege ;  their  magazines  were  plenti- 
fully supplied,  and  several  fountains  within  the  walls  assured 
them  of  an  inexhaustible  resource  of  fresh  water.     The   sol- 

"*  Herodian,  1.  viii.  p.  272.  The  Celtic  deity  was  supposed  to  be 
Apollo,  and  received  under  that  name  the  thanks  of  the  senate.  A 
temple  was  likewise  built  to  Venus  the  Bald,  in  honor  of  the  women 
of  Aquileia,  who  had  given  up  their  hair  to  make  ropce  for  the  mili- 
tary engines. 


A..  D.  2S8.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  21S 

diers  of  Maximin  were,  on  the  contrary,  exposed  to  the  inclem- 
ency of  the  season,  the  contagion  of  disease,  and  the  horrors 
of  famine.  The  open  country  was  ruined,  the  rivers  filled 
with  the  slain,  and  polluted  with  blood.  A  spirit  of  despair 
and  disaffection  began  to  diffuse  itself  among  the  troops ;  and 
as  they  were  cut  off  from  all  intelligence,  they  easily  believed 
that  the  whole  empire  had  embraced  the  cause  of  the  senate, 
and  that  they  were  left  as  devoted  victims  to  perish  under  the 
impregnable  walls  of  Aquileia.  The  fierce  temper  of  the 
tyrant  was  exasperated  by  disappointments,  which  he  imputed 
to  the  cowardice  of  his  army  ;  and  his  wanton  and  ill-timed 
cruelty,  instead  of  striking  terror,  inspired  hatred,  and  a  just 
desire  of  revenge.  A  party  of  Praetorian  guards,  who  trem- 
bled for  their  wives  and  children  in  the  camp  of  Alba,  near 
Rome,  executed  the  sentence  of  the  senate.  Maximin,  aban- 
doned by  his  guards,  was  slain  in  his  tent,  with  his  son,  (whom 
he  had  associated  to  the  honors  of  the  purple,)  Anulinus  the 
prsefect,  and  the  principal  ministers  of  his  tyranny.'"  The 
sight  of  their  heads,  borne  on  the  point  of  spears,  convinced 
the  citizens  of  Aquileia  that  the  siege  was  at  an  end ;  the  gates 
of  the  city  were  thrown  open,  a  liberal  market  was  provided 
for  the  hungry  troops  of  Maximin,  and  the  whole  army  joined 
in  solemn  protestations  of  fidelity  to  the  senate  and  the  people 
of  Rome,  and  to  their  lawful  emperors  Maximus  and  Balbinus. 
Such  was  the  deserved  fate  of  a  brutal  savage,  destitute,  as  he 
has  generally  been  represented,  of  every  sentiment  that  distin- 
guishes a  civilized,  or  even  a  human  being.  The  body  was 
suited  to  the  soul.  The  stature  of  Maximin  exceeded  the 
measure  of  eight  feet,  and  circumstances  almost  incredible  are 
related  of  his  matchless  strength  and  appetite."  Had  he  lived 
in  a  less  enlightened  age,  tradition  and  poetry  might  well  have 

"  Herodian,  I.  viii.  p.  279.  Hist.  August,  p.  146.  The  duration  of 
Maxiinin's  reign  has  not  been  defined  with  much  accuracy,  except 
by  Eutropius,  who  allows  him  three  years  and  a  few  days,  (1.  ix.  1 ;) 
we  may  depend  on  the  integrity  of  the  text,  as  the  Latin  original  is 
checked  by  the  Greek  version  of  Paianius. 

''  Eight  Roman  feet  and  one  third,  which  are  equal  to  above  eiglit 
English  feet,  as  the  two  measures  are  to  each  other  in  the  proportion 
of  967  to  1000.  See  Graves's  discourse  on  tlie  Roman  foot.  We  are 
told  that  Maximin  could  drink  in  a  day  an  amphora  (or  about  seven 
gallons)  of  wine,  and  eat  thirty  or  forty  pounds  of  meat.  lie  could 
move  a  loaded  wagon,  break  a  horse's  leg  with  his  fist,  crumble  stones 
in  his  hand,  and  tear  np  small  trees  by  the  loots.  See  his  life  in  tha 
A'jgustan  History. 


316  TRK    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  1>.  .'JS8 

described  him  as  one  of  those  monstrous  giants,  whose  super* 
natural  power  was  constantly  exerted  for  the  destruction  of 
mankind. 

It  is  easier  to  conceive  than  to  describe  the  universal  joy  cf 
the  Roman  -world  on  +he  fall  of  the  tyrant,  the  news  of  which 
is  said  to  have  been  carried  in  four  days  from  Aquileia  to 
Rome.  The  return  of  Maximus  was  a  triumphal  procession; 
ois  colleague  and  young  Gordian  went  out  to  meet  him,  and 
the  three  princes  made  their  entry  into  the  capital,  attended 
by  the  ambassadors  of  almost  all  the  cities  of  Italy,  saluted 
with  the  splendid  offerings  of  gratitude  and  superstition,  and 
received  with  the  unfeigned  acclamations  of  the  senate  and 
people,  who  persuaded  themselves  that  a  golden  age  would 
succeed  to  an  age  of  iron.^*  The  conduct  of  the  two  emperors 
corresponded  with  these  expectations.  They  administered 
justice  in  person ;  and  the  rigor  of  the  one  was  tempered  by 
the  other's  clemency.  The  oppressive  taxes  with  which  Max- 
imin  had  loaded  the  rights  of  inheritance  and  succession,  were 
repealed,  or  at  least  moderated.  Discipline  was  revived,  and 
with  the  advice  of  the  senate  many  wise  laws  were  enacted 
by  their  imperial  ministers,  who  endeavored  to  restore  a  civil 
constitution  on  the  ruins  of  military  tyranny.  "  What  reward 
may  we  expect  for  delivering  Rome  from  a  monster  ?"  was 
the  question  asked  by  Maximus,  in  a  moment  of  freedom  and 
confidence.  Balbinus  answered  it  without  hesitation—"  The 
love  of  the  senate,  of  the  people,  and  of  all  mankind." 
"Alas!"  replied  his  more  penetrating  colleague — "alas!  I 
dread  the  hatred  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  fital  effects  of  tlieir 
resentment."^"  His  apprehensions  were  but  too  well  justifie(\ 
by  the  event. 

Whilst  Maximus  was  preparing  to  defend  Italy  against  the 
common  foe,  Balbinus,  who  remained  at  Rome,  had  been 
engaged  in  scenes  of  blood  and  intestine  discord.  Distrust 
and  jealousy  reigned  in  the  senate ;  and  even  in  the  temples 
where  they  assembled,  every  senator  carried  either  open  or 
concealed  arms.  In  the  midst  of  their  deliberations,  two  vet- 
erans of  the  guards,  actuated  either  by  curiosity  or  a  sinister 
motive,  audaciously  thrust  themselves  into  the  house,  and 
advanced  by  degrees  beyond  the  altar  of  Victory.     Gallicanm:, 

•*  See  the  congratulatory  letter  of  Claudius  Julianus,  the  oooau!.  t« 
&e  two  emperors,  in  the  Augustan  History. 
"  Hist.  August,  p.  ni. 


A.  D.  238.J  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMl'IRE.  211 

a  consular,  and  MiEcenas,  a  Prtetoiian  senator,  viewed  witi 
indignation  their  insolent  intrusion :  drawing  tlieir  daggers, 
they  laid  the  spies  (for  such  they  deemed  them)  dead  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar,  and  then,  advancing  to  the  door  of  the  senate, 
imprudently  exhorted  the  multitude  to  massacre  the  Prajtorians, 
as  the  secret  adherenis  of  the  tyrant.  Those  who  escaped  the 
fii-st  fury  of  the  tumult  took  refuge  in  the  camp,  which  they 
defended  with  superior  advantage  against  the  reiterated  attacks 
of  the  people,  assisted  by  the  numerous  bands  of  gladiators, 
the  property  of  opulent  nobles.  The  civil  war  lasted  many 
days,  with  infinite  loss  and  confusion  on  both  sides.  When 
the  pipes  were  broken  that  supplied  the  camp  with  water,  the 
Praetorians  were  reduced  to  intolerable  distress ;  but  in  theii 
turn  they  made  desperate  sallies  into  the  city,  set  tire  to  a 
great  number  of  houses,  and  filled  the  streets  with  the  blood 
of  the  inhabitants.  The  emperor  Balbinus  attempted,  by  inef- 
fectual edicts  and  precarious  truces,  to  reconcile  the  factions 
at  Rome.  But  their  animosity,  though  smothered  for  a  while, 
burnt  with  redoubled  violence.  The  soldiers,  detesting  the 
senate  and  the  people,  despised  the  weakness  of  a  prince,  who 
wanted  either  the  spirit  or  the  power  to  command  the  obedi 
snce  of  his  subjects." 

After  the  tyrant's  death,  his  formidable  army  had  acknowl- 
edged, from  necessity  rather  than  from  choice,  the  authority 
of  Maximus,  who  transported  himself  without  delay  to  the 
camp  before  Aquileia.  As  soon  as  he  had  received  their  oath 
of  fidelity,  he  addressed  them  in  terms  full  of  mildness  and 
moderation ;  lamented,  rather  than  arraigned  the  wild  disor- 
ders of  the  times,  and  assured  the  soldiers,  that  of  all  theii 
past  conduct  the  senate  would  remember  only  their  generous 
desertion  of  the  tyrant,  and  their  voluntary  return  to  theii 
duty.  Maximus  enforced  his  exhortations  by  a  liberal  dona- 
tive, purified  the  camp  by  a  solemn  sacrifice  of  expiation,  and 
then  dismissed  the  legions  to  their  several  provinces,  impressed, 
as  he  hoped,  with  a  lively  sense  of  gratitude  and  obedience.*' 
But  nothing  could  reconcile  the  haughty  spirit  of  the  Praeto- 
rians. They  attended  the  emperors  on  the  memorable  day  of 
their  public  entry  into  Rome  ;  but  amidst  the  general  accla 
mations,  the  sullen,  dejected  countenance  of  the  guards  suf 
ficiently    declared   that   they    considered    themselves    as    ihc 


*"  Herodian,  1.  viii.  p.  258. 
*'  Herodian,  1.  viii.  p.  213 
▼OL-   I. — K 


118  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  238, 

object,  rather  than  the  partners,  of  the  triumph.  When  tlie 
whole  body  was  united  in  their  camp,  t'liose  who  had  servea 
nnder  Maximin,  and  those  who  had  rem^iined  at  Rome,  insen- 
sibly communicated  to  each  other  their  complaints  ana  appre- 
hensions. The  emperors  chosen  by  the  army  had  perished 
with  ignominy;  those  elected  by  the  senate  weie  seated  on 
the  throne.*'  The  long  discord  between  the  civil  and  military 
powers  was  decided  by  a  war,  in  which  the  former  had  ob- 
tained a  complete  victory.  The  soldiers  must  now  learn  a  new 
doctrine  of  submission  to  the  senate ;  and  whatever  clemency 
was  affected  by  that  politic  assembly,  they  dreaded  a  slow  re- 
venge, colored  by  the  name  of  discipline,  and  justified  by  fair 
pretences  of  the  public  good.  But  their  fate  was  still  in  their 
own  hands ;  and  if  they  had  courage  to  despise  the  vain  ter- 
rors of  an  impotent  republic,  it  was  easy  to  convince  the  world, 
that  those  who  were  masters  of  the  arms,  were  masters  of  the 
authority,  of  the  state. 

When  the  senate  elected  two  princes,  it  is  probable  that, 
besides  the  declared  reason  of  providing  for  the  various  emer- 
gencies of  peace  and  war,  they  were  actuated  by  the  secret 
desire  of  weakening  by  division  the  despotism  of  the  supreme 
magistrate.  Their  policy  was  effectual,  but  it  proved  fatal 
both  to  their  emperors  and  to  themselves.  The  jealousy  of 
power  was  soon  exasperated  by  the  difference  of  character. 
Maximus  despised  Balbinus  as  a  luxurious  noble,  and  was  in 
his  turn  disdained  by  his  colleague  as  an  obscure  soldier. 
Their  silent  discord  was  understood  rather  than  seen ; "  but 
the  mutual  consciousness  prevented  them  from  uniting  in  any 
vigorous  measures  of  defence  against  their  common  enemies 
of  the  Praetorian  camp.  The  whole  city  was  employed  in  the 
Capitoline  games,  and  the  emperors  were  left  almost  alone  in 
the  palace.  On  a  sudden,  they  were  alarmed  by  the  approach 
of  a  troop  of  desperate  assassins.  Ignorant  of  each  other's 
situation  or  designs,  (for  they  already  occupied  very  distant 
apartments,)  afraid  to  give  or  to  receive  assistance,  they  wasted 
the  important  moments  in  idle-  iebates  and  fruitless  recrimina- 
tions.    The  arrival  of  the  gujv  ds  pat  an  end  to  the  vain  strife. 


*'  The  observation  had  been  ^•  ,icle  imprudently  enough  m  the  accla- 
tnations  of  the  senate,  and  witb  'egard  to  the  soldiers  it  carried  the 
»ppearance  of  a  wanton  insult.     Hist.  August,  p.  170. 

"  DiscordiiB  tacitae,  et  quae  J  t,elligerentui-  potius  quar^  viderentur. 
Eiat.  August,  p.  170.  Thi*  wel>  chosen  expression  is  probably  e^ct^ea 
from  some  better  writer. 


A.  D.  238.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  219 

They  seized  on  these  emperors  of  the  senate,  for  such  they 
called  them  with  malicious  contempt,  stripped  them  of  their 
garments,  and  dragged  them  in  insolent  triumph  through  the 
streets  of  Rome,  with  the  design  of  inflicting  a  slow  and  cruel 
death  on  these  unfortunate  princes.  The  fear  of  a  rescue 
from  the  faithful  Germans  of  the  Imperial  guards,  shortened 
their  tortures ;  and  their  bodies,  mangled  with  a  thousand 
wounds,  were  left  exjDosed  to  the  insults  or  to  the  pity  of  the 
populace.** 

In  the  space  of  a  few  months,  six  princes  had  been  cut  off 
by  the  sword.  Gordian,  who  had  already  received  the  title  of 
Cjesar,  was  the  only  person  that  occurred  to  the  soldiers  as 
proper  to  fill  the  vacant  throne."  They  carried  him  to  the 
camp,  and  unanimously  saluted  him  Augustus  and  Emperor. 
His  name  was  dear  to  the  senate  and  people  ;  his  tender  age 
promised  a  long  impunity  of  military  license ;  and  the  sub- 
mission of  Rome  and  the  provinces  to  the  choice  of  the  Prae- 
torian guards,  saved  the  rejHiblic,  at  the  expense  indeed  of  its 
freedom  and  dignity,  from  the  horrors  of  a  new  civil  war  in  the 
heart  of  the  capital.*" 

**  Herodian,  1.  viii.  p.  281,  288. 

*^  Qiiia  non  alius  erat  in  prajsenti,  is  the  expression  of  the  Augustan 
History. 

*"  Quintus  Curtius  (1.  x.  c.  9,)  pays  an  elegant  compliment  to  the 
emperor  of  the  day,  for  having,  by  his  happy  accession,  extinguished 
60  many  firebrands,  sheathed  so  many  swords,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
evils  of  a  divided  government.  After  weighing  with  attention  every 
word  of  the  passage,  I  am  of  opinion,  that  it  suits  better  with  the 
elevation  of  Gordian,  than  with  any  other  period  of  tlie  Roman  history. 
In  that  case,  it  may  serve  to  decide  the  age  of  Quintus  Curtius.  Those 
who  place  him  under  the  first  Caisars,  argue  from  the  purity  of  his  style 
but  are  embarrassed  by  the  silence  of  Quiiitilian,  in  his  accurate  list  of 
Roman  historians.* 

*  This  conjecture  of  Gibbon  is  without  foundation.  Many  passages  in 
the  work  of  Q.uintus  Curtius  clearly  place  him  at  an  earlier  period.  Thus, 
in  speaking  of  the  Parthians,  he  says,  Hinc  in  Parthicum  pcrventum  est , 
tunc  ignobilein  gentcm:  niuic  caput  omnium  qui  post  Euphratem  ct  Tigriin 
amnes  siti  Rubro  raari  tcrminautur.  The  Parthian  empire  had  tliis  extent 
only  in  the  first  ago  of  the  vulgar  a;ra:  to  that  age,  therefore,  must  be  as- 
signed the  date  of  Q,uintus  Curtius.  Although  the  critics  (says  M.  de  Sainta 
Croix)  have  multiplied  conjectures  on  this  sultjci-t,  most  of  them  have  ended 
by  adopting  the  opinion  wliich  places  (iiiintus  Curtius  under  the  reign  of 
Claudius.  See  .Tust.  Lips,  ad  Ann.  Tac.  i>  20.  Michel  lo  Tellier  Pnef.  ik 
Curt.  Tillemont  Hist,  des  Erap.  i.  p.  251.  IJ  d  Bos  Reflections  sur  la  Poesie, 
2d  Partie.  Tiraboschi  Scoria  della,  Lett.  Ital.  ii.  149.  Exameu.  criL  des 
Historiens  d'Alexandrc,  2d  ed.  p.  104,  849,  8.50.— G. 

This  interminable  question  seems  as  mu  :h  perplexed  as  ever.    Tho  Qrrt 


J20  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  240t 

As  the  third  Gordian  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  the  history  of  his  hfe,  were  it  known  to  ua 
with  greater  accuracy  than  it  really  is,  would  contain  little 
move  than  the  account  of  his  education,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
ministers,  who  by  turns  abused  or  guided  the  simplicity  of  his 
unexperienced  youth.  Immediately  after  his  accession,  he 
fell  into  the  hands  of  his  mother's  eunuchs,  that  pernicious 
vermin  of  the  East,  who,  since  the  days  of  Elagabalus,  had 
infested  the  Roman  palace.  By  the  artful  conspiracy  of  these 
wretches,  an  impenetrable  veil  was  drawn  between  an  innocent 
prince  and  his  oppressed  subjects,  the  virtuous  disposition  of 
Gordian  was  deceived,  and  the  honors  of  the  empire  sold  with- 
out his  knowledge,  though  in  a  very  public  manner,  to  the 
most  worthless  of  mankind.  We  are  ignorant  by  what  for 
tunate  accident  the  emperor  escaped  from  this  ignominiouij 
slavery,  and  devolved  his  confidence  on  a  minister,  whose 
wise  counsels  had  no  object  except  the  glory  of  his  sovereign 
and  the  happiness  of  the  people.  It  should  seem  that  love  and 
learning  introduced  Misitheus  to  the  favor  of  Gordian.  The 
young  prince  married  the  daughter  of  his  master  of  rhetoric, 
and  j)romoted  his  father-in-law  to  the  iirst  offices  of  the  empire. 
Two  admirable  letters  that  passed  between  them  are  still 
extant.  The  minister,  with  the  conscious  dignity  of  virtue, 
congratulates  Gordian  that  he  is  delivered  from  the  tyranny  of 
the  eunuchs,'"  and  still  more  that  he  is  sensible  of  his  deliver 
ance.  The  emperor  acknowledges,  with  an  amiable  con- 
fusion, the  errors  of  his  past  conduct ;  and  laments,  with  sin- 
gular propriet}',  the  misfortune  of  a  monarch,  from  whom  a 
venal  tribe  of  courtiers  perpetually  L'bor  to  conceal  the 
truth." 


"  Hist.  August,  p.  161.  From  some  liints  in  the  two  letters,  I 
should  expect  that  the  eunuchs  were  not  expelled  the  palace  without 
some  degree  of  gentle  violence,  and  that  the  yomig  Gordian  rather 
approved  of,  than  consented  to,  their  disgrace. 

"  Duxit  uxorem  filiam  Misithei,  quem  causa  eloquentise  dignum 
parentela  sua  putavit;  et  prpefectum  statini  fecit;  post  quod,  uon 
puerile  jam  et  contemjitibile  videbatm-  imperium. 


argument  of  M.  Guizot  is  a  strong  one,  except  tliat  Parthian  is  often  used 
by  later  writers  for  Persian.  Cunzius,  in  his  preface  to  an  edition  pub- 
lislied  at  Helmstadt,  (1802,)  maintains  the  opinion  of  Bagnolo,  which  as- 
Bigns  a.  Curtius  to  the  time  of  Constantino  the  Great.  Schmieder,  in  his 
edit.  Gottiig:.  1803,  sums  up  in  this  eenteuce,  a;tDtcm  Cortii  ignorari  palaa 
eM.— U. 


I 


A  D.  242.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  221 

The  life  of  Misitheus  had  been  spent  in  the  profecsion  of 
letters,  not  of  arms  ;  yet  such  w.os  the  versatile  genius  of  that 
threat  man,  that,  when  he  was  appointed  Praetorian  Prsefect, 
he  discharo;ed  the  military  duties  of  his  phice  with  vigor  and 
ability.  The  Persians  had  invaded  Mesopotamia,  and  threat- 
ened Antioch.  By  the  persuasion  of  his  fether-in-law,  the 
young  emperor  quitted  the  luxury  of  Rome,  opened,  for  the 
last  time  recorded  in  history,  the  temple  of  Janus,  and 
marched  in  person  into  the  East.  On  his  approach,  with  a 
great  army,  the  Persians  withdrew  their  garrisons  from  the 
cities  which  they  had  already  taken,  and  retired  from  the 
Euphrates  to  the  Tigris.  Gordian  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of 
announcing  to  the  senate  the  first  success  of  his  arms,  which 
he  ascribed,  with  a  becoaiing  modesty  and  gratitude,  to  the 
wisdom  of  his  father  and  Prsefect.  During  the  whole  expe- 
dition, Misitheus  watched  over  the  safety  and  discipline  of 
the  army  ;  whilst  he  prevented  their  dangerous  murmurs  by 
maintaining  a  regular  plenty  in  the  camp,  and  by  establishing 
ample  magazines  of  vinegar,  bacon,  straw,  barley,  and  wheat 
in  all  the  cities  of  the  fi'ontier."  But  the  prosperity  of 
Gordian  expired  with  Misitheus,  who  died  of  a  flux,  not  with 
out  very  strong  suspicions  of  poison.  Philip,  his  successor  in 
the  prtefecture,  was  an  Arab  by  birth,  and  consequently, 
in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  a  robber  by  profession.  His 
rise  from  so  obscure  a  station  to  the  first  dignities  of  the 
empire,  seems  to  prove  that  he  was  a  bold  and  able  leader. 
But  his  boldness  prompted  him  to  aspire  to  the  throne,  and 
his  abilities  were  employed  to  supplant,  not  to  serve,  his  indul- 
gent master.  The  minds  of  the  soldiers  were  irritated  by  an 
artificial  scarcity,  created  by  his  contrivance  in  the  camp ; 
and  the  distress  of  the  array  was  attributed  to  the  youth  and 
incapacity  of  the  prince.  It  is  not  in  our  power  to  trace  the 
Buccessive  steps  of  the  secret  conspiracy  and  open  sedition, 
which  were  at  length  fatal  to  Gordian.  A  sepulchral  monu- 
ment was  erected  to  his  memory  on  the  spot "  where  he  was 

*°  Hist.  August,  p.  162.  Aurelius  Victor.  Porphyrius  ia  Vit 
Plotin.  ap.  Fabriciuni,  Biblioth.  Grsec.  1.  iv.  c.  36.  4lie  philosopher 
Plotinus  accompanied  the  army,  prompted  by  the  love  of  knowledge, 
fend  by  the  hope  of  penetrating  as  far  as  India. 

^°  About  twenty  miles  from  the  little  town  of  Circesium,  on  the 
frontier  of  the  two  empires.* 

"  Now  Kcrkesia ;  placed  in  the  angle  fonned  by  the  Juncture  of  tht 
Chaboras,  or  al  Khabour,  witli  the  Euplirates.    This  situation  appeared  m 


222  THE  DECLINE  i  ND  FALL        [A.  D.  244 

killed,  near  thj  conflux  of  the  Euphrates  with  the  Httle  rive. 
Aboius.*'  The  fortunate  Philip,  raised  to  the  empire  by  the 
votes  of  the  soldiers,  found  a  ready  obedience  from  the  senate 
and  the  provinces." 

We  cannot  forbear  transcribing  the  ingenious,  though 
Bomewhat  fanciful  description,  which  a  celebrated  writer 
of  our  own  times  has  traced  of  the  military  government  of 
the  Roman  empire.  "  What  in  that  age  was  called  the  Ro- 
man empire,  was  only  an  irregular  republic,  not  unhke  the 
aristocracy^'  of  Algiers,"  where  the  militia,  possessed  of  the 
Bovereignty,  creates  and  deposes  a  magistrate,  who  is  styled 
a  Dey.  Perhaps,  indeed,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule,  that  a  military  government  is,  in  some  respects,  more 
republican  than  monarchical.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the 
soldiers  only  partook  of  the  government  by  their  disobedience 
and  rebellions.  The  speeches  made  to  them  by  the  emperors, 
were  they  not  at  length  of  the  same  nature  as  those  formerly 
pronounced  to  the  peo])le  by  the  consuls  and  the  tribunes  ? 
And  although  the  armies  had  no  regular  place  or  forms  of 
assembly ;  though  their  debates  were  short,  their  action  sud- 
den, and  their  resolves  seldom  the  result  of  cool  reflection, 
did  they  not  dispose,  with  absolute  sway,  of  the  public  for- 
tune ?     What  was    the   emperor,  except   the   minister  of  a 

**  The  inscription  (which  contained  a  very  singular  pun)  was  erased 
by  the  order  of  Licinius,  who  claimed  some  degree  of  relationsliip  to 
Philip,  (Hist.  August,  p.  166 ;)  but  the  tmnulus,  or  mound  of  earth 
which  formed  the  se,pulchre,  still  subsisted  in  the  time  of  Julian.  See 
Ammian  Marcellin.  xxiii.  5. 

^^  AureUus  Victor.  Eutrop.  ix.  2.  Orosius,  vii.  20.  Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  xxiii.  5.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  19.  Philip,  who  was  a  native  of 
Bostra,  was  about  forty  years  of  age.* 

^'  Can  the  epithet  of  Aristocracy  be  applied,  with  any  propriety,  to 
the  government  of  Algiers  ?  Every  military  government  floats  between 
two  extremes  of  absolute  monarchy  and  wild  democracy. 

^*  The  military  republic  of  the  Mamelukes  in  Egypt  would  have 
afforded  M.  de  filontesquieu  (see  Considerations  sur  la  Grandeur  et  la 
Decadence  des  Romains,  c.  16)  a  juster  and  more  noble  parallel. 


advantagooi-s  to  Diocletian,  that  he  raised  fortifications  to  make  it  the  bm 
wark  of  the  empire  on  the  side  of  Mesopotamia.  D'Anville,  Geog.  Auc.  iL 
196. — G.  It  is  the  Carchemish  of  the  Old  Testament,  2  Chron.  xxxv.  20. 
Ter.  xlvi.  2. — M. 

*  Now  Bosra,  It  was  once  the  metropolis  of  a  province  named  Arabia, 
ind  the  cliief  city  of  Auranitis,  of  which  the  name  is  preserved  in  Beled 
flauran,  the  hmits  of  which  meet  the  desert.  DAnville.  Geog.  Anc.  ii.  188. 
A.ccording  to  Victor,  (in  Caesar.,)  Philip  was  a  native  of  Trachonitis  anotbef 
province  of  Arabia. — G. 


A.  D.  248.]        €F  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  22S 

n'olout  government,  elected  for  the  private  benefit  of  tha 
soldiers  ? 

"  When  the  army  had  elected  Philip,  who  was  Prietorian 
praefect  to  the  third  Gordian,  the  latter  demanded  that  he 
might  remain  sole  emperor ;  he  was  unable  to  obtain  it.  Ho 
requested  that  the  power  might  be  equally  divided  between 
them ;  the  army  would  not  listen  to  Lis  speech.  He  con- 
eented  to  be  degraded  to  the  rank  of  Coesar ;  the  favor  was 
refused  him.  He  desired,  at  least,  he  might  be  appointed 
Praetorian  praefect;  his  piayer  was  rejected.  Finally,  he 
pleaded  for  his  lite.  The  array,  in  these  several  judgments, 
exercised  the  supi'ome  magistracy."  According  to  the  histo- 
rian, whose  doubtful  narrative  the  President  De  Montesquieu 
has  adopted,  Philip,  who,  during  the  whole  transaction,  had 
preserved  a  sullen  silonce,  was  inchned  to  spare  the  innocent 
hfe  of  his  benefactoif;  till,  recollecting  that  his  innocence 
might  excite  a  dangeroui:  compassion  in  the  Roman  world,  he 
commanded,  without  regard  to  his  supphant  cries,  that  ho 
should  be  seized,  stripped,  and  led  away  to  instant  death 
After  a  moment's  pause,  the  inhuman  sentence  was  exe- 
cuted." 

On  his  return  from  the  East  to  Rome,  Philip,  desirous  of 
obliterating  the  memory  of  his  'crimes,  and  of  captivating 
the  affections  of  the  people,  solemnized  the  secular  games 
with  infinite  pomp  and  magnificence.  Since  their  institution 
JT  revival  by  Augustus,"  they  had  bee'.i  celebrated  by  Clau- 

"*  The  Augustan  History  (p.  163,  164)  cannot,  in  this  instance,  be 
reconciled  with  itself  or  with  probability.  H'c"y  could  Philip  con- 
demn his  predecessor,  and  yet  consecrate  his  memory  ?  How  could 
he  order  his  public  execution,  and  yet,  in  his  letters  to  the  senate, 
exculpate  liimself  from  the  guilt  of  his  death?  Phi  Up,  thougii  an 
ambitious  usm-per,  was  by  no  means  a  mad  tyrant.  Some  chrono- 
.ogical  difficulties  have  Ukewise  been  discovered  by  the  nice  eyes  of 
TiUemont  and  Muratori,  in  this  supposed  association  of  Philip  to  tha 
empire.* 

^^  The  account  of  the  last  supposed  celebration,  though  in  an 
enhghtened  period  of  history,  was  so  very  doubtful  and  obscure,  that 
the  alternative  seems  not  doubtful.     When  the  popish  jubilees,  the 


*  Wenck  endeavors  to  reconcile  these  discrepancies.  He  snppo.scs  that 
Gordian  was  led  away,  and  died  a  natural  death  in  prison.  This  is  directly 
coutraiy  to  the  statement  of  Capitolinus  and  of  Zosimus,  whom  he  addacei 
in  support  of  his  theory.  He  is  more  successful  in  his  precedent*  of 
ugurpers  deifying  the  v  ictims  of  their  ambition.  Sit  dlvns,  dummodo  noi 
•it  vivus. — M. 


224  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  D.  248 

dius;  by  Domitian,  and  by  Severus,  and  were  now  renewed 
the  filth  time,  on  tlie  accomplishment  of  the  full  poiiod  of  a 
thousand  years  from  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Every  cir- 
cumstance of  the  secular  games  was  skilfully  adapted  to 
insj^ire  the  superstitious  mind  with  deep  and  solemn  rever- 
ence. The  long  interval  between  them^'  exceeded  the  term 
of  human  life  ;  and  as  none  of  the  spectators  had  already 
seen  them,  none  could  flatter  themselves  with  the  expectation 
of  beholding  them  a  second  time.  The  mystic  sacrificed 
were  performed,  during  three  nights,,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tyber ;  and  the  Campus  Martius  resounue^l  with  music  and 
dances,  and  was  illuminated  with  innumerable  lamps  and 
torches.  Slaves  and  strangers  were  excluded  from  any  par- 
ticipation in  these  national  ceremonies.  A  chorus  of  twenty- 
seven  youths,  and  as  many  virgins,  o^  noble  families,  and 
whose  parents  were  both  alive,  implored  the  propitious  gods 
in  favor  of  the  present,  and  for  the  hope  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion ;  requesting,  in  religious  hymns,  that  according  to  the 
faith  of  their  ancient  oracles,  they  would  still  maintain  the 
virtue,  the  felicity,  and  the  em,pire  of  the  Roman  people.'* 
The  magnificence  of  Philip's  phows  and  entertainments  daz- 
zled the  eyes  of  the  multituue.  The  devout  were  employed 
in  the  rites  of  superstition,  whilst  the  reflecting  few  revolved 
in  their  anxious  minds  the  past  history  and  the  futuie  fate  of 
the  empire. 

Since  Romulus,  with  a  small  band  of  shepherds  and  out- 
laws, fortified  himself  on  the  hills  near  the  Tyber,  ten 
centuries  had  already  elapsed.^'  During  the  four  first  ages, 
the  Romans,  in  tho  laborious  school  of  poverty,  had  acquired 

copy  of  the  secular  games,  were  invented  by  Boniface  VII.,  the  crafty 
3ope  pretended  that  he  only  revived  an  ancient  institution.  See  M. 
.6  Chais,  Lettres  sur  les  Jubiles. 

"  Either  of  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  ten  years.  Varro  and 
Ltvy  adopted  the  former  opinion,  but  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
Sybil  consecrcited  the  latter,  (Censorious  de  Die  Natal,  c.  17.)  The 
emperors  Claudius  and  Philip,  however,  did  not  treat  the  oracle  with 
impUcit  respect. 

^  The  idea  of  the  secular  games  is  best  understood  from  the  poem 
of  Horace,  and  the  description  of  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  167,  &c. 

'^  The  received  calculation  of  Varro  assigns  to  the  foundation  of 
Rome  an  asra  that  corresponds  with  the  754tli  year  before  Christ.  But 
BO  little  is  the  chronology  of  Rome  to  be  depended  on,  iu  the  more 
early  ages,  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has  brought  the  same  exent  a«  loT? 
«8  the  year  627      [Compare  Niebuhr  vol.  i.  p.  271  — M.l 


E 


A.  D.   248.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMl'IRB.  22fi 

the  virtues  of  war  and  government :  by  the  vigorous  exertion 
of  those  virtues,  and  by  the  assistance  of  fortune,  they  had 
obtained,  in  the  course  of  the  three  succeeding  centuries,  an 
absolute  empire  over  many  countries  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa.  The  last  three  hundred  years  had  been  consumed  in 
apparent  prosperity  and  internal  decline.  The  nation  of  sol- 
diers, magistrates,  and  legislators,  who  composed  t}»c  thirty- 
five  tribes  of  the  Roman  people,  were  dissolved  into  the 
common  mass  of  mankind,  and  confounded  with  the  millions 
of  servile  provincials,  who  had  received  the  name,  without 
adopting  the  spirit,  of  Romans.  A  mercenary  army,  levied 
among  the  subjects  and  barbarians  of  the  frontier,  was  tho 
only  order  of  men  who  preserved  and  abused  their  independ- 
ence. By  their  tumultuary  election,  a  Syrian,  a  Goth,  or  an 
Arab,  w^as  exalted  to  the  throne  of  Rome,  and  invested  with 
despotic  power  over  the  conquests  and  over  the  country  of 
the  Scipios. 

The  limits  of  the  Roman  empire  still  extended  from  the 
Western  Ocean  to  the  Tigris,  and  from  Mount  Atlas  to  the 
Rhine  and  the  Danube,  To  the  undiscerning  eye  of  the  vul- 
gar, Philip  appeared  a  monarch  no  less  powerful  than  H*driaa 
or  Augustus  had  formerly  been.  The  form  was  still  the  same,, 
but  the  animating  health  and  vigor  were  fled.  The  industry 
of  the  people  was  discouraged  and  exhausted  by  a  long  series! 
of  oppression.  The  discipline  of  the  legions,  which  alone,' 
after  the  extinction  of  every  other  virtue,  had  propped  the 
greatness  of  the  state,  was  corrupted  by  the  ambition,  or  re- 
laxed by  the  weakness,  of  the  emperors.  The  strength  of  the 
frontiers,  which  had  always  consisted  in  anus  rather  thiAA  in 
fortifications,  was  insensibly  undermined ;  and  the  fi^rest 
provinces  were  left  exposed  to  the  rapaciousness  or  amb*ion 
of  the  barbarians,  who  soon  discovered  the  decline  of  tha 
Roman  empire. 


t^  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       |  A.  D.  226-240 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

n    THE   STATE    OF    PERSIA     AFTER    THE    RESTORATION    OF    TItH 
MONARCHY    BY    ARTAXERXES. 

Whenever  Tacitus  indulges  himself  in  those  beautiful 
episodes,  in  which  he  relates  some  domestic  transaction  of 
the  Germans  or  of  the  Parthians,  his  principal  object  is  to 
reheve  the  attention  of  the  reader  from  a  uniform  scene  of 
vice  and  misery.  From  the  reign  of  Augustus  to  the  time 
of  Alexander  Severus,  the  enemies  of  Rome  were  in  her 
bosom — the  tyrants  and  the  soldiers ;  and  her  prosperity  had 
a  very  distant  and  feeble  interest  in  the  revolutions  that  might 
happen  beyond  the  Rhine  and  the  Euphrates.  But  when  the 
military  order  had  levelled,  in  wild  anarchy,  the  power  of  the 
prince,  the  laws  of  the  senate,  and  even  the  disciphne  of  the 
camp,  the  barbarians  of  the  North  and  of  the  East,  who  had 
long  hovered  on  the  frontier,  boldly  attacked  the  provinces  of 
a  declining  monarchy.  Their  vexatious  inroads  were  changed 
into  formidable  irruptions,  and,  after  a  long  vicissitude  of  mu- 
tual calamities,  many  tribes  of  the  victorious  invaders  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire.  To 
obtain  a  clearer  knowledge  of  these  great  events,  we  shall 
endeavor  to  form  a  previous  idea  of  the  character,  forces,  and 
designs  of  those  nations  who  avenged  the  cause  of  Hannibal 
and  Mithridates. 

In  the  more  early  ages  of  the  world,  whilst  the  forest  that 
covered  Europe  afforded  a  retreat  to  a  few  wandering  savages, 
the  inhabitants  of  Asia  were  already  collected  into  populous 
cities,  and  reduced  under  extensive  empires,  the  seat  of  the 
arts,  of  luxury,  and  of  despotism.  The  Assyrians  reigned 
over  the  East,'  till  the  sceptre  of  Ninus  and  Semiramis  dropped 


'  An  ancient  chronologist,  quoted  by  Valleius  Paterculus,  (1.  i.  c.  6,) 
observes,  that  the  Assyrians,  the  Medes,  the  Persians,  and  the  Macedo- 
nians, reigned  over  Asia  one  thousand  nine  huncbed  and  ninety-five 
years,  from  the  accession  of  Ninus  to  the  defeat  of  Antiochus  by  the 
Romans.  As  the  latter  of  tliese  great  events  happened  289  years  be- 
fore Christ,  the  former  may  be  placed  2184  years  before  the  same  sera 


A.  D.  226-240.]     of  the  roman  empire.  227 

from  the  hands  of  their  enervated  successors.  Tlie  Medes 
and  the  Babylonians  divided  their  power,  and  were  themselves 
swallowed  up  in  the  monarchy  of  the  Persians,  whose  arms 
could  not  be  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  Asia.  Fol- 
lowed, as  it  is  said,  by  two  millions  of  men,  Xerxes,  the  de- 
scendant of  Cyrus,  invaded  Greece.  Thirty  thousand  sol- 
diers,  under  the  command  of  Alexander,  the  son  of  Philip, 
who  was  intrusted  by  the  Greeks  with  their  glory  and  revenge, 
were  sufficient  to  subdue  Persia.  The  princes  of  the  house 
of  Seleucus  usurped  and  lost  the  Macedonian  command  over 
the  East.  About  the  same  time,  that,  by  an  ignominious 
treaty,  they  resigned  to  the  Romans  the  country  on  this  side 
Mount  Tarus,  they  were  driven  by  the  Parthians,*  an  obscure 
horde  of  Scythian  origin,  from  all  the  provinces  of  Upper 
Asia.  The  formidable  power  of  the  Parthians,  which  spread 
*i"om  India  to  the  frontiers  of  Syria,  was  in  its  turn  subverted 
by  Ardshir,  or  Artaxerxes;  the  founder  of  a  new  dynasty, 
which,  under  the  name  of  Sassanides,  governed  Persia  till  the 
invasion  of  the  Arabs.  This  great  revolution,  whose  fatal 
influence  was  soon  experienced  by  the  Romans,  happened  in 
the  fourth  year  of  Alexander  Severus,  two  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-six years  after  the  Christian  era.''  f 

The  Astronomical  Observations,  found  at  Babylon,  by  Alexander, 
went  fifty  years  higher. 

^  In  the  five  hundred  and  tliirty-eighth  year  of  the  aera  of  Seleu- 
cus. See  Agathias,  1.  ii.  p.  63.  This  great  event  (such  is  the  care- 
lessness of  the  Orientals)  is  placed  by  Eutychius  as  high  as  the  tenth 
year  of  Commodus,  and  by  Moses  of  Chorene  as  low  as  the  reign  of 
Philip.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  has  so  servilely  copied  (xxiii.  6)  his 
ancient  materials,  which  are  indeed  very  good,  that  he  describes  thfc 
family  of  the  Arsacides  as  stiU  seated  on  the  Persian  throne  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  centiu'v. 


*  The  Parthians  ^vere  a  tribe  of  the  ludo-Germauic  branch  which  dwell 
on  the  southeast  of  the  Caspian,  and  belonged  to  the  same  race  as  the 
GetEE,  the  Massagetae,  and  other  nations,  confounded  by  the  ancients  under 
the  vagne  denomination  of  Scythians.  Klaproth,  Tableaux  Hist,  d  I'Asie, 
p.  40.  Strabo  (p.  747)  calls  the  Parthians  Carduchi,  i.  c.,  the  inhabitants  of 
Curdistan. — M. 

t  The  Persian  History,  if  the  poetry  of  the  Shah  Nameh,  the  Book  of 
Kings,  may  deserve  that  name  mentions  four  dynasties  from  the  earliest 
ages  to  the  invasion  of  the  Saracens.  The  Shah  Nameh  was  composed 
with  the  view  of  perpetuating  the  remains  of  the  original  Persian  records 
or  traditions  which  had  survived  the  Saracenic  invasion  The  task  was 
undertaken  by  the  poet  Dukiki,  and  aftci-svards,  under  the  patronage  of 
Mahmood  of  Ghazni,  completed  by  Fcrdusi.  The  first  of  these  dyuaeties 
18  that  of  Kaiomors,  as  Sir  W.  Jones  observes,  the  dark  and  fabulous  period  ; 
the  second,   that  of  the  Kaianian,  the  lieroic  and  poetical,  in  which  tbo 


228  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240 

Artaxerxes  had  served  with  great  reputation  in  the  armicf 
of  Artaban,  the  last  king  of  the  Parthians,  and  it  appears  that 
he  was  driven  into  exile  and  rebellion  by  royal  ingratitude, 
the  customary  reward  for  superior  merit.  His  birth  was 
obscure,  and  the  obscurity  equally  gave  room  to  the  asper- 
sions of  his  enemies,  and  the  flattery  of  his  adherents.  If  we 
credit  the  scandal  of  the  former,  Artaxerxes  sprang  from  the 
illegitimate  commerce  of  a  tanner's  wife  with  a  common 
soldier."  The  latter  represent  him  as  descended  from  a  branch 
of  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia,  though  time  and  misfortune  had 
gradually  reduced  his  ancestors  to  the  humble  station  of  pri- 
vate citizens.''  As  the  lineal  heir  of  the  monarchy,  he  asserted 
his  right  to  the  throne,  and  challenged  the  noble  task  of  deliv- 
ering the  Persians  from  the  oppression  under  which  they 
groaned  above  five  centuries  since  the  death  of  Darius.  The 
Parthians  were  defeated  in  three  great  battles.*  In  the  last 
of  these  their  king  Artaban  was  slain,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
nation  was  forever  broken.*  The  authoiity  of  Artaxerxes  was 
solemnly  acknowledged  in  a  great  assembly  held  at  Balch  in 
Khorasan.f  Two  younger  branches  of  the  royal  house  of 
Arsaces  were  confounded  among  the  prostrate  satraps.  A 
third,  more  mindful  of  ancient  grandeur  than  of  present  neces- 
sity, attempted  to  retire,  with  a  numerous  train  of  vassels, 
towards  their  kinsman,  the  king  of  Armenia ;  but  this  little 
army  of  deserters  was  intercepted,  and  cut  off,  by  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  conqueror,^  who  boldly  assumed  the  double  dia- 

*  The  tanner's  name  was  Babec  ;  the  soldier's,  Sassan  :  from  the  for- 
mer Artaxerxes  obtained  the  surname  of  Babegan,  from  the  latter  all 
his  descendants  have  been  styled  Sasmnides. 

*  D'Herbelot,  BibUotheque  Oricntale,  Ardshir. 

*  Dion  Cassius,  L  Ixxx.  Herodian,  1.  vi.  p.'  207.  Abulpharagiiia  Dy- 
irnst.  p.  80. 

*  See  Moses  Cliorenensis,  1.  ii.  c.  65 — 71. 


learned  have  discovered  some  curious,  and  imagined  some  fanciful,  analo- 
gies witli  the  Jewish,  the  Greek,  and  tlie  Roman  accounts  of  the  eastern 
world.  See,  on  the  Shall  Nameh,  Translation  by  Goerres,  with  Von  Ham- 
mer's Review,  Vienna  Jahrbixch  von  Lit.  17,  15,  77.  Malcolm's  Persia,  8vo. 
ed.  i.  003.  Macau's  Preface  to  his  Critical  Edition  of  the  Shah  Nameh.  On 
Ihe  early  Persian  History,  a  very  sensible  abstract  of  various  opinions  in 
Malcolm's  Hist,  of  Persia. — ]\I. 

*  In  the  plain  of  Hoormnz,  tlie  son  of  Babek  was  nailed  in  the  field  with 
the  proud  title  of  Shahan  Shah,  king  of  kings — a  name  ever  since  assumed 
by  the  sovereigns  of  Persia.     Malcolm,  i.  71. — M. 

t  See  the  Persiin  acctunt  of  the  rise  of  Ardcschir  Babegan  m  MaJooIm 
I  69.— M. 


A.D  226-2  to.]      OF  the  roman  empire.  229 

dem,  and  the  title  of  King  of  Kings,  which  had  been  enjoyed 
by  his  predecessor.  But  these  poopous  titles,  instead  of 
gratifying  the  vanity  of  the  Persian,  served  only  to  admonish 
him  of  his  duty,  and  to  inflame  in  his  soul  the  ambition  of 
restoring  in  their  full  splendor,  the  religion  and  empire  of 
Cyrus. 

I.  During  the  long  servitude  of  Persia  under  the  Macedonian 
and  the  Parthian  yoke,  the  nations  of  Europe  and  Asia  had 
mutually  adopted  and  corrupted  each  other's  superstitions. 
The  Arsacides,  indeed,  practised  the  worship  of  the  Magi ; 
but  they  disgraced  and  polluted  it  with  a  various  mixture  of 
foreign  idolatry.*  The  memory  of  Zoroaster,  the  ancient 
prophet  and  philosopher  of  the  Persians,'  was  still  revered  in 
the  East ;  but  the  obsolete  and  mysterious  language,  in  which 
the  Zendavesta  was  composed,*  opened  a  field  of  dispute  to 
seventy  sects,  who  variously  explained  the  fundamental  doc- 

''  Hyde  rvnd  Prideaux,  working  up  the  Persian  legends  and  their 
own  conjectures  into  a  very  agreeable  story,  represent  Zoroaster  as  a 
contemporary  of  Darius  Hystaspes.  But  it  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that 
the  Greek  writers,  who  lived  almost  in  the  ago  of  Darius,  agree  in 
placing  the  aera  of  Zoroaster  many  hundred,  or  even  thousand,  years 
before  their  own  time.  The  judicious  criticisms  of  Mr.  Moyle  per- 
ceived, and  maintained  against  his  uncle.  Dr.  Prideaux,  the  antiquity 
of  the  Persian  prophet.     See  his  work,  vol.  ii.j- 

•*  That  ancient  idiom  was  called  the  Zend.  The  language  of  the 
commentary,  the  Pehlvi,  though  much  more  modern,  has  ceased 
many  ages  ago  to  be  a  living  tongue.  Tliis  fact  alone  (if  it  is  allowed 
as   authentic)  sufficiently  warrants   the   antiquity   of  those   writings 


*  Silvcstre  de  Sacy  (Autiquites  de  la  Perse)  has  proved  the  neglect  of  the 
Zoroastrian  religion  under  tlic  Parthian  kings. — M. 

t  There   are  three   leading   theories   concemiag   the   age   of  Zoroaster : 

1.  That  which  assigns  him  to  an  age  of  great  and  almost  indefinite  antiq- 
uity— it  is  that  of  Moyle,  adopted  by  Gibbon,  Vohicy,  Rechcrches  sur  I'His- 
toire,  ii.  2.  Rhode,  also,  (die  Heilige  Sage,  &c.,)  in  a  very  ingenioc  s  and 
ably-developed  theory,  throws  the  Bactrian  prophet  far  back  into  antiq<»ity 

2.  Foucher,  (Mem.  de  I'Acad.  xxvii.  253,)  Tychscn,  (in  Com.  Soc.  Gott.  li. 
112,)  Heercn,  (Idcen.  i.  459.)  and  recently  Holty,  identify  the  Gushtasp  of 
Jhe  Persian  mythological  history  with  Cyaxares  the  First,  the  king  of  tha 
Medes,  and  consider  the  religion  to  be  Median  in  its  origin.  M.  Guizot  con- 
eiders  this  opinion  most  probable,  note  in  loc.  3.  Hyde,  Prideaux,  Anquctil 
du  Perron,  Kleukcr,  Herder,  Gocrres,  (Mj-then-Geschichte,)  Von  Hammer, 
{M'ien.  Jalirbuch,  vol.  ix.,)  Malcolm,  (i.  52%,)  De  Guigniaut,  (Relig.  de  I'An 
liq  iJ  part,  vol.  iii.,)  Klaprodi,  (Tableaux  ac  I'Asie,  p.  21,)  make  Gushtasp 
DaiiuB  Hystaspes,  and  Zoroaster  his  contemporary.  The  silence  of  Hero- 
Jotus  appears  the  great  objection  to  this  theoiy.  Some  writers,  as  M. 
Foucher,  (resting,  as  M.  Guizot  observes,  on  the  doubtful  authority  of  Pliny,) 
make  more  than  one  Zoroaster,  and  so  attempt  to  recoucile  the  con  dieting 
theohiis. — M. 


iilt  niE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  226-240, 

trines  of  tlieir  religion,  and  were  all  indifferently  derided  by  a 
crowd  of  infidels,  who  rejected  the  divine  mission  and  mira 
cles  of  the  prophet.  To  suppress  the  idolaters,  reunite  the 
schismatics,  and  confute  the  unbelievers,  by  the  infallible 
decision   of    a   general   council,    the   pious    Artaxerxes   sum- 


which  M   d'Anquetil  has   brought  into  Europe,  and   translated  into 
FiencL* 


*  Zend  signifies  life,  living^.  The  w^ord  means,  either  the  collection  of 
the  canonical  books  of  the  followers  of  Zoroaster,  or  the  language  itself  io 
which  they  are  written.  They  are  the  books  that  contain  the  -word  of  life 
whether  tlie  language  was  originally  called  Zend,  or  whether  it  ■was  so 
called  from  the  contents  of  the  books.  Avesta  means  -word,  oracle,  revela- 
tion :  this  tenn  is  ngit  the  title  of  a  particular  ■work,  but  of  the  collection  of 
the  books  of  Zoroaster,  as  the  revelation  of  Ormuzd.  This  collection  is 
sometimes  called  Zendavesta,  sometimes  briefly  Zend. 

The  Zend  was  the  ancient  language  of  Media,  as  is  proved  by  its  affinity 
with  the  dialects  of  Armenia  and  Georgia;  it  ■was  ah'eady  a  dead  language 
under  the  Arsacides  in  the  country  ■which  ■was  the  scene  of  the  events  re- 
corded in  the  Zendavesta.  Some  critics,  among  others  Richardson  and 
Sir  W.  Jones,  have  called  in  question  the  antiquity  of  these  books.  The 
former  pretended  that  Zend  had  never  been  a  vv^ritten  or  spoken  language, 
but  had  been  invented  in  the  later  times  by  the  Magi,  for  the  pui-poses  of 
their  art ;  but  Kleuker,  in  the  dissertations  which  he  added  to  those  of  An- 
quetil  and  tlie  Abbe  Foucher,  has  proved  that  the  Zend  ■was  a  living  and 
spoken  language. — G.  Sir  W.  Jones  appears  to  have  abandoned  his  doubts, 
on  discovering  the  affinity  between  the  Zend  and  the  Sanski-it.  Since  the 
time  of  Kleuker,  this  question  has  been  investigated  by  many  learned 
scholars.  Sir  W.  Jones,  Leyden,  (Asiat.  Research,  x.  283,)  and  Mr.  Erskine, 
(Bombay  Trans,  ii.  299.)  consider  it  a  derivative  from  the  Sanskrit.  The  an- 
tiquity of  the  Zendavesta  has  likewise  been  asserted  by  Rask,  the  great 
Danish  linguist,  who,  according  to  Malcolm,  brought  back  from  the  East 
fre.sh  transcripts  and  additions  to  those  published  by  Anquetil.  According 
to  Rask,  the  Zend  and  Sanskrit  are  sister  dialects;  the  one  the  parent  of  the 
Persian,  the  otlier  of  the  Indian  family  of  languages. — G.  and  M.  But  the 
subject  is  more  satisfactorily  illustrated  in  Bopp's  comparative  Grammar  of 
the  Sanscrit,  Zend,  Greek,  Latin,  Lithuanian,  Gothic,  and  Gei-man  lan- 
guages. Berlin.  1833-5.  According  to  Bopp,  the  Zend  is,  in  some  respects, 
of  a  more  remarkable  stnicture  than  the  Sanskrit.  Parts  of  the  Zendavesta 
have  been  published  in  the  original,  by  M.  Bournouf,  at  Paris,  and  M.  01- 
shausen,  in  Hamburg. — M. 

The  Pehlvi  was  the  language  of  the  countries  bordering  on  Assyiia,  and 
probably  of  Assj'ria  itself.  Pehlvi  signifies  valor,  heroism ;  the  Pehlvi. 
therefore,  was  the  language  of  the  ancient  heroes  and  kings  of  Persia,  the 
valiant.  (Mr.  Erskine  prefers  the  derivation  from  Pehla,  a  border. — M.)  It 
contains  a  number  of  Aramaic  roots.  Anquetil  considered  it  formed  from 
the  Zend.  Kleuker  does  not  adopt  this  opinion.  The  Pelilvi,  he  says,  is 
much  more  flowing,  and  less  overcharged  with  vowels,  than  the  Zend.  The 
books  of  Zoroaster,  first  ■written  in  Zend,  ■were  afterwards  translated  into 
Pehlvi  and  Parsi.  The  Pehlvi  had  fallen  into  disuse  under  the  dynasty  of 
the  Sassanides,  but  the  learned  still  wrote  it.  Tlie  Parsi,  the  dialect  of  Pars 
ar  Farristan,  was  then  the  prevailing  dialect.  Kleuker,  Anhang.  zum  Zend 
Avesta,  2,  ii.  part  i.  p.  158,  part  ii.  31. — G. 

Mr.  Ersltine  (Bombay  Transactions)  considers  the  existing  Zendavesta  U 
k»vft  been  compiled  in  tlie  time  of  Ardeschir  Ba  ^legan. — M. 


A-D.  226-240,J      OF    THE    KOMAN    EMPIRE.  283 

moned  the  Magi  from  all  parts  of  his  dominions.  These 
priests,  who  had  so  long  sighed  in  contempt  and  obscurity 
obeyed  the  welcome  summons  ;  and,  on  the  appointed  day, 
appeared,  to  the  number  of  about  eighty  thousand.  But  aa 
the  debates  of  so  tumultuous  an  assembly  could  not  have  been 
directed  by  the  authority  of  reason,  or  intiuenced  by  the  art  of 
policy,  the  Persian  synod  was  reduced,  by  successive  ojiera- 
tions,  to  forty  thousand,  to  four  thousand,  to  four  hundred,  to 
forty,  and  at  last  to  seven  Magi,  the  most  respected  for  their 
learning  and  piety.  One  of  these,  Erdaviraph,  a  young  but 
Holy  prelate,  received  from  the  hands  of  his  brethren  three 
cups  of  soporiferous  wine.  lie  drank  them  off,  and  instantly 
fell  into  a  long  and  profound  sleep.  As  soon  as  he  waked, 
he  related  to  the  king  and  to  the  believing  multitude,  his  jour- 
ney to  heaven,  and  his  intimate  conferences  with  the  Deity. 
Every  doubt  was  silenced  by  this  supernatm'al  evidence ;  and 
the  articles  of  the  faith  of  Zoroaster  were  fixed  with  equal 
authority  and  precision.'  A  short  delineation  of  that  cele- 
brated system  will  be  found  useful,  not  only  to  display  the 
character  of  the  Persian  nation,  but  to  illustrate  many  of  their 
most  important  transactions,  both  in  peace  and  war,  wdth  the 
Roman  empire." 

The  great  and  fundamental  article  of  the  system,  was  the 
celebrated  doctrine  of  the  two  principles ;  a  bold  and  injudi- 
cious attempt  of  E;istern  philosophy  to  reconcile  the  existence 
of  moral  and  physical  evil  with  the  attributes  of  a  beneficent 
Creator  and  Governor  of  the  world.  The  first  and  original 
Being,  in  whom,  or  by  whom,  the  universe  exists,  is  denominated 
in  the  writings  of  Zoroaster,  Time  ivithout  bounds  ;  f  but  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  this  infinite  substance  seems  rather  a  meta- 
physical abstraction  of  the  mind,  than  a  real  object  endowed 

'  Hyde  de  Religione  veterum  Pers.  c.  21. 

■"'  I  have  principally  drawn  this  account  from  the  Zendavesta  of 
M.  d'Anqiiotil,  and  the  Sadder,  subjoined  to  Dr.  Hyde's  treatise.  It 
must,  howevei-,  be  confessed,  that  the  studied  obscurity  of  a  prophet, 
the  figurative  style  of  the  East,  and  the  deceitful  medium  of  a  French 
or  Latin  version  may  have  betrayed  us  into  error  and  heresy,  in  tliia 
abridgment  of  Persian  theology.* 

*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Gibbon  followed  the  post-Muhometim  Sadder 
of  Hyde.— M. 

t  Zeruane  Akerene,  so  translated  by  Anquetil  and  Kleukcr.  There  is  a 
dissertation  of  Fouchcr  on  this  subject,  Mem.  dc  I'Acad.  des  Inscr.  t.  xxix. 
According  to  Bohlen  (das  alte  Indicu)  it  is  the  Sanskrit  Sarvaii  Akaranan^ 
the  Uncreated  Whole  ;  or,  according  to  Fred.  Schlegel,  Sz7-vain  Akharyam, 
the  Uncreate  Indivisible. — M. 


232  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  226-240. 

with  self-consciousness,  or  possessed  of  moral  perfectiona, 
Fron]  either  the  blind  or  the  intelligent  operation  of  this  in- 
finite Time,  which  bears  but  too  near  an  affinity  with  the  chaos 
of  the  Greeks,  the  two  secondary  but  active  principles  of  thfl 
universe,  were  from  all  eternity  produced,  Ormusd  and  Ahri- 
man,  each  of  them  possessed  of  the  powers  of  creation,  but 
each  disposed,  by  his  invariable  nature,  to  exercise  them  with 
diiierent  designs.*  The  principle  of  good  is  eternally  ab- 
orbed  in  light;  the  principle  of  evil  eternally  buried  in  dark- 
ness. The  wise  benevolence  of  Ormusd  formed  man  capable 
of  virtue,  and  abundantly  provided  his  fair  habitation  with  the 
materials  of  happiness.  By  his  vigilant  providence,  the  mo- 
tion of  the  planets,  the  order  of  the  seasons,  and  the  temper- 
ate mixture  of  the  elements,  are  preserved.  But  the  malice 
of  Ahriman  has  long  since  pierced  Ormusd^s  egg ;  or,  in 
other  words,  has  violated  the  harmony  of  his  works.  Sinoi 
that  fatal  eruption,  the  most  minute  articles  of  good  and  evil 
are  intimately  intermingled  and  agitated  together ;  the  rank- 
est poisons  sjiring  up  amidst  the  most  salutary  plants ;  deluges, 
earthquakes,  and  conflagrations  attest  the  conflict  of  Nature, 
and  the  little  world  of  man  is  perpetually  shaken  by  vice  and 
misfortune.  Whilst  the  rest  of  human  kind  are  led  away  cap- 
tives in  the  chains  of  their  infernal  enemy,  the  faithful  Persian 
alone  reserves  his  religious  adoration  for  his  friend  and  pro- 
tector Ormusd,  and  fights  under  his  banner  of  light,  in  the  full 
confidence  that  he  shall,  in  the  last  day,  share  the  glory  of  his 
Lriumph.  At  that  decisive  period,  the  enlightened  wisdom  of 
goodness  will  render  the  power  of  Ormusd  superior  to  the 
furious  malice  of  his  rival.  Ahriman  and  his  followers,  disarmea 
and  subdued,  will  sink  into  their  native  darkness ;  and  virtue 
will  maintain  the  eternal  peace  and  harmony  of  the  universe."  f 

"  The  raodem  Parsees  (and  in  some  degree  the  Sadder)  exali 
Ormusd  into  the  first  and  omnipotent  cause,  whilst  they  degrade 
Ahriman  into  an  inferior  but  rebeUious  spirit.  Their  desire  of  pleas- 
mg  the  Mahometans  may  have  contributed  to  refine  their  theological 

systems. 

"  This  is  an  error.  Abi-iman  was  not  forced  by  his  invariable  nature  to 
do  evil ;  the  Zendavesta  expressly  recognizes  (see  the  Izescluie)  that  lie 
was  born  good,  that  in  bis  origin  be  v/as  liglit ;  envy  rendered  bim  evil ;  be 
became  jealous  of  the  power  and  attributes  of  Ormuzd ;  then  light  waa 
changed  into  darkness,  and  Ahriman  was  precipitated  into  the  abyss.  See 
the  Abridgment  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Ancient  Persians,  by  Anquetil,  c.  ii 
5  2.— G. 

t  According  to  the  Zendavesta,  Ahriman  will  not  be  annihilated  or  pre- 
cipitated forever  into  darkness :  at  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  he  will  ba 


A.  D.  226-240.J     op  the  roman  empire.  ysa 

The  theology  of  Zoroaster  was  darkly  comprehended  by 
foreigners,  and  even  by  the  far  greater  number  of  liis  tlisci- 
pies ;  but  the  most  careless  observers  were  struck  with  the 
philosophic  simplicity  of  the  Persian  worship.  "  That  people," 
said  Herodotus,'^  "  rejects  the  use  of  temples,  of  altars,  and 
of  statues,  and  smiles  at  the  folly  of  those  nations  who  im- 
agine that  the  gods  are  sprung  from,  or  bear  any  affinity 
with,  the  human  nature.  The  tops  of  the  highest  mountains 
are  the  places  chosen  for  sacrifices.  Hymns  and  prayers 
are  the  principal  worship ;  the  Supreme  God,  who  fills  the 
wide  circle  of  heaven,  is  the  object  to  whom  they  are  ad- 
dressed." Yet,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a 
polytheist,  he  accuseth  them  of  adoring  Earth,  Water,  Fire, 
the  Winds,  and  the  Sun  and  Moon.  But  the  Persians  of  every 
age  have  denied  the  charge,  and  explained  the  equivocal  con- 
duct, which  might  appear  to  give  a  color  to  it.  The  elements, 
and  more  particularly  Fire,  Light,  and  the  Sun,  whom  they 
called  Mithra,f  were  the  objects  of  their  religious  reverence, 

"  Herodotus,  1.  i.  c.  131.  But  Dr.  Prideaux  thinks,  with  reason, 
that  the  use  of  temples  was   afterwards   permitted   in   the  Magian 

religion.* 

entirely  defeated  by  Ormuzd,  his  power  will  be  destroyed,  his  kingdom 
overthrown  to  its  foundations,  he  will  himself  be  pariiied  in  torrents  of 
melting  metal ;  he  will  change  his  heart  and  his  will,  become  holy,  heaven- 
ly, establish  in  his  domuiions  the  law  and  word  of  Onnuzd,  unite  himself 
with  him  in  everlasting  friendship,  and  both  will  sing  hymns  in  honor  of 
the  Great  Eternal.  See  Anquetil's  Abridgment.  Kleuker,  Anhang  part 
iii.  p  85,  36  ;  and  the  Izeschne,  one  of  the  books  of  the  Zendavesta.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Sadder  Bun-Dehesch,  a  more  modem  work,  Ahi-iman  is  to 
be  annihilated  :  but  this  is  contrary  to  the  text  itself  of  the  Zendavesta, 
and  to  the  idea  which  its  author  gives  of  the  kingdom  of  Eternity,  after 
the  tv^-elve  thousand  years  assigned  to  the  contest  between  Good  and  EviL 
— G. 

*  The  Pyraea,  or  fire  temples  of  the  Zoroastrians.  (observes  Kleuker,  Pei- 
sica,  p.  IG,)  were  only  to  be  found  in  Media  or  Aderbidjan,  provinces  into 
which  Herodotus  did  not  penetrate. — M. 

t  Among  the  Persians  Mithra  is  not  the  Sun :  Anrjuetil  has  contested 
and  triumphantly  refuted  the  opinion  of  tho.'^e  ^^  ho  confound  them,  and  it 
is  evidently  contrary  to  the  text  of  the  Zendavesta.  Mithra  is  the  first  of 
the  genii,  or  jzcds,  created  by  Ormuzd ;  it  is  he  who  watches  over  all  nature. 
Hence  arose  the  misapprehension  of  some  of  the  Greeks,  who  have  said 
that  Mithra  was  the  summus  deus  of  the  Persians:  he  has  a  thousand  ears 
and  ten  thousand  eyes.  The  Chaldeans  appear  to  have  assigned  him  a 
fcigher  rank  than  the  Persians.  It  is  he  who  bestows  upon  the  earth  the 
light  of  the  sun.     The  sun.  named  Khor,  (brightness,)  is  thus  an  inferior 

fenius,  who,  v^-ith  many  other  genii,  bears  a  part  in  the  functions  of  Mithra. 
'be.se  assistant  genii  to  another  genius  arc  called  his  kavikars  ;  but  in  the 
Zendavesta  they  are  never  confounded.  On  the  days  sacred  to  a  particulaj 
genius,  the  Persian  ought  to  recite,  not  only  the  prayers  addressed  to  him, 
Bat  those  also  which  ai-e  addressed  to  his  kamkars ;  thus  the  hymn  or  icscht 


284  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240. 

because  the}  considered  them  as  1,be  purest  symbols,  the 
noblest  productions,  and  the  most  powerful  agents  of  the  Di- 
vine Power  and  Nature.' 

Every  mode  of  religion,  to  make  a  deep  and  lasting  im- 
pression on  the  human  mind,  must  exercise  our  obedience,  by 
enjoining  practices  of  devotion,  for  which  we  can  assign  no 
reason  ;  and  must  acquire  our  esteem,  by  inculcating  moral 
duties  analogous  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  hearts.  The  reli- 
gion of  Zoroaster  was  abundantly  provided  with  the  former 
and  possessed  a  sufficient  portion  of  the  latter.  At  the  age 
of  puberty,  the  faithful  Persian  was  invested  with  a  mysterious 
girdle,  the  badge  of  the  divine  protection ;  and  from  that  mo- 
ment all  the  actions  of  his  life,  even  the  most  indifferent,  or  the 
most  necessary,  were  sanctified  by  their  peculiar  prayers, 
ejaculations,  or  genuflections  ;  the  omission  of  which,  under 
any  circumstances,  was  a  grievous  sin,  not  inferior  in  guilt  to 
the  violation  of  the  moral  duties.  The  moral  duties,  however, 
of  justice,  mercy,  liberality,  &c.,  were  in  their  turn  required  of 
the  disciple  of  Zoroaster,  who  wished  to  escape  the  persecution 
of  Ahriman,  and  to  live  with  Ormusd  in  a  bhssful  eternity, 
where  the  degree  of  felicity  will  be  exactly  proportioned  to  the 
degree  of  virtue  and  piety." 

"  Hyde  de  Relig.  Pers.  c.  8.  Notwithstanding  all  their  distinctiona 
and  protestations,  which  seem  sincere  enough,  their  tyrants,  the 
Mahometans,  have  constantly  stigmatized  them  as  idolatrous  worship- 
pers of  the  fire. 

^*  See  the  Sadder,  the  smallest  part  of  which  consists  of  moral 
precepts.  The  ceremonies  enjoined  are  infinite  and  trifling.  Fifteen 
genuflections,  prayers,  tfec,  were  required  whenever  the  devout  Persian 
cut  liis  nails  or  made  water ;  or  as  often  as  he  put  on  the  sacred  girdle 
■Sadder,  Art.  14,  50,  60."- 


of  Mithra  is  recited  on  the  day  of  the  sun,  (Khor,)  and  vice  versS,.  It  ia 
probably  this  which  has  sometimes  caused  tbem  to  be  confounded ;  but 
Anquetil  bad  himself  exposed  this  error,  which  Kleukcr,  and  all  who  have 
studied  the  Zendavesta,  have  noticed.  See  viii.  Diss,  of  Anquetil.  Kleuker'a 
Anhang-,  part  iii.  p.  132. — G. 

M.  Guizot  is  unquestionably  right,  according  to  the  pure  and  original 
doctrine  of  llie  Zend.  The  Mithriac  worship,  which  was  so  extensively 
propagated  in  the  West,  and  in  which  Mithra  and  the  siin  were  pei-petuaUy 
confounded,  seems  to  have  been  formed  from  a  fusion  of  Zoroastrianism 
ind  Chaldaism,  or  the  Syrian  worship  of  the  sun.  An  excellent  abstract  of 
the  question,  with  references  to  the  works  of  the  chief  modern  wTitcrs  on 
ihis  curious  subject,  De  Sacy,  Kleuker,  Von  Hammer,  &c.,  may  be  found  in 
De  Guigniaut's  translation  of  Kreuzer.  Relig.  d'Antiquite,  notes  viii.  ix.  to 
book  ii.  vol.  i.  2d  part,  page  728. — M. 

*  Zoroas/er  exacted  much  less  ceremonial  observance,  than,  at  a  latef 
period,  tie  priests  of  his  doctrines.     This  is  the  progress  of  all  religion* 


A. D.  226-240]      05?  the  roman  emi-ire.  235 

But  there  are  some  remark?.ole  instances  in  wliich  7/yT0S& 
ter  lays  aside  the  prophet,  assumes  the  legislator,  and  discov- 
ers a  liberal  concern  for  private  and  public  happiness,  seldom 
to  be  found  among  the  grovelling  or  visionary  schemes  of 
superstition.  Fasting  and  celibacy,  the  common  means  cf 
purchasing  the  divine  favor,  he  condemns  with  abhorrence, 
as  a  crimina*)  rejection  of  the  best  gifts  of  Providence.  Thg 
saint,  in  the  Magian  religion,  is  obliged  to  beget  children,  to 
plant  useful  trees,  to  destroy  noxious  animals,  to  convey 
water  to  the  dry  lands  of  Persia,  and  to  work  out  his  salvation 
by  pursuing  all  the  labors  of  agriculture.*  We  may  quote 
from  the  Zendavesta  a  wise  and  benevolent  maxim,  which 
compensates  for  many  an  absurdity.  "  He  who  sows  the 
ground  with  care  and  diligence  acquires  a  greater  stock  of 
religious  merit  than  he  could  gain  by  the  repetition  of  ten 
thousand  prayers."^*  In  the  spring  of  every  year  a  festival 
was  celebrated,  destined  to  represent  the  primitive  equality, 
and  the  present  connection,  of  mankind.  The  stately  kings 
of  Persia,  exchanging  their  vain  pomp  for  more  genuine 
greatness,  freely  mingled  with  the  humblest  but  most  useful 
of  their  subjects.  On  that  day  the  husbandmen  were  admit- 
ted, without  distinction,  to  the  table  of  the  king  and  his 
satraps.  The  monarch  accepted  their  petitions,  inquired  into 
their  grievances,  and  conversed  with  them  on  the  most  equal 
terms.  "  From  your  labors,"  was  he  accustomed  to  say,  (and 
to  say  with  truth,  if  not  with  sincerity,)  "from  your  labors 
we  receive  our  subsistence ;  you  derive  your  tranquillity  from 
our  vigilance :  since,  therefore,  we  are  mutually  necessary  to 
each  other,  let  us  live  together  like  brothers  in  concord  and 
love." "  Such  a  festival  must  indeed  have  degenerated,  in  a 
wealthy  and  despotic  empire,  into  a  theatrical  representation ; 


"  Zendavesta,  torn.  i.  p.  224,  and  Precis  du  Systeme  de  Zoroastre, 
torn.  ill. 

'^  Hyde  de  Religione  Persarum,  c.  19. 


the  worship,  simple  in  lis  origin,  is  gradually  overloaded  with  minute  super- 
Btitions.  The  maxim  of  tlie  Zendavesta,  on  the  relative  merit  of  sowing  the 
earth  and  of  prayers,  quoted  below  by  Gibbon,  proves  that  Zoroaster  did  not 
attach  too  much  importance  to  these  observances.  Thus  it  is  not  from  the 
Zendavesta  that  Gibbon  derives  the  proof  of  his  allegation,  but  from  the  Sad- 
der, a  much  later  ^vork. — G 

*  See,  cu  Zoroaster's  encouragement  of  agriculture,  the  ingenions  r© 
toarliB  of  Ileeren,  Idcen.  vol.  i.  p.  449,  &c.,  and  Rhode,  Heilige  Sago.  p.  517 


286  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240 

but  it  was  at  least  a  comedj  well  worthy  of  a  royal  audience, 
and  which  might  sometimes  imprint  a  salutary  lesson  on  the 
mind  of  a  young  prince. 

Had  Zoroaster,  in  all  his  institutions,  invariably  supported 
this  exalted  character,  his  name  would  deserve  a  place  with 
those  of  Numa  and  Confucius,  and  his  system  would  be  justly 
entitled  to  all  the  applause,  which  it  has  pleased  some  of  our 
dRines,  and  even  some  of  our  philosophers,  to  bestow  on  it. 
But  in  that  motley  composition,  dictated  by  reason  and  pas- 
sion, by  enthusiasm  and  by  selfish  motives,  some  useful  and 
sublime  truths  were  disgraced  by  a  mixture  of  the  most  ab- 
ject and  dangerous  superstition.  The  Magi,  or  sacerdotal 
order,  were  extremely  numerous,  since,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  fourscore  thousand  of  them  were  convened  in  a  general 
council.  Their  forces  were  multiplied  by  discipline.  A  reg- 
ular hierarchy  was  diffused  through  all  the  provinces  of  Per- 
sia ;  and  the  Archimagus,  who  resided  at  Balch,  was  respected 
as  the  visible  head  of  the  church,  and  the  lawful  successor  of 
Zoroaster."  The  property  of  the  Magi  was  very  consider- 
able. Besides  the  less  invidious  possession  of  a  large  tract 
of  the  most  fertile  lands  of  Media,'*  they  levied  a  general  tax 
on  the  fortunes  and  the  industry  of  the  Persians."  "  Though 
your  good  works,"  says  the  interested  prophet,  "  exceed  in 
number  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  the  drops  of  rain,  the  stars  in 
the  heaven,  or  the  sands  on  the  sea-shore,  they  will  all  be  un- 
profitable to  you,  unless  they  are  accepted  by  the  destour,  or 
priest.  To  obtain  the  acceptation  of  this  guide  to  salvation, 
you  must  faithfully  pay  him  tithes  of  all  you  possess,  of  you? 
goods,  of  your  lands,  and  of  your  money.  If  the  destour  be 
satisfied,  your  soul  will  escape  hell  tortures ;  you  will  secure 
praise  in  this  world  and  happiness  in  the  next.     For  the  des- 


"  Hyde  de  Religione  Persarum,  c.  28.  Both  Hyde  and  Prideaux 
affect  to  apply  to  the  Magian  the  terms  consecrated  to  the  Christiiin 
hierarchy. 

'"  Animian.  Marcollin.  xxiii.  6.  He  informs  us  (as  far  as  we  may 
credit  him)  of  two  curious  particulars  :  1.  lliat  the  Magi  derived  somt 
of  their  most  secret  doctrines  from  the  Indian  Brachmans;  and 
t   That  they  were  a  tribe,  or  family,  as  well  as  order. 

*^  The  divine  institution  of  tithes  exhibits  a  singular  instance  of 
conformity  between  the  law  of  Zoroaster  and  that  of  Moses.  Thcs* 
vrho  cannot  otherwise  account  for  it,  may  supjxise,  if  they  please  thai 
the  Magi  of  the  latter  times  inserted  so  useful  an  interpolation  into  th« 
wriiingfs  of  their  prophet. 


A.D.  226-240.J      of  the  roman  empire. 


287 


tours  are  the  teaobers  of  religion  ;  they  know  all  things,  and 
they  deliver  all  men."  "»  * 

These  convenient  maxims  of  reverence  and  impl'-c-ic  f.i;i'.i 
were  doubtless  imprinted  with  care  on  the  tender  minds  of 
youth ;  since  the  Magi  were  the  masters  of  education  in  Per- 
g-A,  and  to  their  hands  the  children  even  of  the  royal  family 
A-ere  intrusted.'"  The  Persian  priests,  who  were  of  a  spec- 
ulative genius,  preserved  and  investigated  the  secrets  of  Ori- 
ental plnlosophy ;  and  acquired,  cither  by  superior  knowledge, 
or  superior  art,  the  reputation  of  being  well  versed  in  some 
occult  sciences,  which  have  derived  their  appellation  fi-om  the 
Magi."  Those  of  more  active  dispositions  mixed  with  the 
world  in  courts  and  cities;  and  it  is  observed,  that  the  admin- 
istration of  Artaxerxes  was  in  a  great  measure  directed  by  the 
counsels  of  the  sacerdotal  order,  whose  dignity,  either  from 
policy  or  devotion,  that  prince  restored  to  its  ancient  splen- 
dor." 

The  first  counsel  of  the  Magi  was  agreeable  to  the  unso- 
ciable  genius    of    their   faith,"    to   the   practice    of    ancient 


"  Sadder,  Art.  viii. 

*'  Plato  in  Alcibiad. 

''''  Pliny  (Hist.  Natur.  1.  xxx.  c.  1)  observes,  that  magic  held  man- 
kind by  the  triple  chain  of  religion,  of  pliysic,  and  of  astronomy. 

'^  Agathias,  1.  iv.  p.  134. 

^*  Mr.  Hiime,  in  the  Natural  History  of  Religi-on,  sagaciously 
remarks,  tiiat  the  most  refined  and  philosophic  sects  are  constantly  the 
most  intolerant.f 


*  The  passage  quoted  by  Gibbon  is  not  taken  from  the  \vTitings  of  Zoi- 
oaster,  but  from  the  Sadder,  a  work,  as  has  been  before  said,  much  later 
than  the  books  which  form  the  Zcndavesta.  and  written  by  a  Macrus  for 
popular  use;  what  it  contains,  therefore,  cannot  be  attributed  to  Zoroaster. 
It  is  remarkable  that  Gibbon  should  fall  into  this  ciTor,  for  Hyde  himself 
does  not  ascribe  the  Sadder  to  Zoroaster ;  he  remarks  that  it  is  \\Titten  ic 
verse,  while  Zoroaster  always  ^vrote  in  prose.  Hyde.  i.  p.  27.  Whatever 
may  be  the  case  as  to  the  latter  assertion,  for  which  tliere  appears  little 
foundation,  it  is  unipiestionable  that  the  Sadder  is  of  much  later  date. 
Tlie  Abbe  Foaclier  does  not  even  believe  it  to  be  an  extract  from  the  works 
of  Zoroaster.  See  his  Diss,  before  quoted.  Mem.  do  I'Acad.  des  Ins.  T. 
x.Kvii. — G.  Perhaps  it  is  rash  to  speak  of  any  part  of  tlie  Zcndavesta  as 
the  teriling  of* Zoroaster,  thontrh  it  may  be  a  genuine  representalion  of  hifl 
di3trir.<i.3.  As  to  the  Sadder,  Hyde  (in  Pra^f)  considered  it  not  above  300 
years  old.  It  is  manifestly  post-Maliometan.  See  Art.  xxv.  on  <asting. 
-M. 

I  Hume's  comparison  is  rather  between  theism  and  polj-theism.  In  Intliit, 
In  Greece,  and  in  modern  Europe,  philosophic  religion  has  looked  loMTiwiti 
soatcmptuous  toleration  on  the  superstitions  of  the  vilgar. — M. 


288  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.D   220-240. 

kinga,**  and  evtn  to  tli.e  example  of  tlieir  legislator,  who  had 
SIba  a  '."ictim  to  a  religious  war,  excited  by  his  own  intoler- 
ant zeal.^°  By  an  edict  of  Artaxerxes,  the  exercise  of  every 
worship,  except  that  of  Zoroaster,  was  severely  prohibited. 
The  temples  of  the  Parthians,  and  the  statues  of  their  deilied 
monarchs,  were  thrown  down  with  ignominy.^'  The  sword 
of  Aristotle  (such  was  the  name  given  by  the  Orientals  to  the 
polytheism  and  philosophy  of  the  Greeks)  was  easily  broken ; " 
the  flames  of  persecution  soon  reached  the  more  stubborn  Jews 
and  Christians  ;  ^^  nor  did  they  spare  the  heretics  of  their  own 
nation  and  religion.  The  majesty  of  Ormusd,  who  was  jeal- 
ous of  a  rival,  was  seconded  by  the  despotism  of  Artaxerxes, 
who  could  not  suffer  a  rebel ;  and  the  schismatics  within  his 
vast  empire  were  soon  reduced  to  the  inconsiderable  number 
of  eighty  thousand.^"  '*  This  spirit  of  persecution  reflects 
dishonor  on  the  religion  of  Zoroaster ;  but  as  it  was  not  j^ro- 
ductive  of  any  civil  commotion,  it  served  to  strengthen  ths 
new  monarchy,  by  uniting  all  the  various  inhabitants  of  Per- 
sia in  the  bands  of  religious  zeal.f 

TT.  Artaxerxes,  by  his  va.or  and  conduct,  had  wrested  tht 
sceptre  of  the  East  from  the  ancient  royal  family  of  Parthia 
There  still  remained  the  more  difficult  task  of  establishing, 

^^  Cicero  de  Legibus,  ii.  10.  Xerxes,  by  the  advice  of  the  Magi, 
destroyed  the  temples  of  Greece. 

-6  Hyde  de  Relig.  Persar.  c.  23,  24.  D'Herbelot,  Bibliotheque 
Orientale,  Zurdusht.     Life  of  Zoroaster  in  torn.  ii.  of  the  Zendavesta 

°'  Compare  Moses  of  Chorene,  1.  ii.  c.  74,  with  Ammian.  Marcel- 
lin.  xxiii.  6.     Hereafter  I  shall  make  use  of  these  passages. 

^^  Rabbi  Abraham,  in  the  Tarikh  Schickard,  p.  108,  109. 

^'  Basnage,  Histoire  des  Juifs,  1.  viii.  c.  3.  Sozomen,  1.  ii.  c.  1 
Manes,  who  suiFered  an  ignominious  death,  may  be  deemed  a  Magiai 
a-s  well  as  a  Christian  heretic. 

^^  Hyde  de  Religione  Persar.  c.  21. 


*  It  is  incoTrect  to  attribute  these  persecutions  to  Artaxerxes.  The  Jewi 
were  held  in  honor  by  him,  and  their  schools  flourished  during  his  reign 
Compare  Jost,  Geschiciite  der  Israeliter,  b.  xv.  5,  witli  Basnage.  Sapor  wa? 
forced  by  the  people  to  temporary  severities  ;  but  their  real  persecution  dif" 
not  begin  till  the  reigns  of  Yezdigerd  and  Kobad.  Hist,  of  Jev.'s,  iii.  236. 
Accoi'ding  to  Sozomen,  i.  viii.,  Sapor  first  persecuted  the  Christians.  Manei 
was  put  to  death  by  Varanes  the  First,  A.  D.  277.  Beausobre,  Hist,  de 
Man.  i.  20!)  —M. 

t  In  the  tcstainent  of  Ardischer  in  Fcrdusi,  the  poet  assigns  these  senti- 
ments to  the  dying  king,  as  ke  addresses  his  son  :  Never  forget  that  as  i 
Ring,  you  are  at  once  the  protector  of  religion  and  of  your  country.  Con 
aider  the  altar  and  the  thi-oue  as  insepai-able ;  they  must  always  sustain  eftoi 
Other.    Malcolm's  Persia,  i.  74 — M 


A.  D.  226-240.J     of  the  roman  empire.  'i&:l 

throughcait  the  vast  extent  of  Persia,  a  uniform  and  \iaforoua 
administration.  The  weak  iiidulg-ence  of  tlie  Arsacides  had 
resigned  to  tlieir  sons  and  brotliers  the  principal  provinces, 
and  the  greatest  offices  of  the  kingdom  in  the  nature  of  liered- 
itary  possessions.  The  vitaxce,  or  eighteen  most  powerful 
satraps,  were  permitted  to  assume  the  regal  title ;  and  the 
vain  pride  of  the  monarch  was  delighted  with  a  nominal 
dominion  over  so  many  vassal  kings.  Even  tribes  of  barba- 
rians in  their  r/iountains,  and  the  Greek  cities  of  Upper  Asia,*' 
within  their  walls,  scarcely  acknowledged,  or  seldom  obeyed, 
any  superior;  and  the  Parthian  empire  exhil)ited,  under  other 
uames,  a  lively  image  of  the  feudal  system  "  which  has  since 
prevailed  in  Europe.  But  the  active  victor,  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  and  disciplined  army,  visited  in  person  every  prov- 
ince of  Persia.  The  defeat  of  the  boldest  rebels,  and  the 
reduction  of  the  strongest  fortifications,^^  diffused  the  terror 
of  his  arms,  and  prepared  the  v/ay  for  tlie  peaceful  reception 
of  his  authority.  An  obstinate  resistance  was  fatal  to  the 
chiefs ;  but  their  followers  were  treated  with  lenity.'*  A 
cheerful  submission  was  rewarded  with  honors  and  licbes; 
but  the  prudent  Artaxerxes  sufi'ering  no  person  except  him- 
self to  assume  the  title  of  king,  abolished  every  intermediate 
power  between  the  throne  and  the  people.  His  kingdom, 
nearly  equal  in  extent  to  modern  Persia,  was,  on  every  side, 
bounded  by  the  sea,  or  by  great  rivers ;  by  the  Euphrates, 
the  Tigris,  the  Araxes,  the  Oxus,  and  the  Indus,  by  the  Cas- 
pian Sea,  and  the  Gulf  of  Persia.'^     That  country  was  com- 

*■'  Tliese  colonies  were  extremely  numerous.  Seleucus  Nicalor 
founded  thirty-nine  cities,  all  named  from  himself,  or  some  of  his 
relations,  (see  Appian  in  Syriac.  p.  124.)  The  aera  of  Seleucus  (still 
in  use  among  the  eastern  Christians)  appears  as  Late  as  the  year  508, 
of  Christ  196,  on  the  medals  of  the  Greek  cities  within  the  Parthian 
empire.  See  Moyle's  works,  vol.  i.  p.  273,  cfec,  and  M.  Freret,  Mem. 
de  I'Academie,  torn.  xix. 

^"  The  modern  Persians  distinguish  that  period  as  tlie  dynasty  of 
the  kings  of  the  nations.     See  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  vi.  25. 

='  Eutychius  (tom.  i.  p.  3G7,  371,  375)  relates  the  siege  of  the 
island  of  Mescne  in  the  Tigris,  with  some  circumstances  not  unlike 
the  story  of  Kysus  and  Scylla. 

'*  Agathias,  ii.  64,  [and  iv.  p.  2G0.]  llie  princes  of  Segestan  de- 
fended their  independence  during  many  years.  As  romances  gcD 
eraliy  transport  to  an  ancient  period  the  events  of  tneir  own  time, 
it  IS  not  impossible  that  tlie  fabulous  exploits  of  Rustan,  Prince  ot 
Segostan,  many  have  been  grafted  on  this  real  history. 

**  We  can  scarcely  attribute  to  the  Persian  raonarcliy  the  sea-coiiat 


f40  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL   [A.  D.  226 -254, 

puted  to  contain,  in  the  last  century,  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  cities,  sixty  thousand  villages,  and  about  forty  millions  of 
souls.^*  If  we  compare  the  alministration  of  the  liouse  of 
Sassan  with  that  of  the  house  cf  Sefi,  the  political  influen(;e 
of  the  Magian  with  that  of  the  Mahometan  religion,  we  shall 
probably  infer,  that  the  kingdom  of  Artaxerxes  contained  at 
least  as  great  a  number  of  cities,  villages,  ftnd  inhabitants. 
Dut  it  must  likewise  be  confessed,  that  in  every  age  the  want 
of  harbors  on  the  sea-coast,  and  the  scarcity  of  fresh  water 
in  the  inland  provinces,  have  been  very  unfavorable  to  the 
commerce  and  agriculture  of  the  Persians ;  who,  in  the  cal- 
culation of  their  numbers,  seem  to  have  indulged  one  of  the 
ineanest,  though  most  common,  artifices  of  national  vanity. 

As  soon  as  the  ambitious  mind  of  Artaxerxes  had  triumphed 
siver  the  resistance  of  his  vassals,  he  began  to  threaten  the 
Qeighboring  states,  who,  during  the  long  slumber  of  his  pred- 
ecessors, had  insulted  Persia  with  impunity.  He  obtained 
some  easy  victories  over  the  wild  Scythians  and  the  effemi- 
nate Indians ;  but  the  Romans  were  an  enemy,  who,  by  their 
past  injuries  and  present  power,  deserved  the  utmost  efforts 
of  his  arms.  A  forty  years'  tranquillity,  the  fruit  of  valor 
and  moderation,  had  succeeded  the  victories  of  Trajan.  Dur- 
ing the  period  that  elapsed  from  the  accession  of  Marcus  to 
the  reign  of  Alexander,  the  Roman  and  the  Parthian  empires 
were  twice  engaged  in  war ;  and  although  the  whole  strength 
of  the  Arsacides  contended  with  a  part  only  of  the  forces  of 
Rome,  the  event  was  most  commonly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 
Macrinus,  indeed,  prompted  by  his  precarious  situation  and 
pusillanimous  temj)er,  purchased  a  peace  at  the  expense  of 


of  Gedrosia  or  Macran,  which  extends  along  the  Indian  Ocean  from 
Cape  Jask  (the  promontory  Capella)  to  Cape  Goadel.  In  the  time 
of  Alexander,  and  probably  many  ages  afterwards,  it  was  thinly  in- 
habited by  a  savage  people  of  Icthyophagi,  or  Fishermen,  who  knew 
no  arts,  who  acknowledged  no  master,  and  who  were  divided  by  in- 
hospitable deserts  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  (See  Arriau  de  Reb. 
Lidicis.)  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  httle  town  of  Taiz  (supposed 
by  M.  d'Anville  to  be  the  Teza  of  Ptolemy)  was  peopled  and  enriched 
by  tlie  resort  of  the  Arabian  merchants.     (See  Geographia  Nubien?, 

E.  58,  and  d'Anville,  Geograpliie  Ancienne,  tom.  ii.  p.  283.)  In  the 
ist  age,  the  whole  country  was  divided  between  three  princes,  one 
Mahometan  and  two  Idolaters,  who  maintained  their  indepcndeows 
sigafnst  the  successors  of  Shah  Abbas.  ( Voyages  de  Taveriiici ,  pott 
L  L  V.  p.  63.5. 

"  Cbardiu,  torn  iii  c   1  2,  3. 


A.  D.  226-240.]      of  the  rowan  empire.  241 

near  two  millions  of  our  money  ; "  but  the  generals  of  Mar- 
cus, the  emperor  Severus,  and  his  son,  erected  many  trophies 
in  Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Assyria.  Among  their  ex- 
ploits, the  imperfect  relation  of  which  would  have  unseason- 
ably interrupted  the  more  important  series  of  domestic  revo- 
lutions, we  shall  only  mention  the  repeated  calamities  of  the 
two  great  cities  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon. 

Seleucia,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Tigris,  about  forty- 
live  miles  to  the  north  of  ancient  Babylon,  was  the  capital  of 
the  Macedonian  conquests  in  Upper  Asia.'*  Many  ages  after 
the  fall  of  their  empire,  Seleucia  retained  the  genuine  charac- 
ters of  a  Grecian  colony,  arts,  military  virtue,  and  the  love 
of  freedom.  The  independent  republic  was  governed  by  a 
senate  of  three  hundred  nobles ;  the  people  consisted  of  six 
hundred  thousand  citizens ;  the  walls  were  strong,  and  as  long 
as  concord  prevailed  among  the  several  orders  of  the  state, 
they  viewed  with  contempt  the  power  of  the  Parthian :  but 
the  madness  of  faction  was  sometimes  provoked  to  implore 
the  dangerous  aid  of  the  common  enemy,  who  was  posted 
almost  at  the  gates  of  the  colony.'"  The  Parthian  monarchs, 
like  the  Mogul  sovereigns  of  Hindostan,  delighted  in  the  pas- 
toral  life  of  their  Scythian  ancestors ;  and  the  Imperial  camp 
was  frequently  pitched  in  the  plain  of  Ctesiphon,  on  the  east- 
ern bank  of  the  Tigris,  at  the  distance  of  only  three  miles 
from  Seleucia.'"'  The  innumerable  attendants  on  luxury  and 
despotism  resorted  to  the  court,  and  the  little  village  of  Ctesi- 
phon insensibly  swelled  into  a  great  city.'"  Under  the  reign 
of  Marcus,  the  Roman  generals  penetrated  as  far  as  Ctesi- 
phon and  Seleucia.  They  were  received  as  friends  by  the 
Greek  colony ;  they  attacked  as  enemies  the  seat  of  the  Par- 


"  Dion,  1.  xxviii.  p.  1335. 

**  For  the  precise  situation  of  Babylon,  Seleucia,  Ctesiphon,  Mo- 
lain,  and  Bagdad,  cities  often  confounded  with  each  other,  see  an  ex- 
cellent Geographical  Tract  of  M.  d'Anville,  in  Mem.  de  I'Academie, 
torn.  XXX. 

"  Tacit.  Annal.  xi.  42.     Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  vi.  26. 

''"  This  may  be  inferred  from  Strabo,  1.  xvi.  p.  743. 

■"  That  most  curious  traveller,  Bcrnier,  who  followed  the  camp  of 
Aurenjjfzebe  from  Delhi  to  Cashmir,  describes  with  great  accuracy  the 
immense  moving  city.  The  guard  of  cavalry  consisted  of  35,000  men, 
that  of  infantry  of  10,000.  It  was  computed  that  the  camp  contained 
150,000  horses,  mules,  and  elephants;  60,000  camels,  ,50,000  oxen, and 
oetween  300,000  and  400,000  persons.  Almost  all  Delhi  followed  the 
court,  whose  magnificence  sujiported  its  industry, 

VOL.  I. L 


242  THE    DECLINE   AND    FALV        [A.  1).  226--240. 

thiaii  kings ;  yet  both  cities  experienced  the  same  trentmeni 
The  sack  and  conflagration  of  Seleucia,  with  the  massficre  of 
three  hundred  thousand  of  the  inhabitants,  tarnished  the  glory 
of  the  Roman  triumph."  Seleucia,  already  exhausted  by  the 
neighborhood  of  a  too  powerful  rival,  sunk  under  the  fatal 
blow ;  but  Ctesiphon,  in  about  thirty-three  years,  had  suffi- 
ciently recovered  its  strength  to  maintain  an  obstinate  siege 
against  the  emperor  Severus.  The  city  was,  however,  taken 
by  assault;  the  king,  who  defended  it  in  person,  escaped  with 
precipitation  ;  a  hundred  thousand  captives,  and  a  rich  booty, 
rewarded  the  fatigues  of  the  Roman  soldiers."  Notwith- 
standing these  misfortunes,  Ctesiphon  succeeded  to  Babylon 
and  to  Seleucia,  as  one  of  the  great  capitals  of  the  East.  In 
summer,  the  monarch  of  Persia  enjoyed  at  Ecbatana  the  cool 
breezes  of  the  mountains  of  Media ;  but  the  mildness  of  the 
climate  engaged  him  to  prefer  Ctesiphon  for  his  winter  resi- 
dence. 

From  these  successful  inroads  the  Romans  derived  no  real 
or  lasting  benefit ;  nor  did  they  attempt  to  preserve  such  dis- 
tant conquests,  separated  from  the  provinces  of  tlie  empire  b} 
a  large  tract  of  intermediate  desert.  The  reduction  of  the  king- 
dom of  Osrhoene  was  an  acquisition  of  less  splendor  indeed,  but 
of  a  far  more  solid  advantage.  That  little  state  occupied  the 
northern  and  most  fertile  part  of  Mesopotamia,  between  the  Eu 
phrates  and  the  Tigris.  Edessa,  its  capital,  was  situated  about 
twenty  miles  beyond  the  former  of  those  rivers ;  and  the  in- 
habitants, since  the  time  of  Alexander,  were  a  mixed  race  of 
Greeks,  Arabs,  Syrians,  and  Armenians."  The  feeble  sove- 
reigns of  Osrhoene,  placed  on  the  dangerous  verge  of  two 
contending  empires,  were  attached  from  inclination  to  the 
Parthian  cause ;  but  the  superior  power  of  Rome  exacted 
from  them  a  reluctant  homage,  which  is  still  attested  by  theii 
medals.     After  the  conclusion  of  the  Parthian  war  under  Mar- 

♦=  Dion,  1.  Ixxi.  p.  1178.  Hist.  August,  p.  38.  Eutrop.  viii.  10 
Euseb.  in  Chronic.  Quadratus  (quoted  in  the  Augustan  History) 
attempted  to  vindicate  the  Romans  by  alleging  that  the  citizens  of 
Seleucia  had  first  viohited  their  faith. 

"  Dion,  1.  Ixxv.  p.  1263.  Herodian,  1.  iii.  p.  120.  Hist.  August 
p.  70. 

**  The  polished  citizens  of  Antioch  called  those  of  Edessa  mixed 
barbarians.  It  was,  however,  some  praise,  that  of  the  three  dialecla 
of  the  Syriac,  the  purest  and  most  elegant  (tlie  Aramaean)  was  spoken 
ftt  Edessa.  This  remark  M.Bayer  (Hist.  Edess.  p  5)  has  borrowfd 
t-om  George  of  Malatia,  a  Syrian  writer. 


A.  D.  226-240.J     OF  the  koman  empire.  24? 

CU3,  it  was  judged  prudent  to  secure  some  subslrtiitia.  pledges 
cf  their  doubtful  fidelity.  Forts  were  constructed  in  several 
parts  of  the  country,  and  a  Roman  garrison  was  fixed  in  the 
strong  town  of  Nisibis.  During  the  troubles  that  followed  the 
death  of  Commodus,  the  princes  of  Osrhoene  attempted  to 
shake  off  the  yoke  ;  but  the  stern  jjolicy  of  Severus  confirmed 
their  dependence,"  and  the  perfidy  of  Caracalla  completed  the 
6asy  conquest.  Abgarus,  the  last  king  of  Edessa,  was  sent  in 
chains  to  Rome,  his  dominions  reduced  into  a  province,  and  his 
capital  dignified  with  the  rank  of  colony  ;  and  thus  the  Ro- 
mans, about  ten  years  befoie  the  fall  of  the  Parthian  monarchy, 
obtained  a  firm  and  permanent  establishment  beyond  tho 
Euphrates." 

Prudence  as  well  as  glory  might  have  justified  a  war  on 
the  side  of  Artaxerxes,  had  his  views  been  confined  to  the 
defence  or  acquisition  of  a  useful  frontier.  But  the  am- 
bitious Persian  openly  avowed  a  far  more  extensive  design  of 
conquest ;  and  he  thought  himself  able  to  support  his  lofty 
pretensions  by  the  arms  of  reason  as  well  as  by  those  of 
power.  CjTus,  he  alleged,  had  first  subdued,  and  his  suc- 
cessors had  for  a  long  time  possessed,  the  whole  extent  of 
Asia,  as  far  as  tho  Propontis  and  the  ^gean  Sea ;  the  prov- 
inces of  Caria  and  Ionia,  under  their  empire,  had  becTi  gov- 
erned by  Persian  satraps,  and  all  Egypt,  to  the  confines  of 
Ethiopia,  had  acknowledged  their  sox-ereignty."  Their  rights 
had  been  suspended,  but  not  destroyed,  by  a  long  usurpation  ; 
and  as  soon  as  he  received  ihe  Persian  diadem,  which  birth 
and  successful  valor  had  placed  upon  his  head,  the  first  great 
duty  of  his  station  called  upon  him  to  restore  the  ancient  limits 
and  splendor  of  the  monarchy.  The  Great  King,  therefore, 
(such  was  the  haughty  style  of  his  embassies  to  the  emperor 
Alexander,)  commanded  the  Romans  instantly  to  depart  from 
all  the  provinces  of  his  ancestors,  and,  yielding  to  the  Per- 


"  Dion.  1.  Ixxv.  p.  1248, 1249,  1250.     M.  Bayer  has  neglected  to  me 

this  most  important  passage. 

■"^  Tljis  kingdom,  from  Osrhoes,  who  gave  a  new  name  to  the  coun- 
try, to  the  last  Abgarus,  had  lasted  353  years.  See  the  learned  work 
of  ]\I.  Bayer,  Historia  Osrhoena  et  Edessena. 

"  Xenophon,  in  the  preface  to  the  Cyropjedia,  gives  a  clear  and 
magnificent  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  empire  of  Cyrus.  Ilerodotua 
(L  iii.  c.  79,  (tc.)  enters  into  a  curious  and  particular  description  of  the 
twenty  great  Satrapies  into  which  the  I'ersian  P'npire  was  divided  by 
Duiu<i  Hjstaspes. 


244  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240. 

s:ans  the  empire  of  Asia,  to  content  tneirsselves  with  the 
undisturbed  possession  of  Europe.  This  haughty  mandate  svas 
deUvered  by  four  hundred  of  the  tallest  and  most  beautiful  of 
the  Persians  ;  who,  by  their  fine  horses,  splendid  arras,  and 
rich  apparel,  displayed  the  pi'ide  and  greatness  of  their  master." 
Such  an  embassy  was  iimch  less  an  offer  of  negotiation  than  a 
declaration  of  war.  Both  Alexander  Severus  and  Artaxerxcs, 
collecting  the  military  force  of  the  Roman  and  Persian  mon- 
archies, resolved  in  this  important  contest  to  lead  their  armies 
in  person. 

If  we  credit  what  should  seern  the  most  authentic  of  all 
records,  an  oration,  still  extant,  and  delivered  by  the  emperor 
himself  to  the  senate,  we  must  allow  that  the  victory  of  Alex- 
ander Severus  was  not  inferior  to  any  of  those  formerly  ob- 
tained over  the  Persians  by  the  son  of  Philip.  The  army  of 
the  Great  King  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
horse,  clothed  in  complete  armor  of  steel ;  of  seven  hundred 
elephants,  with  towers  filled  with  archers  on  their  backs,  and 
of  eighteen  hundred  chariots  armed  with  scythes.  This  for- 
midable host,  the  like  of  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  eastern 
history,  and  has  scarcely  been  imagined  in  eastern  romance,'"' 
was  discomfited  in  a  great  battle,  in  which   the  Roman  Alex- 

"  Herodian,  vi.  209,  212. 

*^  There  were  two  hundred  scythed  chariots  at  the  battle  of  Arbela, 
in  tlie  host  of  Darius.  In  the  vast  army  of  Tigranes,  which  was  van- 
quished by  LucuUus,  seventeen  thousand  horse  only  were  completely 
armed.  Antiochus  brought  fifty-four  elephants  into  the  field  against 
the  Romans  :  by  his  frequent  wars  and  negotiations  witli  the  princes 
of  India,  lie  had  once  collected  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  those  great 
animals ;  but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  most  powerful  mon- 
arch of  Hindostan  eve!  ibrmed  a  line  of  battle  of  seven  hundred 
elephants.  Instead  of  three  or  four  thousand  elephants,  which  the 
Great  Mogul  was  supposed  to  possess,  Tavernier  (Voyages,  part  ii.  L 
i.  p.  198)  discovered,  by  a  more  accurate  inquiry,  that  he  liad  only  five 
hundred  for  his  baggiige,  and  eighty  or  ninety  fur  the  service  of  war. 
The  Greeks  have  varied  witli  regard  to  the  number  which  Porus 
brought  into  the  field  ;  but  Quintus  Curtius,  (viii.  13,)  in  this  instance 
judicious  and  moderate,  is  contented  with  eighty-five  elephants,  distin- 
guished by  tlieir  size  and  strength.  In  Siam,  where  these  animals  are 
the  most  numerous  and  the  most  esteemed,  eighteen  elephants  are  al- 
lowed as  a  sufficient  proportion  for  each  of  the  nine  brigades  into 
which  a  just  army  is  divided.  The  whole  number,  of  one  liundred  and 
sixty-two  elephants  of  war,  may  sometimes  be  uo-obled.  Hist.  de« 
Voyaf.es,  tom.  ix.  p.  260.* 

*  Corn  pure  Gibbous  note  10  to  ch.  Ivi:  —  M. 


A.  D.  22G-240.J       OF  hie  roman  empire.  2-15 

ander  proved  himself  an  intrepid  soldier  and  a  skilfiil  gen- 
eral. The  Great  King  fled  before  his  valor  ;  an  imniensfl 
booty,  and  the  conquest  of  Mesopotamia,  were  the  immediate 
fruits  of  this  signal  victory.  Such  are  the  circumstances  of 
this  ostentatious  and  improbable  relation,  dictated,  as  it  too 
plainly  appeal's,  by  the  vanity  of  the  monarch,  adorned  by  the 
unblushing  servility  of  his  flatterers,  and  received  without  con- 
tradiction by  a  distant  and  obsequious  senate."  Far  from  be- 
ing inclined  to  believe  that  the  arms  of  Alexander  obtained  any 
memorable  advantage  over  the  Persians,  we  are  induced  to 
suspect  that  all  this  blaze  of  imaginary  glory  was  designed  to 
conceal  some  real  disgrace. 

Our  suspicions  are  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  a  contem- 
porary historian,  who  mentions  the  virtues  of  Alexander  with 
respect,  and  his  faults  with  candor.  He  describes  the  judi- 
cious plan  which  had  been  formed  for  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
Three  Roman  armies  were  destined  to  invade  Persia  at  the 
same  time,  and  by  different  roads.  But  the  operations  of  the 
campaign,  though  wisely  concerted,  were  not  executed  either 
with  ability  or  success.  The  first  of  these  armies,  as  soon 
as  it  had  entered  the  marshy  plains  of  Babylon,  towards  the 
artificial  conflux  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,"  was  en- 
compassed by  the  superior  numbers,  and  destroyed  by  the 
arrows  of  the  enemy.  The  alliance  of  Chosroes,  king  of 
Armenia,"  and  the  long  tract  of  mountainous  country,  in 
which  the  Persian  cavalry  was  of  little  service,  opened  a 
secure  entrance  into  the  heart  of  Media,  to  the  second  of  the 
Roman  armies.  These  brave  troops  laid  waste  the  adjacent 
jirovinces,  and  by  several  successful  actions  against  Artaxerxes, 
gave  a  faint  color  to  the  emperor's  vanity.  But  the  retreat  of 
this  victorious  army  was  imprudent,  or  at  least  unfortunate. 
In  repassing  the  mountains,  great  numbers  of  soldiers  perished 


V>  Hist.  August,  p.  133.* 

"  M.  de  Tillemont  has  already  observed,  that  Herodian's  geography 
is  somewhat  confused. 

^^  Mosea  of  Chorene  (Hist.  Armen.  1.  iL  c.  '71)  illustrates  this  inva- 
sion of  Media,  by  asserting  that  Chosroes,  king  of  Armenia,  defeated 
Artaxerxes,  and  pursued  him  to  the  confines  of  India.  The  exnlcitj 
of  Chosroes  have  been  magnified  ;  and  he  acted  as  a  dependent  ally  to 
the  Romans. 


"     See  M.  Guizot's  nolo,  p.  267.     Acconliug  to  the  Persian  autnoritiei 
ArdcBchir  extended  bis  conquests  to  the  Euphrates.    Malcolui  i.  71. — M. 


246  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL         [A,  D.  22G-240. 

by  the  badness  of  the  roads,  and  the  severity  of  the  wintei 
Beason.  It  hai  been  resolved,  that  wliilst  these  two  great 
detachments  penetrated  into  the  opposite  extremes  of  the 
Persian  dominions,  the  main  body,  under  the  command  of 
Alexander  himself,  should  support  their  attack,  by  invading 
the  centre  of  the  kingdom.  But  the  unexperienced  youth, 
influenced  by  his  mother's  counsels,  and  perhaps  by  his  own 
fears,  deserted  the  bravest  troops,  and  the  fairest  prospect  of 
victory ;  and  after  consuming  in  Mesopotamia  an  inactive  and 
inglorious  summer,  he  led  back  to  Antioch  an  army  dimin- 
ished by  sickness,  and  provoked  by  disappointment.  The 
behavior  of  Artaxerxes  had  been  very  different.  Flying  with 
rapidity  from  the  hills  of  Media  to  the  marshes  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, he  had  everywhere  opposed  the  invaders  in  person ; 
and  in  either  fortune  had  united  with  the  ablest  conduct  the 
most  undaunted  resolution.  But  in  several  obstinate  engage 
ments  against  the  veteran  legions  of  Rome,  the  Persian  mon- 
arch had  lost  the  flower  of  his  troops.  Even  his  victories 
had  weakened  his  power.  The  favorable  opportunities  of  the 
absence  of  Alexander,  and  of  the  confusions  that  followed 
that  emperor's  death,  presented  themselves  in  vain  to  his  am- 
bition. Instead  of  expelling  the  Romans,  as  he  pretended, 
from  the  continent  of  Asia,  he  found  himself  unable  to  wrest 
from  their  hands  the  little  province  of  Mesopotamia.^' 

The  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  which,  from  the  last  defeat  of  the 
Parthians,  lasted  only  fourteen  years,  forms  a  memorable  aera 
in  the  history  of  the  East,  and  even  in  that  of  Rome.  His 
character  seems  to  have  been  marked  by  those  bold  and  com- 
manding features,  that  generally  distinguish  the  princes  who 
conquer,  from  those  who  inherit  an  empire.  Till  the  last 
period  of  the  Persian  monarchy,  his  code  of  laws  was  re- 
spected as  the  groundwork  of  their  civil  and  religious 
policy."  Several  of  his  sayings  are  preserved.  One  of 
them  in  particular  discovers  a  deep  insight  into  the  constitu- 
tion of  government.  "  The  authority  of  the  prince,"  said 
Artaxerxesj  "must  be  defended  by  a  military  force;  that 
force  can  only  be  maintained   by  taxes ;    all  taxes  must,  at 


**  For  the  account  of  this  war,  see  Ilerodian,  1.  vi.  p.  209,  212. 
The  old  abbreviator^  and  modern  compilers  have  blindly  followed  the 
Augustan  History. 

"  Eutycluus,  torn.  ii.  p.  180,  vers.  Pocock.  The  great  Chosroes 
Nousliinvan  sen/  the  code  of  Artaxerxes  to  all  liia  satraps,  as  tho  in- 
ariable  rule  of  their  conduct. 


A.  D.  226-240.]     of  suk  koma.-j  empire.  247 

last,  fell  upon  agriculture' ;  tincl  agriculture  can  never  flourish 
except  under  tlie  protection  of  justice  and  moderation." " 
Artaxerxes  bequeathed  his  new  empire,  and  his  ambitious  de 
signs  against  the  Romans,  to  Sapor,  a  son  not  unworthy  of 
his  great  father ;  but  those  designs  were  too  extensive  for  t'no 
power  of  Persia,  and  served  only  to  involve  both  nations  in  a 
long  series  of  destructive  wars  and  reciprocal  calamities. 

The  I'ersians,  long  since  civilized  and  corrupted,  were  verj 
far  from  possessing  the  martial  independence,  and  the  intrep- 
id hardiness,  both  of  mind  and  body,  which  have  rendered 
the  northern  barbarians  masters  of  the  world.  The  science 
of  war,  that  constituted  the  more  rational  force  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  as  it  now  does  of  Europe,  never  made  any  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  East.  Those  disciplined  evolutions 
which  harmonize  and  animate  a  confused  multitude,  were 
unknown  to  the  Persians.  They  were  equally  unskilled  in 
the  arts  of  constructino;,  be^ieo-inof,  or  defeudinic  reo-ular  forti- 
fications.  They  trusted  more  to  their  numbei's  than  to  their 
courage  ;  more  to  their  courage  than  to  their  discipline.  The 
infantry  was  a  half-armed,  spiritless  crowd  of  peasants,  lev- 
ied in  haste  by  the  allurements  of  plundei",  and  as  easily 
dispersed  by  a  victory  as  by  a  defeat.  The  monarch  and  his 
nobles  transported  into  the  camp  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the 
seraglio.  Their  military  operations  were  impeded  by  a  use- 
less train  of  women,  eunuchs,  horses,  and  camels ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  a  successful  campaign,  the  Persian  host  was  often 
.separated  or  destroyed  by  an  unexpected  femine.^* 

But  the  nobles  of  Persia,  in  the  bosom  of  luxury  and  des- 
potism, preserved  a  strong  sense  of  personal  gallantry  and 
national  honor.  From  the  age  of  seven  years  they  were 
taught  to  speak  truth,  to  shoot  with  the  bow,  and  to  ride ;  and 
it  was  universally  confessed,  that  in  the  two  last  of  these  arts, 
they  had  made  a  more  than  common  proficiency."  The 
most  distinguished  youth  were  educated  under  the  monarch's 


**  D'Herbelot,  Bibliothcque  Orientale,  au  mot  Anhhir.  "We  may 
observe,  that  after  an  ancient  period  of  fables,  and  a  long  interval  of 
darkness,  the  modern  histories  of  Persia  begin  to  assume  an  air  of 
truth  Avith  the  dynasty  of  Sassanides.     [Compare  jMalcolm,  i.  79. — M. 

'"  Hcrodian,  1.  vi.  p.  214.    AmniianusMarcellmus,  1.  xxiii.  c.  (5.    Som 
differences  may  be  observed  between  the  two  historians,  the  natural 
efifects  of  the  changes  produced  by  a  century  and  a  half. 

"  The  Persians  are  still  the  most  skilful  hcTsemen,  and  their  horsei 
the  finest,  in  the  East. 


248  THE    DECLIXE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  22G-240 

eye,  piActisod  their  exercises  in  the  gate  of  his  palace,  and 
were  aeverely  trained  up  to  the  habits  of  temperance  and 
obedience,  in  their  long  and  laborious  parties  of  hunting.  Tn 
every  province,  the  satrap  maintained  a  like  school  of  miHtary 
virtue.  The  Persian  nobles  (so  natural  is  the  idea  or  Teudal 
tenures)  received  from  the  king's  bounty  lands  and  houses,  on 
the  condition  of  their  service  in  war.  They  were  ready  on 
Ihe  first  summons  to  mount  on  horseback,  with  a  martial  and 
splendid  train  of  followers,  and  to  join  the  numerous  bodies 
of  guards,  who  were  carefully  selected  from  among  tho  most 
robust  slaves,  and  the  bravest  adventurers  of  Asia.  These 
armies,  both  of  light  and  of  heavy  cavalry,  equally  formidable 
by  the  impetuosity  of  their  charge  and  the  rapidity  of  their 
motions,  threatened,  as  an  impending  cloud,  the  eastern  prov- 
inces of  the  declining  empire  of  Rome.** 

'*  From  Herodotus,  Xenophon,  Herodian,  Ammianus,  Chardin, 
Ac,  I  have  extracted  such  probable  acccuiits  of  the  Persian  nobihty, 
as  seem  either  common  to  every  age,  or  particular  to  that  of  the 
Bamamdes. 


A- D,  226-240.]      OF  the  roman  empirk.  24i 


CHAPTER   IX. 

IHl    STATE    OF    GERMANY   TILL   THE    INVASION    OF   THE  BARBA- 
RIANS   IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    EMPEROR    DECIUS. 

The  government  and  religion  of  Persia  have  deserved  some 
notice,  from  their  connection  with  the  decline  and  fall  of  tlio 
Roman  empire.  We  shall  occasionally  mention  the  Scythian 
or  Sarmatian  tribes,*  which,  with  their  arms  and  horses,  their 
flocks  and  herds,  their  wives  and  fixmilies,  wandered  over  the 
immense  plains  which  spread  themselves  from  the  Caspian 
Sea  to  the  Vistula,  from  the  confines  of  Persia  to  those  of 
Germany.  But  the  warlike  Germans,  who  first  resisted,  then 
invaded,  and  at  length  overturned  the  Western   monarchy  of 


*  The  Scythians,  even  according  to  the  ancients,  are  not  Saniiatians. 
[It  may  be  doubted  whether  Gibbon  intended  to  confound  them. — M.] 
The  Greeks,  after  having  divided  the  world  into  Greeks  and  barbarians, 
divided  the  barbarians  into  four  great  classes,  tlie  Cehs,  the  Scythians,  the 
Indians,  and  tlie  Ethiopian.?.  They  called  Celts  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Gaul.  Scythia  extended  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Lake  Aral:  the  people 
enclo.sed  in  the  angle  to  the  north-east,  between  Celtica  and  Scythia,  were 
called  Celto-Scythians,  and  the  Sarmatians  were  placed  in  the  southern 
part  of  that  angle.  But  the.se  names  of  Celts,  of  Scythian.s,  of  Celto- 
Scythians,  and  Sa^natians,  %vere  invented,  says  Schlozer,  by  the  profound 
cosmographical  ignorance  of  the  Greeks,  and  have  no  real  ground ;  they 
are  purely  geographical  divisions,  without  any  relation  to  the  true  affilia- 
tion of  the  different  races.  Thus  all  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul  arc  called 
Celts  by  most  of  the  ancient  writers ;  yet  Gaul  contained  three  totally  dis- 
tinct nations,  the  Belga,  the  Aquitani,  and  the  Gauls,  jjroperly  so  called. 
Hi  omnes  lingua  institutis,  legibusque  inter  se  dlfferunt.  Cicsar.  Cora.  c. 
i.  It  is  thus  the  Turks  call  all  Europeans  Franks.  Schlozer,  AUgemeine 
Nordische  Geschichte,  p.  289.  1771.  Bayer  (dc  Origine  et  priscis  Sodibua 
Scytharum,  in  Opusc.  p.  64)  .says,  Primus  eorum,  de  quibus  constat, 
Ephorus,  in  quarto  liistoriaruni  libro,  orbein  tcrrarum  inter  Seythas,  Indos, 
iEthiopas  et  Celtas  divisit.  Fragmentum  ejus  loci  Cosmas  Indicoplcustcs 
in  topographia  Christiana,  f.  118,  conservavit.  Video  igitur  Ephorum,  cum 
locorum  positus  per  certa  capita  distribuore  et  cxplicare  constitucret,  insig- 
uiorum  nomina  gentium  vastioribus  spatiis  adhibuissc,  niiUa  viala  frcnide  et 
nHccesau  hifcUci.  Nam  Ephoro  quoquoraodo  dicta  pro  cxploratis  habcbant 
Grasei  plerique  et  liomani :  ita  gliscebat  error  postcritatc.  Igitur  tot  tamque 
diversaa  stirpis  gentes  non  modo  intra  communem  quandani  regionom  defi- 
nitae,  unum  omnes  Scytharum  nomec  his  auctoribus  subienint,  sed  otiain  ab 
ills,  regionis  adpellatione  in  eaudem  nationem  sunt  conflataj.  Sic  Cimmeri- 
orum  res  cum  Scythici.s,  Scytharum  cum  Sarmaticis,  Russicis,  Hunnicis,  T» 
taricis  commisceiitur. — G. 


250  THE    DECLINE    AND    FAIL        [A.  D.  2'J6--240. 

Korae,  will  occupy  a  mucli  more  important  j^lace  in  tliis  his- 
tory, and  possess  a  stronger,  and,  if  we  may  use  tbe  expres- 
sion, a  more  domestic,  claim  to  our  attention  and  regard.  The 
most  civilized  nations  of  modern  Europe  issued  from  the 
woods  of  Germany ;  and  in  the  rude  institutions  of  thoso 
barbaiians  we  may  still  distinguish  the  original  princij)les  of 
our  present  laws  and  manners.  In  their  primitive  state  of 
simplicity  and  independence,  the  Germans  were  surveyed  Dy 
the  discerning  eye,  and  delineated  by  the  masterly  pencil,  of 
Tacitus,*  the  fu-st  of  historians  who  applied  the  science  of 
philosophy  to  the  study  of  facts.  The  expressive  conciseness 
of  hi^  descriptions  has  served  to  exercise  the  diligence  of  in- 
numerable antiquarians,  and  to  excite  the  genius  and  pene- 
tration of  the  philosophic  historians  of  our  own  times.  The 
subject,  however  various  and  important,  has  already  been  so 
frequently,  so  ably,  and  so  successfully  discussed,  that  it  is 
now  grown  familiar  to  the  reader,  and  difficult  to  the  writer 
We  shall  therefore  content  ourselves  with  observing,  and 
indeed  with  repeating,  some  of  the  most  important  circum- 
stances of  climate,  of  manners,  and  of  institutions,  which 
rendered  the  wild  barbarians  of  Germany  such  formidable 
enemies  to  the  Roman  power. 

Ancient  Germany,  excluding  from  its  independent  limits 
the  province  westward  of  the  Rhine,  which  had  submitted  to 
the  Roman  yoke,  extended  itself  over  a  tliird  part  of  Europe.f 


*  The  Germania  of  Taoitus  lias  been  a  fruitful  source  of  hypothesis  to  the 
bigenuity  of  modern  writers,  who  have  endeavored  to^account  I'or  the  form 
of  the  \vork  and  the  viewfi  of  the  author.  According  to  Luden,  (Geschichte 
des  T.  V.  i.  4:32,  and  note,)  it  contains  the  unfinished  and  disarranged  col- 
'  Jctauea  for  a  larger  work.  An  anonymous  writer,  supposed  by  Luden  to 
ue  M.  Becker,  conceives  that  it  was  intended  as  an  episode  in  his  larger  his- 
tory. According  to  M.  Guizot,  "  Tacite  a  peint  les  Germains  comma  Mon- 
taigne ct  Rousseau  les  sauvagee,  dans  un  acces  d'humeur  centre  sa  patrie  : 
son  livre  est  une  satire  des  moeurs  Romaines,  I'eloqucntc  boutade  d'un  pa^ 
triotc  philosophe  qui  veut  voir  la  vertu  la,  oCi  il  ne  rencontre  pas  la  mol!e«se 
houteuse  ct  la  depravation  savante  dune  vieUe  societe."  Hist,  de  la  Civil- 
isation Moderne,  i.  258. — M. 

t  Germany  ^vas  not  of  such  vast  extent.  It  is  from  Cffisar,  and  ni'"!ra 
particularly  from  Ptolemy,  (says  Gatterer.)  that  we  can  know  what  was  the 
Btate  of  ancient  Germany  before  the  wars  with  the  Romans  had  changed 
the  positions  of  the  tribes.  Germany,  as  changed  by  these  wars,  has  beej 
described  by  Strabo,  Pliny,  and  Tacitus.  Gemiany,  properly  so  called, 
v/as  bounrled  on  the  west  by  the  Rhine,  on  the  east  by  the  Vistula,  on  tho 
«orth  by  the  southern  point  of  Noi-\vay,  ijy  Sv^'eden,  and  Esthonia.  Oa 
the  south,  the  Maine  and  the  mountains  to  the  north  of  Bohemia  formed 
the  limits.  Before  the  time  of  Cassar,  the  country  between  the  Maine  and 
tho  Danube  was  partly  occupied  by  the  Helvetians  and  otiier  Gauls,  partlj) 
by  the  Hercynian  forest    but,  'rom  the  lime  of  Cspsar  to  the  great  migr» 


A.D.  226-240.]     OF  the  romax  empire.  251 

Almost  tlie  whole  of  modern  Germany,  Denmark,  Ntirway, 
Sweden,  Finland,  Livonia,  Prussia,  and  the  greater  part  of 
Poland,  were   peopled   by   the   vai'ious   tribes   of  one   great 


tion,  tbese  boundaries  were  advanced  as  far  as  the  Danube,  or,  what  is  the 
game  thing,  to  the  Suabian  Alps,  although  the  Hercyniau  forest  still  occa- 
[)ied,  fi-om  north  to  south,  a  space  of  nine  days'  journey  on  both  banks  of 
the  Danube.  "  Gatterer.  Vcrsuch  einer  all-gcmeineu  Welt-Gcschiclite,"  p. 
104,  edit,  de  1792.  This  vast  country  was  far  t'rom  being  inhabited  by  a 
single  nation  divided  into  different  tribes  of  the  same  origin.  We  may 
reckon  three  principal  races,  very  distinct  in  their  language,  their  origin, 
and  their  customs.  1.  To  the  east,  the  Slaves  or  Vandals.  2.  To  the 
west,  the  Cimmerians  or  Cimbri.  3.  Between  the  Slaves  and  Cimbrians, 
the  Germans,  properly  so  called,  the  Saevi  of  Tacitus.  The  South  wns 
inhabited,  before  Julius  Cajsar,  by  nations  of  Gaulish  origin,  afterwards  by 
the  Suevi — G.  On  the  position  cf  these  nations,  the  GeiTuan  antiquaries 
differ.  I.  The  Slaves,  or  Sclavonians.  or  Wendish  tribes,  according  to 
Schlozer,  were  originally  settled  iu  parts  of  Gennany  unknown  to  the 
Romans,  Mecklenburgh,  Pomerania,  Brandenburgh,  Upper  Saxony,  and 
Lusatia.  According  to  Gatterer,  they  remained  to  the  east  of  tlie  Theiss, 
che  Niemen,  and  the  Vistula,  till  the  third  century.  The  Slaves,  accord- 
ing to  Procopius  and  Jornandes,  Ibrmed  three  gi'cat  divisions.  1.  The 
Venedi  or  Vandals,  wlio  took  the  latter  name,  (the  Wcnden,^  having 
expelled  the  Vandals,  properly  so  called,  (a  Suevian  race,  the  conquerors 
of  Africa,)  from  the  country  between  the  Memel  and  the  Vistula.  2.  The 
Ajites,  who  inhabited  between  the  Dueister  and  the  Dnieper.  3.  The  Scla- 
vonians, properly  so  called,  in  the  north  of  Dacia.  During  the  great 
migration,  these  races  advanced  into  Germany  as  far  as  the  Saal  and  the 
Elbe.  The  Sclavonian  language  is  the  stem  from  which  have  is.sued  the 
Russian,  the  Poli.sh,  the  Bohemian,  and  the  dialects  of  Lusatia,  of  some 
parts  of  the  duchy  of  Luueburgb,  of  Carniola,  Carinthia,  and  Styria, 
iScc. ;  those  of  Croatia,  Bosnia,  and  Bulgaria.  Schlozer,  Nordische  Ge- 
schichte,  p.  323,  335.  II.  The  Cimbric  race.  Adelung  calls  by  this  name 
all  who  were  not  Suevi.  This  race  had  passed  the  Rhine,  before  the  time 
of  CoBsar,  occupied  Belgium,  and  are  the  Belga;  of  Cajsar  and  Pliny.  The 
Cimbrians  also  occupied  the  Isle  of  Jutland.  The  Cyrari  of  Wales  and  of 
Britain  are  of  this  race.  Many  tribes  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  the 
GuthJui  in  Jutland,  the  Usipeti  iu  Westphalia,  the  Sigambri  in  the  duchy 
of  Berg,  were  Gennan  Cimbrians.  III.  The  Suevi,  known  in  very  early 
times  by  the  Romans,  for  they  are  mentioned  by  L.  Corn.  Sisenna,  who 
iived  123  years  before  Christ,  (Nonius  v.  Lancea.)  This  race,  the  real  Ger- 
mans, extended  to  the  Vistula,  and  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Ilercynian 
forest.  The  name  of  Suevi  ^vas  sometimes  confined  to  a  single  tribe,  as  by 
("oesar  to  the  Catti  The  name  of  the  Suevi  has  been  preserved  in 
Suabia. 

These  three  were  the  principal  races  which  inhabited  Germany ;  they 
mov  ;d  from  east  to  west,  and  are  the  parent  stem  of  the  modern  natives. 
But  northern  Europe,  according  to  Schlozer,  was  not  peopled  bj'  them 
alone ;  other  races,  of  different  origin,  and  speaking  difterent  languages, 
have  inhabited  and  left  descendants  in  these  countries. 

The  Gennan  tribes  called  themselves,  from  very  j-emote  times,  by  the 
6;eneric  name  of  Teuton.s,  (Teuton,  Dcutschen,)  which  Tacitus  derives  from 
tliat  of  one  of  their  gods,  Tuisco.  It  appears  more  probable  that  it  mean* 
cnerel}'  men,  people.  Many  savage  nations  have  given  themselves  no  other 
najue.  Thus  the  Laplanders  call  tliemselves  Almag,  people  ;  the  Samoi 
edes  Nilletz,  Nis.setsch,  men,  &c.  As  to  the  name  of  Germans,  (Germani,* 
Caesar  found  it  in  use  in  Gaul,  and  adopted  it  as  a  word  already  known  ta 
the  Romans.    Many  of  the  learned  (from  a  passage  of  Tacitus,  de  Mor 


2fi2  THE    DECLINE    AND   FALL         [A.  D.  22(5-240. 

nation,  whose  complexion,  manners,  and  language  denoted  a 
common  origin,  and  preserved  a  striking  resemblance.  On 
the  west,  ancient  Germany  was  divided  by  the  Rhine  from 
the  GalHc,  and  on  the  south,  by  the  Danube,  from  the  Illyrianj 
pro\inces  of  the  empire.  A  ridge  of  hills,  rising  from  the 
Danube,  and  called  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  covered  Ger- 
many on  the  side  of  Dacia  or  Hungary.  The  eastern  frontier 
was  faintly  marked  by  the  mutual  fears  of  the  (irermans  and 
the  Sarraatians,  and  was  often  confounded  by  the  mixture  of 
warring  and  confederating  tribes  of  the  two  nations.  In  the 
remote  darkness  of  the  north,  the  ancients  imperfectly  descried 
a  frozen  ocean  that  lay  beyond  the  Baltic  Sea,  and  beyond  the 
Peninsula,  or  islands  '  of  Scandinavia. 

Some  ingenious  writers*  have  suspected  that  Europe  was 
much  colder  formerly  than  it  is  at  present ;  and  the  most 
ancient  descriptions  of  the  climate  of  Germany  tend  exceed- 
ingly to  confirm  their  theory.  The  general  complaints  of 
intense  frost  and  eternal  winter,  are  perhaps  little  to  be  re- 
garded, since  we  have  no  method  of  reducing  to  the  accurate 
standard  of  the  thermometer,  the  feelings,  or  the  expressions, 
of  an  orator  born  in  the  happier  regions  of  Greece  or  Asia. 
But  I  shall  select  two  remarkable  circumstances  of  a  less 
equivocal   nature.       1.  The   great   rivers   which   covered   the 

*  The  modern  philosophers  of  Sweden  seem  agreed  that  the  watera 
of  the  Baltic  gradually  sink  in  a  regular  proportion,  which  they  have 
pentiired  to  estimate  at  half  an  incli  every  year.  Twenty  centuries 
ago  the  flat  country  of  Scandinavia  must  have  been  covered  by  the 
sea ;  while  the  high  lands  rose  above  the  waters,  as  so  many  islands 
of  various  forms  and  dimensions.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  notion  given 
us  by  Mela,  Pliny,  and  Tacitus,  of  the  vast  countries  round  the  Baltia 
See  in  the  Bibliotheque  Eaisonnee,  tom.  xl.  and  xlv.  a  large  abstract 
of  Dalin's  History  of  Sweden,  composed  in  the  Swedish  language.* 

"  In  particular,  Mr.  Hmne,  the  Abbe  du  Bos.  and  M.  Pelloutier. 
Hist,  des  Celtes,  tom.  i. 

Germ.  c.  2j  have  supposed  that  it  vv^as  only  applied  to  the  Teutons  after 
Caesar's  time ;  but  Adelung  has  triumphantly  refuted  this  opinion.  The 
name  of  Genuans  is  found  in  the  Fasti  Capitolini.  See  Gruler,  Iseri[). 
2899,  in  which  the  consul  Marcellus,  in  the  j"2ar  of  Rome  531,  is  .said  lo  liave 
defeated  the  Gauls,  the  Insubrians,  and  tlie  Germaiix.  commanded  by  Vir- 
domar.  See  Adelung,  Aelt.  Geschichtc  dcr  Deutsch,  p.  102. — CoinpresseO 
from  G. 

*  Modem  geologists  liave  rejected  this  theory  of  the  depression  of  the  Bal 
tic,  as  inconsistent  with  recent  observation.  The  considerable  changeii 
which  have  taken  place  on  its  shores,  Mr.  Lyell,  from  actual  observation 
BOW  de^-idedly  attributes  to  the  vegular  and  uriifonu  eleva'Jon  of  the  luid.-' 
Lyell'fl  Geology,  b.  ii.  c.  17  — M. 


A.  D.  226-240.]     of  tiik  roman   empire.  269 

Roman  provinces,  the  Rhino  and  the  DanuLe,  weio  frequently 
frozen  over,  and  cajiable  of  sup|iorting  tlie  most  enormous 
weights.  The  barbarians,  who  often  chose  that  severe  season 
for  their  inroads,  transported,  without  ajiprehension  or  danger, 
their  numerous  armies,  their  cavahy,  and  their  heavy  wagons, 
over  a  vast  and  sohd  bridge  of  ice.'  Modern  ages  have  not 
presented  an  instance  of  a  like  phenomenon.  2.  The  rein- 
deer, that  useful  animal,  from  whom  the  savage  of  the  North 
derives  the  best  comforts  of  liis  dreary  life,  is  of  a  constitution 
that  supports,  and  even  requires,  the  most  intense  cold,  llo 
is  found  on  the  rock  of  Spitzberg,  within  ten  degrees  of  the 
Pole;  ho  seems  to  delight  in  the  snows  of  Lapland  and  Siberia: 
but  at  present  he  canjiot  subsist,  much  less  multi{)ly,  in  any 
country  to  the  south  of  the  Baltic.''  In  the  time  of  Caesar  the 
reindeer,  as  well  as  the  elk  and  the  wild  bull,  was  a  native 
of  the  Hercynian  forest,  which  then  overshadowed  a  great 
part  of  Germany  and  Poland.*     The   modern  improvements 

^  Diodorus  Siculus,  I.  v,  p.  340,  edit.  Wessel.  Herodian,  1.  vL 
p.  221.  Jornandes,  c.  55.  On  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  the  wine, 
when  brought  to  table,  was  frequently  frozen  into  great  lumps,  frusta 
vijii.  Ovid.  Epist.  ex  Ponto,  1.  iv.  7,  9,  10.  Virgil.  Georgic.  1.  iil 
o55.  The  fact  is  confirmed  by  a  soldier  and  a  philosopher,  who  h.id 
experienced  the  intense  cold  of  Thrace.  See  Xeuoplion,  Anabasis,  L 
vii.  p.  560,  edit.  Hutchinson.* 

■*  Buffon,  Histoire  JSTaturelle,  torn.  xii.  p.  79,  116. 

^  CsBsar  de  Bell.  Gallic,  vi.  23,  <fec.  Tlie  most  inquisitive  of  tho 
Germans  were  ignorant  of  its  utmost  limits,  although  some  of  them 
had  travelled  in  it  more  than  sixty  days'  journey. f 


*  The  Danube  is  constantly  frozen  over.  At  Pesth  the  bridge  is  usually 
taken  up,  aiid  the  traffic  and  communication  betweeu  the  two  banks  ciirried 
on  over  the  ice.  The  Rhine  is  likewise  in  many  parts  passable  at  least  two 
years  out  of  five.  Winter  campaigns  are  so  unusual,  in  modern  warfare, 
that  I  i-ecollect  but  one  instance  of  an  army  crossing  either  invcr  on  the  ice. 
In  the  thirty  years'  war,  (1635,)  .Ian  van  Wertli,  an  Imperialist  partisan, 
crossed  the  Rhine  from  Heidelberg  on  the  ice  with  5000  men,  and  surprised 
Spiers.  Pichegru's  memorable  campaign,  (1794-5,)  >vhcn  the  freezing  of  the 
Mcuse  and  Waal  opcncil  Holland  to  his  conquests,  and  his  cavalry  and  ar 
lillery  attacked  the  ships  frozen  in,  on  the  Zuydcr  Zee,  was  in  a  winter  of 
unprecedented  severity. — M.  1845. 

t  The  passage  of  Coesar,  "parvis  rcnonum  legumentis  utunlur,"  is 
ob.scure,  ob.serves  Luden,  (Geschichte  des  Teutschen  Volkes,)  and  insufll- 
cient  to  prove  the  reindeer  to  have  existed  in  Germany.  It  is  su[)j)()rlca 
however,  by  a  fragment  of  Sallnst.  Germam  intectum  rbenonibus  corpus 
Uigunt. — M.  It  has  been  enggcsted  to  me  that  Cresar  (as  old  Gesner  sup- 
posed) meant  the  reindeer  in  the  following  description.  E.st  bos  cen-i  figuri 
cujus  a  media  fronte  inter  aurcs  unum  cornu  e.xistit,  excelsius  ma- 
gieq^e  directum  (divaricalum,  qu  ?)  his  qute  nobis  nota  sunt  cornib'is.  Ab 
sjuB  anmmo,  sicu'.  palmaj,  rami  quam  late  diliuaduntur.  BelL  Gai.'ic.  vi  a? 
~M.  1845. 


2&4  THE    DKCLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240. 

Buffioieiilly  explain  the  causes  of  the  diminution  of  the  cold. 
These  iinuiense  woods  have  been  gradually  cleared,  which 
intercep':ed  from  the  earth  the  rays  of  the  sun."  The  morasses 
have  been  drained,  and,  in  proportion  as  the  soil  has  been 
cultivated,  the  air  has  become  more  temperate.  Canada,  at 
this  day,  is  an  exact  picture  of  ancient  Germany.  Although 
iiituated  in  the  same  parallel  with  the  finest  provinces  of  Franct 
and  England,  that  country  experiences  the  most  rigorous  cold. 
The  reindeer  are  very  numerous,  the  ground  is  covered  with 
deep  and  lasting  snow,  and  the  great  river  of  St.  Lawrence  is 
regularly  frozen,  in  a  season  when  the  waters  of  the  Seine 
and  the  Thames  are  usually  free  from  ice.^ 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain,  and  easy  to  exaggerate,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  climate  of  ancient  Germany  over  the  minds  and 
bodies  of  the  natives.  Many  writers  have  supposed,  and  most 
have  allowed,  though,  as  it  should  seem,  without  any  adequate 
proof,  that  the  rigorous  cold  of  the  North  was  favorable  to 
long  life  and  generative  vigor,  that  the  women  were  more 
fruitful,  and  the  human  species  more  prolific,  than  in  warmer 
or  more  temperate  climates.*  We  may  assert,  with  greater 
confidence,  that  the  keen  air  of  Germany  formed  the  large 
and  masculine  limbs  of  the  natives,  who  were,  in  general,  of 
a  more  lofty  stature  than  the  people  of  the  South,*  gave  them 
a  kind  of  strength  better  adapted  to  violent  exertions  than  to 
patient  labor,  and  inspired  them  •  with  constitutional  bravery, 
which  is  the  result  of  nerves  and  spirits.  The  severity  of  a 
winter  campaign,  that  chilled  the  courage  of  the  Roman  troops, 
was  scarcely  felt  by  these  hardy  children  of  the  North,"  who, 
in  their  turn,  were  unable  to  resist  the  summer  heats,  and 
dissolved  away  in  languor  and  sickness  under  the  beams  of  an 
Italian  sun." 


*  Cluverius  (Germaiiia  Antiqua,  1.  iii.  c.  47)  investijjates  the  small 
Biid  scattered  remains  of  the  Hercynian  wood. 

''  Cliarlevoix,  Histoire  du  Canada. 

*  Olaus  Rudbeck  asserts  that  the  Swedish  women  often  hear  ten  or 
twelve  children,  and  not  uncommonly  twenty  or  thirty ;  tiut  the 
authority  of  Rudbeck  is  mucli  to  be  suspected. 

*  In  iios  artus,  in  ha^c  corpora,  quae  miramur,  cxcrescunt.  Tacit 
Grermania,  3,  20.     Cluver.  1.  i.  c.  14. 

"  Plutarch,  in  Mario.  The  Cimbri,  by  way  of  amuscunent,  often 
olid  down  mountains  of  snow  on  their  broad  shields. 

"  The  Romans  made  war  in  all  climates,  and  by  their  excellent 
discipline  were  in  a  great  measure  preserved  in  hetdth  and  vigor.  It 
may  be  remarked,  that  man  is  the  or.ly  auimal  which  can  iSve  and 


A.  D.  226-240.J      ok  the  koman  empire.  26S 

There  is  not  any  where  upon  the  globe  a  large  tract  of 
country,  which  we  have  discovered  destitute  of  inhabitants, 
or  whose  first  population  can  be  fixed  with  any  degree  of  his- 
torical certainty.  And  yet,  lus  the  most  philosophic  niind^ 
can  seldom  refrain  from  investigating  the  infancy  of  great 
nations,  our  curiosity  consumes  itself  in  toilsome  and  disap- 
pointed eflbrts.  When  Tacitus  considered  the  purity  of  the 
German  blood,  and  the  forbidding  aspect  of  the  country,  ho 
was  disposed  to  pi'onounce  those  barbarians  Indli/cnoe,  or 
natives  of  the  soil.  We  may  allow  with  safety,  and  perliaps 
with  trutn,  that  ancient  Germany  was  not  originally  peopled 
by  any  foreign  colonies  already  formed  into  a  political  soci- 
ety ;'"  but  that  the  name  and  nation  received  their  existence 
from  the  gradual  union  of  some  wandering  savages  of  the 
Hercynian  woods.  To  assert  those  savages  to  have  been  the 
spontaneous  production  of  the  earth  wliich  they  inhabited 
would  be  a  rash  inference,  condemned  by  religion,  and  un- 
warranted by  reason. 

Such  rational  doubt  is  but  ill  suited  with  the  genius  of  pop- 
ular vanity.  Among  the  nations  who  have  adopted  the  Mo- 
saic history  of  the  world,  the  ark  of  Noah  has  been  of  the 
same  use,  as  was  formerly  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the 
siege  of  Troy.  On  a  narrow  b;isis  of  acknowledged  truth, 
an  immense  but  rude  superstructure  of  fable  has  been  erected  • 


multiply  in  every  country  from  the  equator  to  the  poles.     The  hog 
seems  to  approach  the  nearest  to  our  species  in  that  privilege. 

"  Facit.  Germ.  c.  3.  The  emigration  of  the  Gauls  followed  the 
course  of  the  Danube,  and  discharged  itself  on  Greece  and  Asia. 
Tacitus  could  discover  only  one  inconsiderable  tribe  that  retained  any 
ix&ce&  of  a  Gallic  origin.* 


*  The  Gothini,  who  must  not  bo  confoundcfl  witli  the  Gothi,  a  Suovian 
tribe.  In  the  time  of  Caisar  many  other  tribes  of  Gaulish  origin  ilwelt 
along  the  course  of  the  Danube,  who  could  not  long  resist  the  attacks  of  tho 
Suevi.  Tho  Helvetians,  who  (iwclt  on  the  borders  of  the  Black  Forest,  be- 
tween the  Maine  and  the  Danube,  had  been  expelled  long  before  tlio  time  of 
C;psar.  He  mentions  also  the  Volci  Tectosagi,  \vbo  came  from  Langucdoc 
and  settled  round  the  Black  Forest.  The  Boii,  who  had  penetrated  into 
iliat  forest,  and  also  have  loft  traces  of  their  name  in  Bohemia,  were  subdued 
m  the  first  century  by  the  Marcomanni.  The  Boii  settled  in  Noricum,  wera 
mingled  afterwards  with  the  Lombards,  and  received  the  name  of  Boio  Arii 
(Bavaria)  or  Boiovarii :  var,  in  some  German  dialects,  appearing  to  mean 
remains,  descendants.  Compare  Malte  B-m,  Geography,  vol  i.  p.  410,  edit 
1632  -M. 


266  THE    DECLINE   AND    FALL       [A.  D.  226-241 

and  the  wild  Trisliman/*  as  well  as  the  wild  Tartar, '^*  could 
point  out  the  individual  son  of  Japliet,  from  whose  loins  hia 
ancestors  were  lineally  descended.  The  last  century  abound- 
ed with  antiquarians  of  profound  learning  and  easy  faith, 
who,  by  the  dim  light  of  legends  and  traditions,  of  conjec- 
tures and  etymologies,  conducted  the  great  grandchildren 
of  Noah  from  the  Tower  of  Babel  to  the  extremities  of  the 
j^lobe.  Of  these  judicious  critics,  one  of  the  most  enter- 
taining was  Oaus  Rudbeck,  professor  in  the  university  of 
Upsal.'^  Whatever  is  celebrated  either  in  history  or  fable, 
this  zealous  patriot  ascribes  to  his  country.  From  Sweden 
(which  formed  so  considerable  a  part  of  ancient  Germany) 
the  Greeks  themselves  derived  their  alphabetical  charac- 
tei-s,  their  astronomy,  and  their  religion.  Of  that  delightful 
region  (for  such  it  appeared  to  the  eyes  of  a  native)  the  At- 
lantis of  Plato,  the  country  of  the  Hyperboreans,  the  gar- 
dens of  the  Hesperides,  the  Fortunate  Islands,  and  even  the 
Elysian  Fields,  were  all  but  faint  and  imperfect  transcripts. 
A  clime  so  profusely  favored  by  Nature  could  not  long  re- 
main desert  after  the  flood.  The  learned  Rudbeck  allows  the 
family  of  Noah  a  few  year?  to  multiply  from  eight  to  about 
twenty  thousand  pei'sons.  He  then  disperses  them  into  small 
colonies  to  replenish  the  earth,  and  to  propagate  the  human 
species.  The  German  or  Swedish  detachment  (which 
marched,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  under  the  command  of  Aske- 
naz,  the  son  of  Gomer,  the  son  of  Japhet)  distinguished  itself 
by  a  more  than  common  diligence  in  the  prosecution  of  this 
great  work.     The  northern  hive    cast   its   swarms    over  the 


'*  According  to  Dr.  Keating,  (History  of  Ireland,  p.  13,  14,)  the 
giant  Portholanus,  who  was  tlie  son  of  Seara,  the  son  of  Esra,  t)ie  son 
of  Sru,  the  son  of  Framant,  the  son  of  Fathaclan,  the  son  of  Magog, 
the  son  of  Japhet,  tlie  son  of  Noah,  landed  on  tlie  coast  of  Munster  tlie 
I4th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  the  world  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
und  seventy-eight.  Though  he  succeeded  in  his  great  enterprise,  the 
loose  behavior  of  his  wife  rendered  his  domestic  life  very  unhappy,  and 
provoked  him  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  killed — her  favorite  greyhound 
This,  as  tlie  learned  historian  very  properly  observes,  was  the  Jirst  in- 
stance of  female  falsehood  and  infidehty  ever  known  in  Ireland. 

■*  Genealogical  History  of  the  Tartars,  by  Abulghazi  Bahadiii 
Khan. 

"  His  work,  entitled  Atlantica,  is  unconunonly  scarce.  Bayle  hai 
given  two  most  curious  extracts  from  it.  Republique  dcs  Lettrea 
J»Dvier  et  Fevrier,  1685. 


A.  I).  220-£40.]     OF  THE  roman  empirk.  26' 

gi'eatost  part  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  Asia ;  <irul  (to  use  tlia 
author's  metaphor)  the  blood  circuhited  from  the  oxtrenatiea 
to  the  heart. 

But  all  this  -well-hxbored  system  of  German  finti(iuities  is 
annihilated  by  a  single  fact,  too  well  attested  to  admit  of  any 
doubt,  and  of  too  decisive  a  nature  to  leave  room  for  any 
reply.  The  Germans,  in  the  age  of  Tacitus,  were  unac- 
quainted with  the  use  of  letters  ;  '*  and  the  use  of  letters  is  tha 
principal  circumstance  that  distinguishes  a  civilized  people 
from  a  herd  of  savages  incapable  of  knowledge  or  reflection. 
Without  that  artificial  help,  the  human  memory  soon  dissipates 
or  corrupts  the  ideas  intrusted  to  her  charge ;  and  the  nobler 
faculties  of  the  mind,  no  longer  supplied  with  models  or  with 
materials,  gradually  forget  their  powers  ;  the  judgment  be- 
comes feeble  and  lethargic,  the  imagination  languid  or  irregu- 
lar. Fully  to  apprehend  this  important  trutli,  let  us  attempt, 
in   an   improved   society,   to  calculate   the  immense   distance 


*°  Tacit.  Germ.  ii.  19.  Literarum  secreta  viri  pariter  ac  fceminaa 
ignorant.  We  may  rest  contented  with  this  decisive  authority,  with- 
out entering  into  the  obscure  disputes  concerning  the  antiquity  of  the 
Runic  characters.  The  learned  Celsius,  a  Swede,  a  schoLxr,  and  a 
philosopher,  was  of  opinion,  that  they  were  nothing  more  tlian  the 
Roman  letters,  with  the  curves  changed  into  straight  lines  for  the 
ease  of  engraving.  See  Pelloutier,  Histoire  dos  Celtcs,  1.  ii.  c.  11. 
Dictionnaire  Diplomatique,  tom.  i.  p.  223.  We  may  add,  that  the 
oldest  Runic  inscriptions  are  supposed  to  be  of  the  third  century,  and 
the  most  ancient  writer  who  mentions  the  Runic  characters  is  Venan 
tius  Fortunatu-s,  (Carm.  vii.  18,)  who  lived  towards  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century. 

Barbara  fraxineis  pingatur  Run^  tabellis.* 


*  The  ob.scure  .subject  of  the  Runic  characters  has  exercised  llic  iiidu.stry 
and  ingenuity  of  the  modern  scholars  of  the  north.  There  are  dirce  distiuci 
theories;  one,  maintained  by  Schluzer.  (Nordische  Geschichte,  p.  481,  &c ,) 
who  considers  their  sixteen  letters  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Roman  alpliabet. 
post-Christian  in  their  date,  and  Sclilozcr  would  attribute  their  introduction 
jnto  the  north  to  the  Alemauui.  The  second,  that  of  ITredorick  Scblcgcl, 
(Vorlesungen  iibcr  alte  uud  neue  Literatur,)  supposes  that  these  cliara(;terg 
were  left  on  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Northern  Seas  by  the 
Phosnicians,  preserved  by  the  priestly  castes,  and  employed  for  purjjose-s 
of  magic.  Their  common  origin  from  the  Phamieiim  would  account  for 
heir  similarity  to  the  Roman  letters.  The  last,  to  which  we  incline,  claims 
much  higher  and  more  venerable  antiquity  lor  the  Runic,  and  su])])()ses 
tbem  to  have  been  the  original  characters  of  the  Indo-Teutonic  tribes, 
brought  from  the  East,  and  preserved  among  the  ditlerent  races  of  lliat 
•tock.  See  Uebcr  Deutsche  Runen  von  W.  C  Grimm,  18-.21.  A  Memoir  by 
Dr.  Lagis,  Fundgi-uben  des  alten  Nordens.  Foreign  Q,uarter.^  Review 
f«l.  ix.  p.  438.— M. 


868  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALl,        [A.  D.  226-240. 

between  the  man  of  learning  and  the  illiterate  peasant.  The 
former,  by  reading  and  reflection,  multiplies  his  own  experi 
ence,  and  lives  in  distant  ages  and  remote  countries ;  whilst 
the  latter,  rooted  to  a  single  spot,  and  confined  to  a  few  years 
of  existence,  surpasses  but  very  little  his  fellow-laborer,  the 
ex,  in  the  exercise  of  his  mental  faculties.  The  same,  and 
even  a  greater,  difference  will  be  found  between  nations  than 
between  individuals ;  and  we  may  safely  pronounce,  that 
without  some  species  of  writing,  no  people  has  ever  preserved 
the  faithful  annals  of  their  history,  ever  made  any  considerable 
progress  in  the  abstract  sciences,  or  ever  possessed,  in  any 
tolerable  degree  of  perfection,  the  useful  and  agreeable  arts 
of  life. 

Of  these  arts,  the  ancient  Germans  were  wretchedly  des- 
titute. They  passed  their  lives  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and 
poverty,  which  it  has  pleased  some  declaimers  to  dignify  with 
the  appellation  of  virtuous  simplicity.*  Modern  Germany  is 
said  to  contain  about  two  thousand  three  hundred  walled 
towns."  In  a  much  wider  extent  of  country,  the  geographer 
Ptolemy  could  discover  no  more  than  ninety  places  which  ha 
decorates  with  the  name  of  cities;'*  though,  according  to  our 
ideas,  they  would  but  ill  deserve  that  splendid  title.  We  car 
only  suppose  them  to  have  been  rude  fortifications,  constructed 
in  the  centre  of  the  woods,  and  designed  to  secure  the  women, 
children,  and  cattle,  whilst  the  warriors  of  the  tribe  marched 
out  to  repel  a  sudden  invasion.'*  But  Tacitus  asserts,  as  a 
well-known  fact,  that  the  Germans,  in  his  time,  had  no  cities ; '" 
and  that  they  affected  to  despise  the  works  of  Roman  industry, 


"  Recherclies  Philosophiques  siir  les  Araericains,  torn.  iii.  p.  228. 
The  author  of  that  very  curious  work  is,  if  I  am  not  misinformed,  r* 
German  by  birth.     [De  Pauw.] 

'®  The  Alexandrian  Geographer  is  often  criticized  by  the  accurate 
Cluverius. 

'"  See  C£Esar,  and  the  learned  Mr.  Whitaker  in  lus  History  of 
Manchester,  vol.  i. 

«"  Tacit.  Germ.  15.         

"  LudeE  (the  author  of  the  Geschichte  des  Toutschcn  Volkea)  has  eni- 
passed  most  writers  in  bis  patriotic  enthusiasm  for  the  virtues  and  uoble  mat.- 
teva  of  his  ancestors.  Even  tlie  cold  of  the  climate,  and  the  want  of  vin-34 
Bud  fruit  trees,  as  well  as  the  barbarism  of  the  inbaltitants,  are  calumnies  of 
Ihe  luxurious  Italians.  M.  Guizot,  on  the  other  side,  (in  bis  Histoire  de  la 
Civilisation,  vol.  i.  p.  272.  &c.,)  has  drawn  a  curious  parallel  betv/een  th* 
Cheroiaus  of  Tacitus  aud  the  North  American  Indians. — M. 


A.  D.  226-240.]        OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  268 

as  places  of  confinement  rather  than  of  security.*'  Their 
edifices  were  not  even  contig-uoiis,  or  formed  into  regular 
villas ; '"'  each  barbarian  fixed  his  independent  dwelling  on  tlie 
spot  to  which  a  plain,  a  wood,  or  a  stream  of  fresli  water,  liad 
induced  him  to  give  the  preference.  Neither  stone,  nor  brick, 
nor  tiles,  were  employed  in  these  slight  habitations.*^  They 
were  indeed  no  more  than  low  huts,  of  a  circular  figure,  built 
of  rough  timber,  thatched  with  straw,  and  pierced  at  the  top  to 
leave  a  free  passage  for  the  smoke.  In  the  most  inclement 
winter,  the  hardy  German  was  satisfied  with  a  scanty  garment 
made  of  the  skin  of  some  animal.  The  nations  who  dwelt 
towards  the  North  clothed  themselves  in  furs ;  and  the  women 
manufactured  for  their  own  use  a  coarse  kind  of  linen."  The 
game  of  various  sorts,  with  which  the  forests  of  Germany 
were  plentifully  stocked,  supplied  its  inhabitants  with  food  and 
exercise."'  Their  monstrous  herds  of  cattle,  less  remarkable 
indeed  for  their  beauty  than  for  their  utility,*'  formed  the 
principal  ol)ject  of  their  wealth.  A  small  quantity  of  corn  was 
the  only  produce  exacted  from  the  earth ;  the  use  of  orchards 
or  artificial  meadows  was  unknown  to  the  Germans ;  nor  can 
we  expect  any  improvements  in  agriculture  from  a  people, 
whose  prosperity  every  year  experienced  a  general  change  by 
a  new  division  of  the  arable  lands,  and  who,  in  that  strange 
operation,  avoided  disputes,  by  suffering  a  great  part  of  their 
territory  to  lie  waste  and  without  tillage."' 

Gold,  silver,  and  iron,  were  extremely  scarce  in  Germany. 
Its  barbarous  inhabitants  wanted  both  skill  and  patience  to 
investigate  those  rich  veins  of  silver,  which  have  so  liberally 
rewarded  the  attention  of  the  princes  of  Brunswick  and  Sax- 
ony.     Sweden,   which  now  supplies  Europe  with  iron,   was 

-^  When  the  Germans  commanded  the  Ubii  of  Cologne  to  cast  off 
the  Roman  yoke,  and  with  their  new  freedom  to  resume  their  ancient 
manners,  they  insisted  on  tlie  immediate  demolition  of  the  walls  of 
the  colony.  "  Postulamus  a  vobis,  mm"03  colonial,  munimenta  servi- 
tii,  detrahatis ;  etiam  fera  animalia,  si  clausa  teneas,  virtutis  oblivis- 
runtur."     Tacit.  Hist  iv.  64. 

-'  The  straggling  villages  of  Silesia  are  several  miles  in  length. 
See  Cluver.  1.  i.  c.  13. 

■■''  One  hundred  and  forty  years  after  Tacitus,  a  few  more  regulai 
structures  were  erected  near  tlie  Rhine  and  Danube.  HeiCKliac,  1 
ni.  p.  2M. 

"  Tacit  Germ.  17. 

•*  Tacit.  Germ.  5. 

*•  Csesar  de  Bell.  Gall.  vi.  21. 

"  Tacit  Germ.  26.     Cicsar,  vi  22, 


260  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  1),  226-240. 

equally  ignorant  of  its  own  riches;  and  tlie  appearance  of  the 
arms  of  the  Germans  furnished  a  sufficient  proof  how  little 
iron  they  were  able  to  bestow  on  what  they  must  have  deemed 
the  noblest  use  of  that  metal.  The  various  transactions  of 
peace  and  war  had  introduced  some  Roman  coins  (chiefly 
silver)  among  the  borderers  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube ;  but 
the  more  distant  tribes  were  absolutely  unacquainted  with  the 
use  of  money,  carried  on  their  confined  traffic  by  the  exchange 
of  commodities,  and  prized  their  rude  earthen  vessels  as  of 
equal  value  with  the  silver  vases,  the  presents  of  Rome  to 
their  princes  and  ambassadors.''*  To  a  mind  capable  of 
reflection,  such  leading  facts  convey  more  instruction,  than  a 
tedious  detail  of  subordinate  circumstances.  The  value  of 
money  has  been  settled  by  genei'al  consent  to  express  our 
wants  and  our  property,  as  letters  were  invented  to  express 
our  ideas ;  and  both  these  institutions,  by  giving  a  more  active 
energy  to  the  powers  and  passions  of  human  nature,  have  con- 
tributed to  multiply  the  objects  they  were  designed  to  repre- 
sent. The  use  of  gold  and  silver  is  in  a  great  measure 
factitious ;  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  im- 
portant and  various  services  which  agriculture,  and  all  the  arts, 
have  received  from  iron,  when  tempered  and  fashioned  by  the 
operation  of  fire,  and  the  dexterous  hand  of  man.  Money,  in 
a  word,  is  the  most  universal  incitement,  iron  the  most  pow- 
erful instrument,  of  human  industry ;  and  it  is  very  difficult 
to  conceive  by  what  means  a  people,  neither  actuated  by  the 
one,  nor  seconded  by  the  other,  could  emerge  from  the  gross- 
est barbarism.** 

If  we  contemplate  a  savage  nation  in  any  part  of  the  globe, 
a  supine  indolence  and  a  carelessness  of  futurity  v,ill  be  found 
to  constitute  their  general  character.  In  a  civilized  state, 
every  faculty  of  man  is  expanded  and  exercised ;  and  the 
great  chain  of  mutual  dependence  connects  and  embraces  the 
several  members  of  society.  The  most  numerous  portion  of 
it  is  employed  in  constant  and  useful  labor.  The  select  few, 
placed  by  fortune  above  that  necessity,  can,  however,  fill  up 
their  time  by  the  pursuits  of  interest  or  glory,  by  the  improve- 
ment of  their  estate  or  of  their  understanding,  by  the   duties, 

"  Tacit.  Germ.  6. 

^'  It  is  said  tliat  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  -without  the  use  of 
•sither  money  or  iron,  had  made  a  very  great  progress  in  the  arta, 
Those  arts,  and  the  monuments  they  produced,  have  been  strangely 
magnified.     See  Recherches  sur  les  Americains,  iifflt..  ii.  p.  153,  ix 


A..  D.  22G-240.]      OF  the  romax  EMriRE.  2^\ 

the  pleasures,  and  even  the  follies  of  social  life.  The  Oer- 
mans  were  not  possessed  of  these  varied  resources.  The  c«,ra 
of  the  house  and  family,  the  managenrent  of  the  land  and 
cattle,  were  delegated  to  the  old  and  the  infirm,  to  women  and 
slaves.  The  lazy  warrior,  destitute  of  every  art  that  might 
employ  his  leisure  hours,  consumed  his  days  and  nights  in  the 
animal  gratifications  of  sleep  and  food.  And  yet,  by  a  won- 
derful diversity  of  nature,  (according  to  the  remark  of  a  writer 
who  had  ])ierced  into  its  darkest  recesses,)  the  same  barbarians 
are  by  turns  the  most  indolent  and  the  most  restless  of  man- 
kind. They  delight  in  sloth,  they  detest  tranquillity.^"  The 
languid  soul,  oppressed  with  its  own  weight,  anxiously  required 
Bome  new  and  powerful  sensation ;  and  war  and  danger  were 
the  only  amusements  adequate  to  its  fierce  temper.  The  sound 
that  summoned  the  German  to  arms  was  grateful  to  his  car. 
It  roused  him  from  his  uncomfortable  lethargy,  gave  him  an 
active  pursuit,  and,  by  strong  exercise  of  the  body,  and  \iolent 
emotions  of  the  mind,  restored  him  to  a  more  lively  sense  of 
his  existence.  In  the  dull  intervals  of  peace,  these  barbarians 
were  immoderately  addicted  to  deep  gaming  and  excessive 
drinking ;  both  of  which,  by  different  means,  the  one  by 
inflaming  their  passions,  the  other  by  extinguishing  their  reason, 
alike  relieved  them  froin  the  pain  of  thinking.  They  glo- 
ried in  passing  whole  days  and  nights  at  table ;  and  the 
blood  of  friends  and  relations  often  stained  their  numerous  and 
drunken  assemblies."  Their  debts  of  honor  (for  in  that  light 
they  have  transmitted  to  us  those  of  jilay)  they  discharged 
with  the  most  romantic  fidelity.  The  desperate  gamester,  who 
had  staked  his  person  and  liberty  on  a  last  throw  of  the  dice, 
patiently  submitted  to  the  decision  of  fortune,  and  suffered 
himself  to  be  bound,  chastised,  and  sold  into  remote  slavery, 
by  his  weaker  but  more  lucky  antagonist." 

Strong  beer,  a  liquor  extracted  with  very  little  art  from 
wheat  or  barley,  and  corrupted  (as  it  is  strongly  expressed 
by  Tacitus)  into  a  certain  semblance  of  wine,  was  sufficient 
for  the  gross  ])urposes  of  German  debauchery.  But  those 
who  had  tasted  the  rich  wines  of  Italy,  and  afterwards  of 
Gaul,  sighed  for  that  'more  delicious  species  of  intoxication. 

»»  Tacit.  Germ.  15. 

"  Tacit.  Germ.  22,  23. 

'^  Id.  24.  The  Germans  might  borrow  the  arts  of  play  from  th« 
ftomany,  but  the  paxsioii.  is  wumlerlully  iiilicreiit  in  the  human 
Fpecie?:. 


232  THE    DECLINE   AND    FALL       [A.  I >.  226-240. 

They  attempted  not,  however,  (as  has  since  been  executed 
with  so  much  success,)  to  naturalize  the  vine  on  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine  and  Danube ;  nor  did  they  endeavor  to  procure  by 
industry  the  materials  of  an  advantageous  commerce.  To 
sohcit  by  labor  what  might  be  ravished  by  arras,  was 
esteemed  unworthy  of  the  German  spirit.^^  The  intemper- 
ate thirst  of  strong  liquors  often  urged  the  barbarians  to 
invade  the  provinces  on  which  art  or  nature  had  bestowed 
those  much  envied  presents.  The  Tuscan  who  betrayed  hia 
country  to  the  Celtic  nations,  attracted  them  into  Italy  by  the 
pi-  )spect  of  the  rich  fruits  and  delicious  wines,  the  productions 
of  a  happier  climate.^*  And  in  the  same  manner  the  Ger- 
man auxiliaries,  invited  into  France  during  the  civil  wars  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  were  allured  by  the  promise  of  plen- 
teous quarters  in  the  provinces  of  Champaigne  and  Burgun- 
dy.°*  Drunkenness,  the  most  illiberal,  but  not  the  most 
dangerous  of  our  vices,  was  sometimes  capable,  in  a  less 
civilized  state  of  mankind,  of  occasioning  a  battle,  a  war,  or  a 
revolution. 

The  climate  of  ancient  Germany  has  been  modified,  and 
the  soil  fertilized,  by  the  labor  of  ten  centuries  from  the  time 
of  Charlemagne.  The  same  extent  of  ground  which  at  pres- 
ent maintains,  in  ease  and  plenty,  a  million  of  husbandmen 
and  artificers,  was  unable  to  supply  a  hundred  thousand  lazy 
warriors  with  the  simple  necessaries  of  life.^'  The  Germans 
abandoned  their  immense  forests  to  the  exercise  of  hunting, 
eniployed  in  pasturage  the  most  considerable  part  of  their 
lands,  bestowed  on  the  small  remainder  a  rude  and  careless 
cultivation,  and  then  accused  the  scantiness  and  sterility  of  a 
country  that  refused  to  maintain  the  multitude  of  its  inhabit- 
ants. When  the  return  of  famine  severely  admonished  them 
of  the  importance  of  the  arts,  the  national  distress  was  some- 
times alleviated  by  the  emigration  of  a  third,  perhaps,  or  a 


"  Tacit.  Germ.  14 

"  Plutarch,  in  Camillo.     T.  Liv.  v.  33. 

'*  Dubos.  Hist,  de  la  Monarchie  Franfoise,  torn.  i.  p.  193. 

''  Tlie  Helvetian  nation,  -which  issued  from  a  country  caller'  Swit- 
lerland,  contained,  of  every  age  and  sex,  368,000  persons,  (Caesar  de 
'Bell.  Gal.  i.  29.)  At  present,  the  number  of  people  in  the  Pays  de 
Vaud  (a  small  district  on  the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,  much  mora 
distiuguished  for  pohteness  than  for  industry)  amounts  to  112.591 
See  an  excellent  tract  of  M.  Muret,  in  the  Memoires  de  la  Societe  d* 
Bern. 


A.,  r*  22G-240.J      OK  the  koman  emi'irz.  ftW 

fourth  part  of  their  youth."  The  possession  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  property  are  the  pledges  which  bind  a  civiHzcd  peoj^ie 
to  an  im])roved  country.  But  the  Germans,  who  carried  with 
them  what  they  most  vakied,  their  arms,  their  cattle,  and  their 
women,  cheerftilly  abandoned  the  vast  silence  of  their  woods 
for  the  unbounded  hopes  of  plunder  and  conquest.  The  in- 
numerable swarms  that  issued,  or  seemed  to  issue,  from  the 
great  storehouse  of  nations,  were  multiplied  by  the  fears  of  the 
vanquished,  and  by  the  credulity  of  succeeding  ages.  And 
from  facts  thus  exaggerated,  an  opinion  was  griidually  estab- 
lished, and  has  been  supported  by  writers  of  distinguished 
reputation,  that,  iu  the  age  of  Caesar  and  Tacitus,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  North  wei'e  far  more  numerous  than  they  are  in  our 
days.'*  A  more  serious  inquiry  into  tlie  causes  of  population 
seems  to  have  convinced  modern  philosophers  of  the  falsehood, 
and  indeed  the  impossibility,  of  the  supposition.  To  the  names 
of  Mariana  and  of  Machiavel,'*  we  can  oppose  the  equal  names 
jf  Robertson  and  Hume." 

A  warlike  nation  like  the  Germans,  without  either  cities, 
letters,  arts,  or  money,  found  some  compensation  for  this  sav- 
age state  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty.  Their  poverty  secured 
their  freedom,  since  our  desires  and  our  possessions  are  tho 
strongest  fetters  of  despotism.  "  Among  the  Suiones  (says 
Tacitus)  riches  are  held  in  honor.  They  are  therefore  sub 
ject  to  an  absolute  monarch,  who,  instead  of  intrusting  his 
people  with  the  free  use  of  arms,  as  is  practised  in  the  rest 
of  Germany,  commits  them  to  the  safe  custody,  not  of  a 
citizen,  or  even  of  a  freedman,  but  of  a  slave.  The  neigh' 
bors  of  the  Suiones,  the  Sitones,  are  sunk  even  below 
servitude  ;  they  obey  a  woman."  *'  In  the  mention  of  these 
exceptions,  the  great  historian  sufficiently  acknowledges  the 

^'  Paul  Diaconup,  c.  1,  2,  3.  Machiavel,  Davila,  and  the  rest  of 
Paul's  followers,  repi-escnt  these  emigrations  too  much  as  regular  and 
concerted  measures. 

'*  Sir  William  Temple  and  Montesquieu  have  indulged,  on  this  sub- 
ject, the  usual  liveliness  of  their  fancj-. 

'^  Machiavel,  Hist,  di  Firenze,  1.  L      M.nriana,  Hist.  Ilispan.  1.  v.  c.  1 
^^  Robertson's  Charles  V.     Hume's  Political  Essays.* 
*'  Tacit.  German.  44,  45.      Freinshemius  (who  dedicated  his  sup 
pfcmcut  to  Livy  to  Christina  of  Sweden)  thinks  proper  to  be  Terj 

"  It  is  a  ^vise  observation  of  Malthus,  that  these  nations  "  were  not  poptt 
Voas  in  proportion  to  the  huid  tbcy  occui.ied,  but  to  the  food  they  produred 
They  were  prolific  from  their  pure  morals  and  co;istiliitinns,  but  their  inetl 
lotions  were  not  calculated  to  prjduce  food  for  those  whom  tliey  broagh 
into  beinir. — M.  1845. 


9'8i  THE    DECLIXE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  22G-2401 

general  theory  of  government.  We  are  only  at  a  loss  to  con- 
ceive by  what  means  riches  and  despotism  could  penetrate 
into  a  remote  corner  of  the  North,  and  extinguish  the  gen- 
erous flame  that  blazed  with  such  fierceness  on  the  frontier 
of  the  Roman  provinces,  or  how  the  ancestors  of  those  Danes 
and  Norwegians,  so  distinguished  in  latter  ages  by  their 
unconquered  spirit,  could  thus  tamely  resign  the  great  char- 
acter of  German  liberty.**  Some  tribes,  however,  on  the  coast 
of  the  Baltic,  acknowledged  the  authority  of  kings,  though 
without  relinquishing  the  lights  of  men,"  but  in  the  far  greater 
part  of  Germany,  the  form  of  government  was  a  democracy, 
tempered,  indeed,  and  controlled,  not  so  much  by  general  and 
positive  laws,  as  by  the  occasional  ascendant  of  birth  or  valor, 
of  eloquence  or  superstition.** 

Civil  governments,  in  their  first  institution,  are  voluntary 
associations  for  mutual  defence.  To  obtain  the  desired  end, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  each  individual  should  conceive 
himself  obliged  to  submit  his  private  opinions  and  actions  to 
the  judgment  of  the  greater  number  of  his  associates.  The 
German  tribes  were  contented  with  this  rude  but  liberal  outline 
of  political  societ}'.  As  soon  as  a  youth,  born  of  free  parents, 
had  attained  the  age  of  manhood,  he  was  introduced  into  the 
general  council  of  his  countrymen,  solemnly  invested  with  a 
shield  and  spear,  and  adopted  as  an  equal  and  worthy  mem- 
ber of  the  military  commonwealth.  The  assembly  of  the 
warriors  of  the  tribe  was  convened  at  stated  seasons,  or  on 
Budden  emergencies.  The  trial  of  public  oftences,  the  elec 
tion  of  magistrates,  and  the  great  business  of  peace  and  war, 

angry  with  the  Roman  who  expressed  so  very  Utile  reverence  for 
Northern  queens.* 

*■  May  we  not  suspect  tliat  superstition  was  the  parent  of  despot- 
ism? The  descendants  of  Odin,  (whose  race  was  not  extinct  till  the 
year  1060)  are  said  to  have  reigned  in  Sweden  above  a  thousand 
years.  The  temple  of  Upsal  was  the  ancient  seat  of  religion  and 
empire.  In  the  year  1153  I  find  a  singular  law,  prohibiting  the  use 
and  profession  of  arms  to  any  except  the  king's  guards.  Is  it  not 
probable  that  it  was  colored  by  the  pretence  of  reviving  an  old  insti- 
tution ?  See  Dalin's  History  of  Sweden  in  the  BibUotheque  Raisonneo 
torn.  xl.  and  xlv. 

"  Tacit.  Germ.  c.  43.  *'  Id  c.  11,  12,  13,  &c 

'  The  Suiones  and  the  Sitones  are  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Scandinavia, 
their  naiue  may  be  traced  in  tliat  of  Sweden  ;  they  did  not  belong  to  the  race 
of  the  Saevi,  but  that  of  the  non-Suevi  or  Cinibri,  whom  the  Sucvi,  in  very 
remote  times,  drove  back  part  to  the  west,  part  to  the  north ;  they  wafe  w- 
tcc^^'ards  mingled  with  Suevian  tribe;?,  among  others  the  Goths,  who  hivt 
aft  traces  of  their  name  and  power  in  the  isle  of  GotliJajid. — G 


A.  D.  226-240.J      OF  ruE  koman  empire.  265 

were  determined  by  its  independent  voice.  Sometimes 
indeed,  these  important  questions  were  previously  considered 
and  prepared  in  a  more  select  council  of  the  principal  chief- 
tains." The  magistrates  might  deliberate  and  persuade,  the 
people  only  could  resolve  and  execute ;  and  the  resolutions 
of  the  Germans  were  for  the  most  part  hasty  and  violent. 
Barbarians  accustomed  to  place  their  freedom  in  gratifying 
die  present  passion,  and  their  courage  in  overlooking  all  future 
consequences,  turned  away  with  indignant  contempt  from  the 
remonstrances  of  justice  and  policy,  and  it  was  the  practice  to 
signify  by  a  hollow  murmur  their  dislike  of  such  timid  coun- 
sels. But  whenever  a  more  popular  orator  proposed  to  vindi- 
cate the  meanest  citizen  from  either  foreign  or  domestic  injury, 
whenever  he  called  upon  his  fellow-countrymen  to  assert  the 
national  honor,  or  to  piu'sue  some  enterprise  full  of  danger 
and  glory,  a  loud  clashing  of  shields  and  spears  expressed 
the  eager  applause  of  the  assembly.  For  the  Germans  al- 
ways met  in  arms,  and  it  was  constantly  to  be  dreaded,  lest 
an  irregular  multitude,  inflamed  with  faction  and  strong 
liquoi-s,  should  use  those  arras  to  enforce,  as  well  as  to  declare, 
their  furious  resolves.  We  may  recollect  how  often  the  diets 
of  Poland  have  been  polluted  with  blood,  and  the  more  nu- 
merous party  has  been  compelled  to  yield  to  the  more  violent 
and  seditious.'" 

A  general  of  the  tribe  was  elected  on  occasions  of  danger ; 
and,  if  the  danger  was  pressing  and  extensive,  several  tribes 
concurred  in  the  choice  of  the  same  general.  The  bravest 
warrior  was  named  to  lead  his  countrymen  into  the  field,  by 
his  example  rather  than  by  his  commands.  But  this  power, 
however  limited,  was  still  invidious.  It  expired  with  the  war, 
and  in  time  of  peace  the  German  tribes  acknowledged  not 
any  supreme  chief.*'  Princes  were,  however,  appointed,  in 
the  general  assembly,  to  administer  justice,  or  rather  to  com- 
pose differences,"  in  their  respective  districts.  In  the  choice 
of  these  magistrates,  as  much  regard  was  shown  to  birth  aa 
to  merit.**     To  each  was  assigned,  by  the  public,  a  guard, 

''■'  Grotius  changes  an  expression  of  Tacitas,  pertractanhir  into  Prat- 
tTociantiir.     The  correction  is  equally  just  and  ingenious. 

*"  Even  in  otir  ancient  parliament,  the  barons  often  carried  a  qnes 
tion,  not  so  much  by  the  number  of  votes,  as  by  that  of  their  armed 
followers. 

*'  Cffisar  de  Bell.  Gal.  vi.  23. 

**  Minuunt  controvcrsias,  is  a,  very  happy  expression  of  Cajsara. 

**  Reges  ex  nobilitate,  ducAs  ex  virtute  sumunt  Tacit  G«na.  f 
?OL.  I. — M 


266  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240 

and  a  council  of  a  hundred  persons,  and  the  first  of  the  princes 
appears  to  have  enjoyed  a  preeminence  of  rank  and  honor 
which  sometimes  tempted  the  Romans  to  toraphment  him 
with  the  regal  title.^' 

The  comparative  view  of  the  powers  of  the  magistrates,  in 
two  remarkable  instances,  is  alone  sufficient  to  represent  the 
whole  system  of  German  manners.  The  disposal  of  the  land- 
ed property  within  their  district  was  absolutely  vested  in  their 
hands,  and  they  distributed  it  every  year  according  to  a  new 
division.^'  At  the  same  time  they  were  not  authorized  to 
punish  with  death,  to  imprison,  or  even  to  strike  a  private  citi- 
zen." A  people  thus  jealous  of  their  persons,  and  careless 
of  their  possessions,  must  have  been  totally  destitute  of  indus- 
try and  the  arts,  but  animated  with  a  high  sense  of  honor  and 
independence. 

The  Germans  respected  only  those  duties  which  they 
imposed  on  themselves.  The  most  obscure  soldier  resisted 
with  disdain  the  authority  of  the  magistrates.  "The  noblest 
youths  blushed  not  to  be  numbered  among  the  faithful  com- 
panions of  some  renowned  chief,  to  whom  they  devoted  their 
arms  and  service.  A  noble  emulation  prevailed  among  the 
companions,  to  obtain  the  first  place  in  the  esteem  of  their  chief; 
amongst  the  chiefs,  to  acquire  the  greatest  number  of  valiant 
companions.  To  be  ever  surrounded  by  a  band  of  select  youths 
was  the  pride  and  strength  of  the  chiefs,  their  ornament  in 
peace,  their  defence  in  war.  The  glory  of  such  distinguished 
heroes  diffused  itself  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  their  own  tribe. 
Presents  and  embassies  solicited  their  friendship,  and  the 
fame  of  their  arms  often  insured  victory  to  the  party  which 
they  espoused.  In  the  hour  of  danger  it  was  shameful  for 
the  chief  to  be  surpassed  in  valor  by  his  companions  ;  shame- 
ful for  the  companions  not  to  equal  the  valor  of  their  chief. 
To  survive  his  fall  in  battle,  was  indelible  infomy.  To  pro- 
tect his  person,  and  to  adorn  his  glory  with  the  trophies  of 
their  own  exploits,  were  the  most  sacred  of  their  duties.  The 
chiefs  combated  for  victory,  the  companions  for  the  chief 
The  noblest  warriors,  whenever  their  native  country  was 
sunk  into  the  laziness  of  peace,  maintained  their  numerous 
bands  in  some  distant  scene  of  action,  to  exercise  their  restless 
Bj)irit,   and  to  acquire  renown    by  voluntary  dangers.      Gifts 


"  Cliiver.  Germ.  Ant.  1.  i.  c.  38.  "  Tacit.  Germ.  1. 

"  CsBsar,  vi.  22.     Tacit  Germ.  26. 


A. D.  226-240.]     of  the  roman  empire.  261 

worthy  of  soldiers — the  warhke  steed,  the  bloody  and  e^'er 
victorious  lance — were  the  rewards  which  the  companions 
claimed  from  the  liberality  of  their  chief.  The  rude  plenty 
of  his  hospitable  board  was  the  only  pay  that  he  could  bestow, 
or  they  Avould  accept.  War,  rapine,  and  the  free-will  offer- 
ings of  his  friends,  supplied  the  materials  of  this  munifi- 
cence." "  This  institution,  however  it  might  accidentally 
weaken  the  several  republias,  invigorated  the  general  charac- 
ter of  the  Germans,  and  even  ripened  amongst  them  all  the 
\irtucs  of  which  barbarians  are  susceptible ;  the  faith  and 
valor,  the,  hospitality  and  the  courtesy,  so  conspicuous  long 
afterwards  in  the  ages  of  chivalry.  The  honorable  gifts, 
bestowed  by  the  chief  on  his  brave  companions,  have  been 
supposed,  by  an  ingenious  writer,  to  contain  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  the  fiefs,  distributed  after  the  conquest  of  the  Roman 
provinces,  by  the  barbarian  lords  among  their  vassals,  with  a 
similar  duty  of  homage  and  mihtary  service.''*  These  condi- 
tions are,  however,  very  repugnant  to  the  maxims  of  the 
ancient  Germans,  who  delighted  in  mutual  presents ;  but 
without  either  imposing,  or  accepting,  the  weight  of  obliga- 
tions." 

"  In  the  days  of  chivalry,  or  more  properly  of  romance, 
n\\  the  men  were  brave,  and  all  the  women  were  chaste ;" 
and  notwithstanding  the  latter  of  these  virtues  is  acquired  and 
preserved  with  much  more  difficulty  than  the  former,  it  is 
ascribed,  almost  without  exception,  to  the  wives  of  the  ancient 
Germans.  Polygamy  was  not  in  use,  except  among  the 
princes,  and  among  them  only  for  the  sake  of  multiplying 
their  alliances.  Divorces  were  prohibited  by  manners  rather 
than  by  laws.  Adulteries  were  punished  as  rare  and  inexpi- 
able crimes ;  nor  was  seduction  justified  by  example  and 
fashion.^*  We  may  easily  discover  that  Tacitus  indulges  an 
honest  pleasure  in   the  contrast  of  barbarian  virtue  with  tho 


"  Tacit.  Germ.  13,  14. 

*^  Esprit  des  Loix,  1.  xxx.  c.  3.  The  brilliant  imagination  of 
Montesquieu  is  corrected,  however,  by  the  dry,  cold  reason  of  tlia 
Abbe  de  Mably.  Observations  sur  I'Histou-e  de  France,  torn,  i 
p.  356. 

^'  Gaudeiit  muncribus,  sed  nee  data  imputant,  nee  acceptis  nbligao 
tur.     Tacit.  Germ.  c.  21. 

^^  The  adulteress  -was  whipped  through  the  village.  Neithei 
wealth  nor  beauty  could  inspire  compassion,  or  procure  lier  A  secotHl 
husband.     18.  19. 


208  THE    DECU^E    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  226-240, 

iissolute  conduct  of  the  Roman  ladies ;  yet  there  are  soma 
striking  circumstances  that  give  an  air  of  truth,  or  at  least 
probability,  to  the  conjugal  faith  and  chastity  of  the  Germans. 
Although  the  progress  of  civilization  has  undoubtedly  con- 
ti'ibuted  to  assuage  the  fiercer  passions  of  human  nature,  it 
seems  to  have  been  less  favorable  to  the  virtue  of  chastity, 
whose  most  dangerous  enemy  is  the  softness  of  the  mind. 
The  refinements  of  life  corrupt  while  they  polish  the  inter- 
course of  the  sexes.  The  gross  appetite  of  love  becomes 
most  dangerous  when  it  is  elevated,  or  rather,  indeed,  dis- 
guised by  sentimental  passion.  The  elegance  of  dress,  of 
motion,  and  of  manners,  gives  a  lustre  to  beauty,  and  inflames 
the  senses  through  the  imagination.  Luxurious  entertainments, 
midnight  dances,  and  licentious  spectacles,  present  at  once 
temptation  and  opportunity  to  female  frailty."  From  such 
dangers  the  unpolished  wives  of  the  barbarians  were  secured 
by  poverty,  solitude,  and  the  painful  cares  of  a  domestic  life. 
The  German  huts,  open,  on  every  side,  to  the  eye  of  indiscre- 
tion or  jealousy,  were  a  better  safeguard  of  conjugal  fidelity 
than  the  walls,  the  bolts,  and  the  eunuchs  of  a  Persian  haram. 
To  this  reason  another  may  be  added,  of  a  more  honorable 
iiatui-e.  The  Germans  treated  their  women  with  esteem  and 
confidence,  consulted  them  on  every  occasion  of  importance, 
and  fondly  believed,  that  in  their  breasts  resided  a  sanctity 
and  wisdom  more  than  human.  Some  of  the  interpreters  of 
fate,  such  as  Velleda,  in  the  Batavian  war,  governed,  in  the 
name  of  the  deity,  the  fiercest  nations  of  Germany,^*  The 
rest  of  the  sex,  without  being  adored  as  goddesses,  were  re- 
spected as  the  free  and  equal  companions  of  soldiers ;  asso- 
ciated even  by  the  marriage  ceremony  to  a  life  of  toil,  of 
danger,  and  of  glory."  In  their  great  invasions,  the  camps 
of  the  barbarians  were  filled  with  a  multitude  of  women,  who 
remained  firm  and  undaunted  amidst  the  sound  of  arms,  the 
various  forms  of  destruction,  and  the  honorable  \^ounds  of 
their  sons  and  husbands.^"     Fainting  armies  of  Germans  have, 

*^  Ovid  employs  two  hundred  lines  in  the  research  of  places  the 
most  favorable  to  love.  Above  all,  he  considers  the  theatre  as  the 
best  adapted  to  collect  the  beauties  of  Rome,  and  to  melt  them  into 
tenderness  and  sensuality, 

"^  Tacit.  Germ.  iv.  61,  65. 

**  The  marriage  present  was  a  yoke  of  oxen,  horses,  and  arm* 
Bee  Germ.  c.  18.     Tacitus  is  somewhat  too  florid  on  the  subject. 

*"  The  change  of  cxlgcre  into  cxugcre  is  a  most  excellent  correo 
ttca. 


A..  D.  22G-240.]      of  the  roman  empire.  269 

more  than  once,  been  driven  back  upon  the  enemy,  by  the 
generous  despair  of  the  women,  who  dreaded  death  much  less 
than  servitude.  If  the  day  was  irrecoverably  lost,  they  well 
knew  how  to  deliver  themselves  and  their  children,  with  their 
own  hands,  from  an  insulting  victor."'  Heroines  of  such  a  cast 
ma}''  claim  :)ur  admiration  ;  but  they  were  most  assuredly  neither 
lovely,  nor  very  susceptible  of  love.  Whilst  they  aflected  to 
emulate  the  stern  virtues  of  man^  they  must  have  resigned  that 
attractive  softness,  in  which  principally  consist  the  charm  and 
weakness  of  woman.  Conscious  pride  taught  the  German 
females  to  suppress  every  tender  emotion  that  stood  in  compe- 
tition with  honor,  and  the  first  honor  of  the  sex  has  ever  been 
that  of  chastity.  The  sentiments  and  conduct  of  these  high- 
spirited  matrons  may,  at  once,  be  considered  as  a  cause,  as  an 
effect,  and  as  a  proof  of  the  general  character  of  the  nation. 
Female  courage,  however  it  may  be  raised  by  fanaticism,  or 
confirmed  by  habit,  can  be  only  a  faint  and  imperfect  imitation 
of  the  manly  valor  that  distinguishes  the  age  or  country  in 
which  it  may  be  found. 

The  religious  system  of  the  Germans  (if  the  wild  opinions 
of  savages  can  deserve  that  name)  was  dictated  by  their 
wants,  their  fears,  and  their  ignorance."''  They  adored  the 
great  visible  objects  and  agents  of  nature,  the  Sun  and  the 
Moon,  the  Fire  and  the  Earth ;  together  with  those  imaginary 
deities,  who  were  supposed  to  preside  over  the  most  important 
occupations  of  human  life.  They  were  persuaded,  that,  by 
some  ridiculous  arts  of  divination,  they  could  discover  the 
will  of  the  superior  beings,  and  that  human  sacrifices  were 
the  most  precious  and  acceptable  offering  to  their  altars. 
Some  applause  has  been  hastily  bestowed  on  the  sublime 
notion,  entertained  by  that  people,  of  the  Deity,  whom  they 
neither  confined  within  the  walls  of  the  temple,  nor  represented 
by  any  human  figure ;  but  when  we  recollect,  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  unskilled  in  architecture,  and  totally  unacquainted 

•"  Tacit.  Germ.  c.  1.  Plutarch  ia  Mario.  Before  the  wives  of  the 
Teutones  destroyed  themselves  and  their  children,  they  had  offered  to 
eurrender,  on  condition  that  they  should  be  received  as  the  slaves  of 
the  vestal  virgins. 

^'"^  Tacitus  has  employed  a  few  lines,  and  Cluvcrius  one  hundred  and 
{wenty-four  pages,  on  this  obscure  subject.  Tlie  former  discovers  in 
Germany  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Tlie  latter  is  positive,  that, 
under  the  emblems  of  the  s.in,  the  moon,  and  tho  fire,  his  pioas  ances- 
tors worshipped  the  Trinity  in  unity 


•?70  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-2'l()l. 

with  tho  art  of  sculpture,  we  shall  readily  assign  the  trua 
reason  of  a  scruple,  which  arose  not  so  much  from  a  supe- 
riority of  reason,  as  from  a  want  of  ingenuity.  The  only 
temples  in  Germany  were  dark  and  ancient  groves,  conse- 
crated by  the  reverence  of  succeeding  generations.  Their 
secret  gloom,  the  imagined  residence  of  an  invisible  power, 
by  presenting  no  distinct  object  of  fear  or  worship,  impressed 
the  mind  with  a  still  deeper  sense  of  religious  horror  ;*^  and 
the  priests,  rude  and  illiterate  as  they  were,  had  been  taught  by 
experience  the  use  of  every  artitice  that  could  preserve  and 
fortify  impressions  so  well  suited  to  their  own  interest. 

The  same  ignorance,  which  renders  barbarians  incapable 
of  conceiving  or  embracing  the  useful  restraints  of  laws, 
exposes  them  naked  and  unarmed  to  the  blind  terrors  of  su- 
perstition. The  German  priests,  improving  this  favorable 
temper  of  their  countrymen,  had  assumed  a  jurisdiction  even 
in  temporal  concerns,  which  the  magistrate  could  not  venture 
to  exercise ;  and  the  haughty  warrior  patiently  submitted  to 
the  lash  of  correction,  when  it  was  inflicted,  not  by  any 
human  power,  but  by  the  immediate  order  of  the  god  of 
war.®*  The  defects  of  civil  policy  were  sometimes  supplied 
by  the  interposition  of  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  latter 
was  constantly  exerted  to  maintain  silence  and  decency  in 
the  popular  assemblies ;  and  was  sometimes  extended  to  a 
more  enlarged  concern  for  the  national  welfare.  A  solemn 
procession  was  occasionally  celebrated  in  the  present  coun- 
tries of  Mecklenburgh  and  Pomerania.  The  unknown  sym- 
bol of  the  Earth,  covered  with  a  thick  veil,  was  placed  on  a 
carriage  drawn  by  cows ;  and  in  this  manner  the  goddess, 
whose  common  residence  was  i.  ,  the  Isle  of  Rugen,  visited 
several  adjacent  tribes  of  her  vvorshippers.  During  her  prog- 
ress the  sound  of  war  was  hushed,  quarrels  were  suspended, 
arms  laid  aside,  and  the  restless  Germans  had  an  opportunity 
of  tasting  the  blessings  of  peace  and  harmony."     The  truce 

"'  The  sacred  wood,  described  with  such  sublime  horror  by  Lucan, 
was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Marseilles  ;  but  there  were  many  of  the 
•arte  kind  in  Germany.* 

**  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  7. 

**  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  40. 


Tho  ancient  Germans  had  shapeless  idols,  and,  when  they  began  U 
bmld  more  settled  habitations,  they  raised  also  temples,  such  as  that  to  the 
goddess  Teafana,  who  presided  over  divination.  See  Adelung,  Hist,  of  Ano 
Germans,  p.  296  — G 


A.  D.  226-240.J     OF  the  roman  empire.  271 

of  G\)d,  so  often  and  so  ineffcctnally  proclainiod  by  tlio  clergy 
of  the  eleventh  century,  was  an  obvious  imitation  of  this  an- 
cient custom/'' 

But  the  influence  of  rehgion  was  far  more  powerful  to  in- 
flame, than  to  moderate,  the  fierce  passions  of  the  Germans. 
Interest  and  fanaticism  often  prompted  its  ministers  to  sanctify 
the  most  daring  and  the  most  unjust  enterprises,  by  the  appro- 
bation of  Heaven,  and  full  assurances  of  success.  The  con- 
secrated standards,  long  revered  in  the  groves  of  superstition, 
were  placed  in  the  front  of  the  battle  ;°^  and  the  hostile  army 
was  devoted  with  dire  execrations  to  the  gods  of  war  and  of 
thunder.'*  In  the  faith  of  soldiers  (and  such  were  the  Ger- 
mans) cowardice  is  the  most  unpardonable  of  sins.  A  brave 
man  was  the  worthy  favorite  of  their  martial  deities ;  tho 
wretch  who  had  lost  his  shield  was  alike  banished  from  the 
religious  and  civil  assemblies  of  his  countrymen.  Some 
tribes  of  the  north  seem  to  have  embraced  the  doctrine  of 
transmigration,'*  others  imagined  a  gross  paradise  of  immor- 
tal drunkenness."  All  agreed,  that  a  life  spent  in  arms,  and  a 
glorious  death  in  battle,  were  the  best  preparations  for  a  happy 
futurity,  either  in  this  or  in  another  world. 

The  immortahty  so  vainly  promise^\  by  the  priests,  was,  in 
some  degree,  conferred  by  the  bards.  That  singular  order 
of  men  has  most  deservedly  attracted  the  notice  of  all  who 
have  attempted  to  investigate  the  antiquities  of  the  Celts,  the 
Scandinavians,  and  the  Germans.  Their  genius  and  charac- 
ter, as  well  as  the  reverence  paid  to  that  important  oflice, 
have  been  sufiiciently  illustrated.  But  we  cannot  so  easily 
express,  or  even  conceive,  the  enthusiasm  of  arms  and  glory 
which  they  kindled  in  the  breast  of  their  audience.  Among 
a  polished  people,  a  taste  for  poetry  is  rather  an  amusement 
of  the  fancy,  than  a  passion  of  the  soul.  And  yet,  when  in 
calm  retirement  we  peruse  the  combats  described  by  Homer 
or  Tasso,  we  are  insensibly  seduced  by  the  fiction,  and  feel 

•*  See  Dr.  Robertson's  History  of  Charles  V.  vol  L  note  10. 

*^  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  *?.  These  standards  were  only  tlie  heads  of 
prild  beasts. 

"^  See  an  instance  of  this  custom,  Tacit.  Annal.  xiii.  57. 

*'  CaBsar  Diodorus,  and  Lucan,  seem  to  ascribe  this  doctrine  to  th« 
Gauls,  but  M.  Pelloutier  (Histoire  des  Celtes,  1.  ilL  c.  18)  labors  to  re- 
duce.thcir  expressions  to  a  more  orthodox  sense. 

■"  Concerning  this  gross  but  alluring  doctrine  of  the  Edda,  see  Fabl« 
xx.  in  the  ciu-ious  version  of  that  book,  published  by  IL  Mallet,  in  his 
Introduction  to  the  History  of  Denmark. 


27*2  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  226-240 

a  raoinenlary  glow  of  martial  ardor.  But  how  faint,  ho^ 
cold  is  the  sensation  which  a  peaceful  mind  can  receive  froia 
solitary  study !  It  was  in  the  hour  of  battle,  or  in  the  feast 
of  victory,  that  the  bards  celebrated  the  glory  of  the  heroes 
of  ancient  days,  the  ancestors  of  those  warlike  chieftains,  who 
/istened  with  transport  to  their  artless  but  animated  strains. 
The  view  of  arms  and  of  danger  heightened  the  effect  of  the 
military  song  ;  and  the  passions  which  it  tended  to  excite,  the 
desire  of  fame,  and  the  contempt  of  death,  were  the  habitual 
sentiments  of  a  German  mind."  * 

Such  was  the  situation,  and  such  were  the  manners  of  the 
ancient  Germans.  Their  climate,  their  want  of  learning,  of 
arts,  and  of  laws,  their  notions  of  honor,  of  gallantry,  and  of 
rehgion,  their  sense  of  freedom,  impatience  of  peace,  and 
thirst  of  enterprise,  all  contributed  to  form  a  people  of  mili- 
tary heroes.  And  yet  we  find,  that  during  more  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  that  elapsed  from  the  defeat  of  Varus 
to  the  reign  of  Pecius,  these  formidable  barbarians  made  few 
considerable  attempts,  and  not  any  material  impression  on  the 
luxurious  and  enslaved  provinces  of  the  empire.  Their  prog- 
ress was  checked  by  their  want  of  arms  and  discipline,  and 
their  fury  was  diverted  by  the  intestine  divisions  of  ancient 
Germany. 

I.  It  has  been  observed,  with  ingenuity,  and  not  without 

"  See  Tacit.  Germ.  c.  3.  Diod.  Sicul.  1.  v.  Strabo,  1.  iv.  p.  197. 
The  classical  reader  may  remember  the  rank  of  Demodocus  in  the 
Ph£eacian  court,  and  tlie  ardor  infused  by  TyrtiEus  into  the  fainting 
Spartans.  Yet  there  is  httle  probabiUty  that  the  Greeks  and  the 
Germans  were  the  same  people.  Much  learned  trifling  might  be 
spared,  if  our  antiquarians  would  condescend  to  reflect,  that  similar 
manners  will  naturally  be  produced  by  similar  situations. 


*  Besides  these  battle  songs,  tbe  Germans  sang  at  their  festival  banquets, 
(Tac.  Ann.  i.  65,)  and  around  the  bodies  of  their  slain  heroes.  King  The- 
odoric,  of  the  tribe  of  tlie  Goths,  killed  in  a  battle  against  Attila,  was  houcr- 
ed  by  songs  while  iie  was  borne  from  the  field  of  battle.  Jomandes,  c.  41 
The  sanie  honor  was  paid  to  the  remains  of  Attila.  Ibid.  c.  49.  According 
to  some  liistorians,  the  Germans  had  songs  also  at  their  weddings  ;  but 
this  appears  to  me  iucousisteut  \vith  their  customs,  in  which  marriage 
was  no  more  than  the  purchase  of  a  wife.  Besides,  there  is  but  one 
Uistance  of  this,  that  of  the  Gothic  king,  Ataulph,  who  sang  himself  the 
cnptial  hymn  when  he  espoused  Placidia,  sister  of  the  emperors  Arcadiua 
and  Honorius,  (01j"mpiodor.  p.  8.)  Bat  this  mamage  ^vas  celebrated  accord- 
ing to  the  Roman  rites,  of  which  the  nuptial  songs  foi-med  a  part.  Adeliujg, 
p.  382.— G. 

Charlemagne  is  said  to  have  collected  the  national  songs  of  ihe  anctMtl 
Qeraians.     Eginhai'd,  Vit.  Clar.  Mag. — M. 


A..D.  226-240.]      OF  the  roman  empire.  273 

truth,  that  the  comraand  of  iron  soon  ^ves  a  natioE  the  com 
mand  of  gold.  But  the  rude  tribes  of  Germany,  ahke  desti- 
tute of  both  those  valuable  metals,  were  reduced  slowly  to 
acquire,  by  their  unassisted  strength,  the  possession  of  the 
one  as  well  as  the  other.  The  fece  of  a  German  army  dis- 
played their  poverty  of  iron.  Swords,  and  the  longer  kind 
of  lances,  they  could  seldom  use.  Their  framece  (as  they 
called  them  in  their  own  language)  were  long  spears  headed 
■Kith  a  sharp  but  narrow  iron  point,  and  which,  as  occasion 
required,  they  either  darted  from  a  distance,  or  pushed  in 
close  onset.  With  this  spear,  and  with  a  shield,  their  cavalrv 
was  contented.  A  multitude  of  darts,  scattered"  with  incred- 
ible force,  were  an  additional  resource  of  the  infantry.  Their 
military  dress,  when  they  wore  any,  was  nothing  more  than  a 
loosa  mantle.  A  variety  of  colors  was  the  only  ornament 
of  their  wooden  or  osier  shields.  Few  of  the  chiefs  were 
distinguished  by  cuirasses,  scarcely  any  by  helmets.  Though 
the  horses  of  Germany  were  neither  beautiful,  swift,  nor 
practised  in  the  skilful  evolutions  of  the  Roman  manege,  sev- 
eral of  the  nations  obtained  renown  by  their  cavalry  ;  but,  in 
general,  the  principal  strength  of  the  Germans  consisted  in 
their  infantry,''  which  was  drawn  up  in  several  deep  columns, 
according  to  the  distinction  of  tribes  and  families.  Impatient 
of  fatigue  and  delay,  these  half-armed  warriors  rushed  to 
battle  with  dissonant  shouts  and  disordered  ranks ;  and  some- 
times, by  the  effort  of  native  valor,  prevailed  over  the  con- 
strained and  more  artificial  bravery  of  the  Roman  merce- 
naries. But  as  the  barbarians  poured  forth  their  whole  souls 
on  the  first  onset,  they  knew  not  how  to  rally  or  to  retire. 
A  repulse  was' a  sure  defeat;  and  a  defeat  was  most  com- 
monly total  destruction.  When  we  recollect  the  complete 
armor  of  the  Roman  soldiers,  their  discipline,  exercises,  evo- 
lutions, fortified  camps,  and  military  engines,  it  appears  a  just 
matter  of  surprise,  how  the  naked  and  unassisted  valor  of  the 
barbarians  could  dare  to  encounter,  in  the  field,  the  strength 
cf  the  legions,  and  the  various  troops  of  the  auxiliaries,  which 
ieconded  their  operations.  The  contest  was  too  unequal, 
till  the  introduction  of  luxury  had  enervated  the  vigor,  and  a 


"  Missilia  spargiuit,  Tacit.  Germ.  c.  6.  Either  that  historian  used  • 
rague  expression,  or  he  meant  that  they  were  thrown  at  random. 

'^  It  was  their  principal  distinction  from  the  Sarraatians,  who  gen 
trally  fought  on  horseback. 


t74  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  226-240 

Bpirit  of  disobedience  and  sedition  liad  relaxed  the  discipline, 
of  the  Roman  armies.  The  introduction  of  barbarian  auxil- 
iaries into  those  armies,  was  a  measure  attended  with  very 
obvious  dangers,  as  it  might  gradually  instruct  the  Germans 
in  the  arts  of  war  and  of  poHcy.  Although  they  were  admit- 
ted in  small  numbers  and  with  the  strictest  precaution,  the 
example  of  Civilis  was  proper  to  convince  the  Romans,  that 
the  danger  was  not  imaginary,  and  that  their  precautions  were 
not  always  sufficient.'*  During  the  civil  wars  that  followed 
the  death  of  Nero,  that  artful  and  intrepid  Batavian,  whom 
his  enemies  condescended  to  compare  with  Hannibal  and 
Sertorius,"  formed  a  great  design  of  freedom  and  ambition. 
Eight  Batavian  cohorts  renowned  in  the  wars  of  Britain  and 
Italy,  repaired  to  his  standard.  He  introduced  an  army  of 
Germans  into  Gaul,  prevailed  on  the  powerful  cities  of  Treves 
and  Langres  to  embrace  his  cause,  defeated  the  legions,  de- 
stroyed their  fortified  camps,  and  employed  against  the  Rc^ 
mans  the  military  knowledge  which  he  had  acquired  in  their 
service.  When  at  length,  after  an  obstinate  struggle,  he 
yielded  to  the  power  of  the  empire,  Civilis  secured  himself 
and  his  country  by  an  honorable  treaty.  The  Batavians  still 
continued  to  occupy  the  islands  of  the  Rhine,"  the  allies,  not 
the  servants,  of  the  Roman  monarchy. 

n.  The  strength  of  ancient  Germany  appears  formidable, 
when  we  consider  the  eflfects  that  might  have  been  produced  by 
its  united  effort.  The  wide  extent  of  country  might  very  pos- 
sibly contain  a  million  of  warriors,  as  all  who  were  of  age  to  bear 
arms  were  of  a  temper  to  use  them.  But  this  fierce  multitude, 
incapable  of  concerting  or  executing  any  plan  of  national 
greatness,  was  agitated  by  various  and  often  hostile  inten- 
Eons.  Germany  was  divided  into  more  than  forty  independ- 
ent sUites  ;  and,  even  in  each  state,  the  union  of  the  several 
tribes  was  extremely  loose  and  precarious.  The  barbarians 
were  easily  provoked  ;  they  knew  not  how  to  forgive  an  injury, 
much  less  an  insult ;  their  resentments  were  bloody  and  im- 

''*  The  relation  of  tliis  enterprise  occupies  a  great  part  of  tlie  fourth 
and  fifth  books  of  the  History  of  Tacitus,  and  is  more  remarkalle  for 
its  eloquence  than  perspicuity.  Su-  Henry  Saville  has  observed  sev- 
eral inaccuracies. 

"  Tacit.  Hist.  iv.  13.     Like  them  he  had  lost  an  eye. 

'"  It  was  contained  between  the  two  branches  of  the  old  Rhine,  aa 
they  subsisted  before  the  face  of  the  country  was  changed  by  art  and 
Bature.     See  Cluver  Gernan.  Antiq.  L  iii.  c.  30,  37. 


A.D. 226-240.J     of  the  roman  empirk  274 

placable.  The  casual  disputes  that  so  frequently  happened  in 
their  tumultuous  parties  of  hunting  or  drinking,  were  sufficient 
to  inflame  the  minds  of  whole  nations ;  the  private  feuds  of 
any  considerable  chieftains  diffused  itself  among  their  follow- 
ers and  allies.  To  chastise  the  insolent,  or  to  plunder  the 
defenceless,  were  alike  causes  of  war.  The  most  formidable 
states  of  Germany  affected  to  encompass  their  territories  with 
ft  wide  frontier  of  solitude  and  devastation.  The  awful  dis- 
tance preserved  by  their  neighbors  attested  the  terror  of  their 
arms,  and  in  some  measure  defended  them  from  the  danger  of 
unexpected  incursions." 

"The  Bructeri*  (it  is  Tacitus  who  now  speaks)  were 
totally  exterminated  by  the  neighboring  tribes,"  provoked  by 
their  insolence,  allured  by  the  hopes  of  spoil,  and  perhaps 
inspired  by  the  tutelar  deities  of  the  empire.  Above  sixty 
thousand  barbarians  were  destroyed ;  not  by  the  Roman  arms, 
but  in  our  sight,  and  for  our  entertainment.  May  the  nations, 
enemies  of  Rome,  ever  preserve  this  enmity  to  each  other ! 
We  have  now  attained  the  utmost  verge  of  prosperity,'*  and 
have  nothing  left  to  demand  of  fortune,  except  the'  discord  of 
the  barbarians."*"  —  These  sentiments,  less  worthy  of  the 
humanity  than  of  the  patriotism  of  Tacitus,  express  the  invaria- 
ble maxims  of  the  policy  of  his  countrymen.  They  deemed 
it  a  much  safer  expedient  to  divide  than  to  combat  the  bar- 
barians, from  whose  defeat  they  could  derive  neither  honor 
nor  advantage.  The  money  and  negotiations  of  Rome  insin- 
uated themselves  into  the  heart  of  Germany  ;  and  every  art  of 
seduction  was  used  with  dignity,  to  conciliate  those  nations 
whom  their  proximity  to  the  Rhine  or  Danube  might  render 
the  most   useful   friends    as  well    as    the   most    troublesome 


"  Caesar  de  Bell.  Gal.  1.  vi.  23. 

'*  They  are  mentioned,  however,  in  the  ivth  and  vth  centuries  by 
Nazarius,  Ammianus,  Claudian,  Ac,  as  a  tribe  of  Franks.  See  Cluver. 
Germ.  Antiq.  1.  iii.  c.  13. 

"  Urgentibus  is  the  common  reading ;  but  good  sense,  Lipsius,  and 
some  MSS.  declare  for  Vergentibus. 

^''  Tacit  Germania,  c.  33.  The  pious  Abbe  de  la  Bleterie  is  very 
ingry  with  Tacitus,  talks  of  the  devil,  who  was  a  murderer  from  the 
beginning,  <fec.,  &c. 


*  The  Bracteri  were  a  non-Suevian  tribe,  -who  dwelt  below  the  dachica 
of  Oldenbargh,  and  Lauenburgh,  on  the  borders  of  the  Lippc,  and  in  the 
Bartz  Mountaina.  It  was  among  them  that  ihe  priestess  Velleda  obtained 
her  renown. — G. 


276  THE    DECLIITE    AND    FALL      [A.  D.  226-240 

enemies.  Chiefs  of  renown  and  power  were  flattered  by  th« 
most  trifling  presents,  which  they  received  either  as  marks  of 
distinction,  or  as  the  instruments  of  hixury.  In  civil  dissen- 
sions the  weaker  faction  endeavored  to  strengthen  its  interest 
by  entering  into  secret  connections  with  the  governors  of  the 
frontier  provinces.  Every  quarrel  among  the  Germans  wa3 
fomented  by  the  intrigues  of  Rome ;  and  every  plan  of  union 
and  public  good  was  defeated  by  the  stronger  bias  of  private 
■jealousy  and  interest.*' 

The  general  conspiracy  which  terrified  the  Romans  undei 
the  reign  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  comprehended  almost  all  the 
nations  of  Germany,  and  even  Sarmatia,  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Rhine  to  that  of  the  Danube.**  It  is  impossible  for  us  to 
determine  whether  this  hasty  confederation  was  formed  by 
necessity,  by  reason,  or  by  passion ;  but  we  may  rest  assured, 
that  the  barbarians  were  neither  allured  by  the  indolence, 
nor  provoked  by  the  ambition,  of  the  Roman  monarch.  This 
dangerous  invasion  required  all  the  firmness  and  \igilance  of 
Marcus.  IJe  fixed  generals  of  ability  in  the  several  stations 
of  attack,  and  assumed  in  person  the  conduct  of  the  most  im- 
portant province  on  the  Upper  Danube.  After  a  long  and 
doubtful  conflict,  the  spirit  of  the  barbarians  was  subdued. 
The  Quadi  and  the  ISIarcomanni,*'  who  had  taken  the  lead  in 
the  war,  were  the  most  severely  punished  in  its  catastrophe. 
They  were  commanded  to  retire  five  miles**  from  their  own 
banks  of  the  Danube,  and  to  deliver  up  the  flower  of  the  youth, 
who  were  immediately  sent  into  Britain,  a  remote  island,  whero 


*'  Many  traces  of  this  policy  may  be  discovered  in  Tacitus  ana 
Dion  ;  and  many  more  may  be  inferred  from  the  principles  of  human 
nature. 

*^  Hist.  Aug.  p.  31.  Ammian.  Marcellin.  1.  xxxi.  c.  5.  AurcL  Vic 
tor.  The  emperor  Marcus  was  reduced  to  sell  the  rich  furniture  of 
the  palace,  and  to  enlist  slaves  and  robbers. 

*'  The  Marcomanni,  a  colony,  who,  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  oc- 
cupied Bohemia  and  Moravia,  had  once  erected  a  great  and  formidable 
monarchy  under  tlieir  king  Maroboduus.  See  Strabo,  1.  vii.  [p.  290.] 
Veil.  Pat.  ii  108.     Tacit.  Annal.  ii.  63.* 

**  Mr.  Wotton  (History  of  Rome,  p.  Ifiti)  increases  tlie  prohibition 
to  ten  times  the  distance.  His  reasoning  is  specious,  but  not  conclu 
■ire.     Five  miles  were  sufficient  for  a  fortified  barrier. 


*  The  Mark-maunen,  the  March-men  or  borderers.  There  seenis  litUa 
donbt  lliat  tills  was  an  appellation,  rather  than  a  proper  nMnc  of  a  pari  </ 
the  ^eal  Suevian  or  Teutonic  race  — M. 


A.  D.  22G-240.]      of  tiik  kd'man  emi-irr.  2^1 

Ihey  iniglit  be  secure  as  liostages,  and  useful  as  solclicrs."  On 
the  frequent  rebellions  of  the  Quadi  and  Marcoraanni,  tlie  ir- 
ritated emperor  resolved  to  reduce  their  country  into  the  foiiu 
of  a  province.  His  designs  were  disappointed  by  death.  This 
formidable  league,  however,  the  only  one  that  api)ears  in  tht 
two  first  centuries  of  the  Imperial  history,  was  entirely  dissi 
J  ated,  without  leaving  any  traces  behind  in  Germany. 

Tn  the  course  of  this  introductory  chapter,  we  have  confined 
QUi-selves  to  the  general  outlines  of  the  manners  of  Germany, 
without  attempting  to  describe  or  to  distinguish  the  various 
tribes  which  tilled  that  great  country  in  the  tin^e  of  Ctesar,  of 
Tacitus,  or  of  Ptolemy.  As  the  ancient,  or  as  new  tribes  suc- 
cessivel}'  j)resent  themselves  in  the  series  of  this  history,  we 
shall  concisely  mention  their  origin,  their  situation,  and  their 
particular  character.  Modern  nations  are  fixed  and  permanent 
societies,  connected  among  themselves  by  laws  and  govern- 
ment, bound  to  their  native  soil  by  arts  and  agriculture.  The 
German  tribes  were  voluntary  and  fluctuating  associations  of 
soldiers,  almost  of  savages.  The  same  territory  often  changed 
its  iidiabitants  in  the  tide  of  conquest  and  emigration.  The 
same  communities,  uniting  in  a  plan  of  defence  or  invasion, 
bestowed  a  new  title  on  their  new  confederacy.  The  dis- 
solution of  an  ancient  confederacy  restored  to  the  independent 
tribes  their  peculiar  but  long-forgotten  appellation.  A  vic- 
tot-ious  state  often  communicated  its  own  name  to  a  vanquished 
people.  Sometimes  crowds  of  volunteers  flocked  from  all  parts 
to  the  standard  of  a  favorite  leader ;  his  camp  became  their 
country,  and  some  circumstance  of  the  enterprise  soon  gave  a 
common  denomination  to  the  mixed  multitude.  The  distinc- 
tions of  the  ferocious  invaders  were  perpetually  varied  by  them- 
selves, and  confounded  by  the  astonished  subjects  of  the  Roman 
empire." 

Wars,  and  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  are  the  prin- 
cipal subjects  of  history  ;  but  the  number  of  persons  interested 
in  these  busy  scenes  is  very  different,  according  to  the  different 
condition  of  mankind.  In  great  monarchies,  millions  of  obe- 
dient subjects  pursue  their  useful  occupations  in  peace  and 
Voscurity.      The  attention   of  the  writer,   as   well   as  of  tl^e 

"  Dion,  1  Ixxi.  and  Ixxii. 

"  See  an  excellent  dissertation  on  the  origin  and  migrations  of  na- 
tions, in  the  Menioires  de  FAcadcmie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xviii.  p.  48 
— 71.  It  is  arldom  that  tko  antiquarian  an  \  tlie  philosopher  are  so  hap 
pilj  blended. 


278  THE    DECLINE    AND    FAIL       [A.  D.  226-240 

reaclei;  is  solely  confined  to  a  court,  a  capital,  a  regular  army, 
and  tli3  distric'^B  wliich  happen  to  be  the  occasional  scene  of 
military  operations.  But  a  state  of  freedom  and  barbarism,  the 
season  of  civil  commotions,  or  the  situation  of  petty  republics,*' 
raises  almost  every  member  of  the  community  into  action,  and 
consequently  into  notice.  The  irregular  divisions,  and  the 
restless  motions,  of  the  people  of  Germany,  dazzle  our  imagi 
oation,  and  seem  to  multiply  their  numbers.  The  profuse 
enumeration  of  kings,  of  warriors,  of  armies  and  nations,  in- 
clines us  to  forget  that  the  same  objects  are  continually  repeat- 
ed under  a  variety  of  appellations,  and  that  the  most  splendid 
appellations  have  been  frequently  lavished  on  the  most  incon- 
siderable objects. 

*'  Should  we  suspect  that  Athens  contained  only  21,000  citizens, 
and  Sparta  no  more  than  39,000  ?  See  Hume  and  Wallace  on  the 
number  of  mankind  in  ancient  and  modern  times.* 


*  This  number,  thoaafh  too  positively  stated,  is  probably  not  far  wrong,  as 
an  average  estimate.  Ou  the  subject  of  Athenian  population,  see  St.  Croix, 
Acad,  des  Inscrip.  xlviii.  Boeckh,  Put-ic  Economy  of  Athens,  i.  47.  Eng 
Trans.  Fynes  CHnton,  Fasti  Hellenici,  vol.  i.  p.  381.  The  latter  anther  eeti- 
mates  the  citizeoB  of  Sparta  at  33,000   -M. 


A- D.  248-268.1     of  th/c  roman  emfirb.  278 


CHAPTER   X. 

mE     EMPEROES    DECIUS,    GALLUS,    ^MILIANUS,    VALERKN,    ANB 

GALLIENUS. THE    GENERAL     IRRUPTION     OF     THE     BARBARI 

ANS. THE    THIRTY    TYRANTS. 

From  the  great  secular  games  celebrated  by  Philip,  to  tho 
death  of  the  emperor  Gallienus,  there  elapsed  twenty  years 
of  shame  and  misfortune.  During  that  calamitous  period, 
every  instant  of  time  was  marked,  every  province  of  the 
Roman  world  w;is  afflicted,  by  barbarous  invaders,  and  mili- 
tary tyrants,  and  the  ruined  empire  seemed  to  approach  the 
last  and  fatal  moment  of  its  dissolution.  The  confusion  of 
the  times,  and  the  scarcity  of  authentic  memorials,  oppose 
equal  difficulties  to  the  historian,  who  attempts  to  preserve  a 
clear  and  unbroken  thread  of  narration.  Surrounded  with 
imperfect  fragments,  always  concise,  often  obscure,  and  some- 
times contradictory,  he  is  reduced  to  collect,  to  compare,  and 
to  conjecture  :  and  though  he  ought  never  to  place  his  con- 
jectures in  the  rank  of  facts,  yet  the  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  and  of  the  sure  operation  of  its  fierce  and  unrestrained 
p  issions,  might,  on  some  occasions,  supply  the  want  of  histor- 
ical materials. 

There  is  not,  for  instance,  any  difficulty  in  conceiving,  that 
the  successive  murders  of  so  many  emperors  had  loosened 
r,ll  the  ties  of  allegiance  between  the  prince  and  people  ;  that 
all  the  generals  of  Philip  wejfo  disposed  to  imitate  the  example 
of  their  master  ;  and  that  the  caprice  of  armies,  long  since 
habituated  to  fii-equent  and  violent  revolutions,  might  every  day 
raise  to  the  throne  the  most  obscure  of  their  fellow-soldiers. 
History  can  only  add,  that  the  rebellion  against  the  emperor 
Philip  brokii  out  in  the  summer  of  the  year  two  hundred  and 
forty-nine,  among  the  legions  of  Msesia ;  and  that  a  subaltern 
officer,'  named  Marinus,  was  the  object  of  their  seditious 
choice.  Philip  was  alarmed.  He  dreaded  lest  the  treason  of 
the  Mpesian  army  should  prove  the  first  spark  of  a  general 

*  The  expression  used  by  Zosimus  and  Zonaras  may  signify  that 
Marinus  cou'.manded  a  century,  a  cohort,  or  a  tgion. 


280  THE    DECLII'E    AND    FALL        |  A.  D.  248-268^ 

conflagration.  Distracted  Avith  the  consciousness  of  liis  guilt 
and  of  his  danger,  he  communicated  the  intelligence  to  the 
senate.  A  gloomy  silence  prevailed,  the  effect  of  fear,  and 
perhaps  of  disaffection ;  till  at  length  Decius,  one  of  the  assem- 
bly, assuming  a  spirit  worthy  of  his  noble  extraction,  ventured 
to  discover  more  intrepidity  than  the  emperor  seemed  to 
possess.  He  treated  the  whole  business  with  contempt,  as  a 
hasty  and  inconsiderate  tumult,  and  Philip's  rival  as  a  phantom 
A  royalty,  who  in  a  very  few  days  would  be  destroyed  by  tho 
same  inconstancy  that  had  created  him.  The  speedy  comple- 
tion of  the  prophecy  inspired  Philip  with  a  just  esteem  for  so 
able  a  counsellor ;  and  Decius  appeared  to  him  the  only 
rjerson  capable  of  restoring  peace  and  discipline  to  an  army 
whose  tumultuous  spirit  did  not  immediately  subside  after  the 
murder  of  Marinus.  Decius,''  who  long  resisted  his  own 
nomination,  seems  to  have  insinuated  the  danger  of  presenting 
a  leader  of  merit  to  the  angry  and  apprehensive  minds  of  the 
soldiers  ;  and  his  prediction  was  again  confirmed  by  the  event. 
The  legions  of  Maesia  forced  their  judge  to  become  their 
accomplice.  They  left  him  only  the  alternative  of  death  or  the 
purple.  His  subsequent  conduct,  after  that  decisive  measure, 
was  unavoidable.  He  conducted,  or  followed,  his  army  to  the 
confines  of  Italy,  whither  Philip,  collecting  all  his  force  to 
repel  the  formidable  competitor  whom  he  had  raised  up, 
advanced  to  meet  him.  The  Imperial  troops  were  superior  in 
number ;  but  the  rebels  formed  an  army  of  veterans,  com- 
manded by  an  able  and  experienced  leader.  Philip  was  either 
killed  in  the  battle,  or  put  to  death  a  few  days  afterwards  at 
Verona.  His  son  and  associate  in  the  empire  was  massacred 
at  Rome  by  the  Praetorian  guards  ;  and  the  victorious  Decius, 
with  more  favorable  circumstances  than  the  ambition  of  that 
age  can  usually  plead,  was  universally  acknowledged  b^^  the 
senate  and  provinces.  It  is  reported,  that,  immediately  after 
Lis  reluctant  acceptance  of  the  title  of  Augustus,  he  had 
assured  Philip,  by  a  private    message,  of  his  innocence  and 

-  His  birth  at  Bubalia,  a  little  village  in  Pannonia,  (Eutrop.  ix 
Victor,  in  Cffisarib.  et  Epitom.,)  seems  to  contradict,  unless  it  was 
raerely  accidental,  his  supposed  descent  from  the  Decii.  Six  hundred 
years  had  bestowed  nobility  on  the  Decii :  but  at  the  commencement 
of  that  period,  they  were  only  plebeians  of  merit,  and  among  tba 
first  who  shared  the  consulship  with  the  liauglity  patricians.  Plebeire 
Deciorum  anim®,  &c.  Juvenal,  Sat.  viii.  25-L  See  the  spirited  speech 
pf  Decius,  in  Livy,  x.  9,  10. 


A.  D.  248-208.1     OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  ^flfV 

loyalty,  solemnly  protesting,  that,  on  his  arrival-  jn  Tta  y,  ha 
would  resign  the  Imperial  ornaments,  and  return  to  thft  con- 
dition of  an  obedient  subject.  His  professions  might  bo  sin- 
cere ;  but  in  the  situation  where  fortune  had  placed  him,  il 
was  scarcely  possible  that  he  could  either  forgive  or  be  for- 
given.' 

The  emperor  Decius  had  employed  a  few  mouths  in  the 
works  of  peace  and  the  administration  of  justice,  when  he 
was  summoned  to  the  banks  of  the  Danube  by  the  invasion  of 
the  Goths.  This  is  the  fii-st  considerable  occasion  in  which 
history  mentions  that  great  people,  who  afterwards  broke  tlie 
Roman  power,  sacked  the  Capitol,  and  reigned  in  Gaul,  Spain, 
and  Italy.  So  memorable  wjis  the  part  which  they  acted  in 
the  subversion  of  the  AVestern  empire,  that  the  name  of  Goths 
is  frequently  but  impropo'ly  used  as  a  general  appellation  ef 
rude  and  warlike  barbarism. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  and  after  the  con- 
quest of  Italy,  the  Goths,  in  possession  of  present  greatness, 
\ery  naturally  indulged  themselves  in  the  prospect  of  past 
and  of  future  glory.  They  wished  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
their  ancestors,  and  to  transmit  to  posterity  their  own  achieve- 
ments. The  principal  minister  of  the  court  of  Ravenna,  the 
learned  Cassiodorus,  gratified  the  inclination  of  the  conquerors 
in  a  Gothic  history,  which  consisted  of  twelve  books,  now  re- 
duced to  the  imperfect  abridgment  of  Jornandes.*  These 
writers  passed  with  the  most  artful  conciseness  over  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  nation,  celebrated  its  successful  valor,  and 
adorned  the  triumph  with  many  Asiatic  trophies,  that  more 
properly  belonged  to  the  people  of  Scythia.  On  the  faith  of 
ancient  songs,  the  uncertain,  but  the  only  memorials  of  bar- 
barians, they  deduced  the  first  origin  of  the  Goths  from  the 
vast  island,  or  peninsula,  of  Scandinavia.^  *      That  extreme 

'  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  20,  c.  22.     Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  624,  edit.  Louvre. 

*  See  the  prefaces  of  Cassiodorus  and  Jornandes ;  it  is  surprising 
that  the  latter  should  be  omitted  in  the  excellent  edition,  published  by 
Cirotius,  of  the  Gothic  writers. 

'  On  the  authority  of  Ablavius,  Jornandes  quotes  some  old  Gothic 
dironicles  iu  verse.     De  Reb.  Geticis,  c.  4. 


*  Tlie  Goths  have  inhabited  Scantlinavia,  but  ii  was  not  their  originaj 
habitation.  This  gpix-at  nation  was  anciently  ol' ilic  Sueviaii  race;  it  occu- 
pied, in  the  time  of  Tacitus,  and  long  before,  Mccklenbnr-rh,  Ponierania 
BcmtherD  Prussia  and  tlie  north-west  of  Poland.     A  little  before  the  birti 


882  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  1),  248-288. 

couiitry  of  the  North  was  not  unknown  to  the  conquerors  of 
Italy  :  the  ties  of  ancient  consanguinity  had  been  strengthened 
by  recent  ( flBces  of  friendship ;  and  a  Scandinavian  king  had 
cheerfully  abdicated  his  savage  greatness,  that  he  might  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  peaceful  and  polished  court 
of  Ravenna.*  Many  vestiges,  which  cannot  be  ascribed  to 
the  arts  of  popular  vanity,  attest  the  ancient  residence  of  the 
Goths  in  the  countries  beyond  the  Rhine.  From  the  time  of 
the  geographer  Ptolemy,  the  southern  part  of  Sweden  seems 
to  have  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  less  enterprising 
remnant  of  the  nation,  and  a  large  territory  is  even  at  present 
dinded  into  east  and  west  Gothland.  During  the  middle  ages, 
(from  the  ninth  to  the  twelfth  century,)  whilst  Christianity 
was  advancing  with  a  slow  progress  into  the  North,  the  Goths 
Hnd  the  Swedes  composed  two  distinct  and  sometimes  hostile 

"  Jornandes,  c.  3. 


of  J.  C,  and  in  the  first  years  of  that  century,  they  belonged  to  the  kingdom 
of  Marbod,  king  of  the  Marcomanni :  but  Cotwalda,  a  young  Gothic  prince, 
delivered  them  from  that  tyranny,  and  cstabUshed  his  own  power  over  the 
kingdom  of  the  Marcomanni,  already  much  -weakened  by  the  victories  of 
Tiberius.  The  power  of  the  Goths  at  that  time  must  have  been  great :  it 
was  probably  from  them  that  the  Sinus  Codanus  (the  Baltic)  took  this  name, 
as  it  was  afterwards  called  Mare  Suevicum,  and  Mare  Venedicum,  during 
rtie  superiority  of  the  proper  Suevi  and  the  Venedi.  The  epoch  in  which 
the  Goths  passed  into  Scandinavia  is  unkno\vn.  See  Adelung,  Hist,  of  Anc. 
Germany,  p.  200.     Gatterei-,  Hist.  Univ.  458. — G. 

M.  St.  Martin  observes,  that  the  Scandinavian  descent  of  the  Goths  rests 
on  the  authority  of  Jornandes,  who  professed  to  derive  it  from  the  traditions 
of  the  Goths.  He  is  supported  by  Procopius  and  Paulus  Diacouus.  Yet  the 
Goths  are  unquestionably  the  same  with  the  Getee  of  the  earlier  historians. 
St.  Martin,  note  on  Le  Beau,  Hist,  du  has  Empire,  iii.  324.  The  identity  of 
the  Getaa  and  Goths  is  by  no  means  generally  admitted.  On  the  whole,  they 
seem  to  be  one  vast  branch  of  the  Indo-Teutonic  race,  who  spread  in'egular- 
ly  towards  the  north  of  Europe,  and  at  different  periods,  and  in  different  re- 
gions, came  in  contact  with  the  more  civilized  nations  of  the  south.  At 
this  period,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  reflux  of  these  Gothic  tribes  from  the 
North. 

Make  Brun  considers  that  there  are  strong  grounds  for  receiving  the 
Islandic  traditions  commented  by  the  Danish  Varro,  M.  Suhm.  From 
these,  and  the  voyage  of  Pytheas,  v^-hich  Malte  Brun  considers  genuine, 
the  Goths  were  in  possession  of  Scandinavia,  Ey-Gothland,  250  yeara 
before  J.  C,  and  of  a  tract  on  the  continent  (Reid- Gothland)  between  tbc 
mouths  of  the  Vistula  and  tha  Oder.  In  their  southern  migration,  they 
followed  the  course  of  the  Vistula;  afterwards,  of  the  Dnieper.  Malto 
Brun,  Geogr.  i.  p.  387,  edit.  1832.  Geijer,  the  historian  of  Sweden,  ably 
maintains  the  Scandinavian  origin  of  the  Goths.  The  Gothic  language, 
iccording  to  Bopp,  is  the  hnk  between  the  Sanscrit  and  the  modern  Teu- 
tonic dialects:  "I  think  that  1  am  reading  Sanscrit  when  I  am  reading 
Vlphilaa"    Bo])p,  Conjugations  System  der  Sanscrit  Sprache,  preface,  p.  x. 


Vlpni 


A-D.  2i8-268.]     of  hie  roman  EMrirwE.  283 

members  of  the  same  monarchy.^  The  latter  of  these  two 
Dames  has  prevailed  without  extinguishing  the  former.  The 
Swedes,  who  might  well  be  satisfied  with  their  own  fame  in 
arms,  have,  in  every  age,  claimed  the  kindred  glory  of  the 
Goths.  In  a  moment  of  discontent  against  the  court  of  Kome, 
Charles  the  Twelfth  insinuated,  that  his  victorious  troops  were 
not  degenerated  from  their  brave  ancestors,  who  had  already 
Bubdued  the  mistress  of  the  world.* 

Till  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  a  celebrated  templa 
subsisted  at  Upsal,  the  most  considerable  town  of  the  Swedea 
and  Goths.  It  was  enriched  with  the  gold  which  the  Scandi- 
navians had  acquired  in  their  piratical  adventures,  and  sanc- 
tified by  the  uncouth  representations  of  the  three  principal 
deities,  the  god  of  war,  the  goddess  of  generation,  and  the 
god  of  thunder.  In  the  general  festival,  that  was  solemnized 
every  ninth  year,  nine  animals  of  every  species  (without  ex- 
cepting the  human)  were  sacrificed,  and  their  bleeding  bodies 
suspended  in  the  sacred  grove  adjacent  to  the  temple.'  The 
only  traces  that  now  subsist  of  this  barbaric  superstition  are 
contained  in  the  Edda,*  a  system  of  mythology,  compiled  in 
Iceland  about  the  thirteenth  century,  and  studied  by  the 
learned  of  Denmark  and  Sweden,  as  the  most  valuable  re- 
mains of  their  ancient  traditions. 

Notwithstanding  the  mysterious  obscurity  of  the  Edda,  we 
can  easily  distinguish  two  persons  confounded  under  the  name 
of  Odin ;  the  god  of  war,  and  the  great  legislator  of  Scandi- 
navia. The  latter,  the  Mahomet  of  the  North,  instituted  a 
religion  adapted  to  the  climate  and  to  the  people.  Numerous 
tribes  on  either  side  of  the  Baltic  were  subdued  by  the  iuvin- 

^  See  in  the  Prolegomena  of  Grotius  some  large  extracts  from  Adam 
of  Bremen,  and  Saxo-Grammaticus.  The  former  wrote  in  the  year 
1077,  the  latter  flom-ished  about  the  year  1200. 

*  Voltaire,  Histohe  de  Charles  XII.  1.  iii.  When  the  Austrians 
desired  the  aid  of  the  court  of  Rome  against  Gustavus  Adolplms,  they 
always  represented  that  conqueror  as  the  lineal  successor  of  Alaric 
Harte's  History  of  Gustavus,  vol.  ii.  p.  123. 

°  See  Adam  of  Bremen  in  Grotii  Prolegomcnis,  p.  105.  The  tem- 
ple of  Upsal  was  destroyed  by  Ingo,  king  of  Sweden,  who  began  his 
reign  in  the  year  1075,  and  about  fourscore  years  afterwai-ds,  a  Chris- 
tian cathedral  was  erected  on  its  ruins.  See  Dalin's  History  of 
Sweden,  in  the  Bibhothcque  Raisonnee. 

*  The  Eddas  have  at  Icng^th  been  made  accessible  to  European  scholars  by 
the  completiou  of  the  publicatiou  of  the  Saeinundiue  Edda  by  the  Amt 
Magruffian  Coiumissiou,  in  3  vols.  4to.,  with  a  copious  lexicon  of  aorthen 
Kythology. — M. 


284  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  248--284 

cible  valor  of  Odin,  by  liis  persuasive  eloquence,  and  by  th( 
fame  which  he  acquired  of  a  most  skilful  magician.  Thf 
faith  that  he  had  propagated,  during  a  long  and  prosperous 
life,  he  confirmed  by  a  voluntary  death.  Apprehensive  of 
the  ignominious  approach  of  disease  and  infirmity,  he  resolved 
to  expire  as  became  a  warrior.  In  a  solemn  assembly  of  the 
Swedes  and  Goths,  he  wounded  himself  in  nine  mortal  places, 
hastening  away  (as  he  asserted  with  his  dying  voice)  to  pre- 
pare  the  feast  of  heroes  in  the  palace  of  the  God  of  war." 

The  native  and  proper  habitation  of  Odin  is  distinguished 
by  the  appellation  of  As-gard.  The  happy  resemblance  of 
that  name  with  As-burg,  or  As-of,"  words  of  a  similar  signifi- 
cation, has  given  rise  to  an  historical  system  of  so  pleasing  a 
contexture,  that  we  could  almost  wish  to  persuade  ourselves 
of  its  truth.  It  is  supposed  that  Odin  was  the  chief  of  a  tribe 
of  barbarians  which  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the  Lake  Mseotis, 
till  the  fall  of  Mithridates  and  the  arms  of  Pompey  menaced 
the  North  with  servitude.  That  Odin,  yielding  with  indignant 
fury  to  a  power  which  he  was  unable  to  resist,  conducted  his 
tribe  from  the  frontiers  of  the  Asiatic  Sarmatia  into  Sweden, 
with  the  great  design  of  forming,  in  that  inaccessible  retreat 
of  freedom,  a  religion  and  a  people,  which,  in  some  remote 
age,  might  be  subservient  to  his  immortal  revenge  ;  when  his 
invincible  Goths,  armed  with  martial  fanaticism,  should  issue  in 
numerous  swarms  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  Polar  circle, 
to  chastise  the  oppressors  of  mankind.'^ 

*^'  Mallet,  Introduction  a  rHistoii-e  du  Dannemarc. 

"  Mallet,  c.  iv.  p.  55,  has  collected  from  Strabo,  Pliny,  Ptolemy,  and 
Stephanus  Byzantinus,  the  vestiges  of  such  a  city  and  people. 

^'^  This  wonderful  expedition  of  Odin,  which,  by  deducting  the 
enmity  of  the  Gotlis  and  Romans  from  so  memorable  a  cause,  might 
Bupply  the  noble  groundwork  of  an  epic  poem,  cannot  safely  ba 
received  as  authentic  laistory.  According  to  the  obvious  sense  of  the 
Edda,  and  the  interpretation  of  the  most  skilful  critics,  As-gard, 
instead  of  denoting  a  real  city  of  the  Asiatic  Sarmatia,  is  the  ticti- 
tious  appellation  of  tlie  mj'stic  abode  of  the  gods,  the  Olympus  of 
Scandinavia;  from  whence  the  prophet  was  supposed  to  descend, 
when  he  announced  his  new  religion  to  the  Gothic  nations,  Avho  were 
ah'eady  seated  in  the  southern  parts  of  Sweden.* 


"  A  curious  letter  may  be  consulted  on  this  subject  from  the  Swede,  Ihre 
coanselloi-  in  the  Chancery  of  Upsal,  printed  at  Upsal  by  Edman,  in  1772, 
und  translated  into  German  by  M.  Sctlozer.  Gottingen,  printed  for  Die 
tericht,  1779.— G. 

Gibbou,  at  a  later  period  of  his  work,  recanted  his  opinion  of  the  trulk 


A.  1>.  2 48-20 S.J       OF    THE    KOMAN    UMPIRE.  285 

If  SO  many  successive  generations  of  Gotlis  wore  capable 
of  preserving  a  foint  tradition  of  tlieir  Scandinavian  origin,  we 
must  not  expect,  from  such  unlettered  barbarians,  any  dis- 
tinct account  of  the  time  and  circumstances  of  tlieir  emigration. 
To  cross  the  Baltic  was  an  easy  and  natural  attempt.  The 
inhabitants  of  Sweden  were  masters  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  large  vessels,  with  oars,'^  and  the  distance  is  little  more 
than  one  hundred  miles  from  Carlscroon  to  the  nearest  ports 
of  Pomerania  and  Prussia.  Here,  at  length,  we  land  on  firm 
and  historic  ground.  At  least  as  early  as  the  Christian  sera,^* 
and  as  late  as  the  age  of  the  Antonines,"  the  Goths  were 
established  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Vistula,  and  in  that  fer- 
tile province  where  the  commercial  cities  of  Thorn,  Elbing, 
Koningsberg,  and  Dantzick,  were  long  afterwards  founded." 
Westward  of  the  Goths,  the  numerous  tribes  of  the  Vandals 
were  spread  along  the  banks  of  the  Oder,  and  the  sea-coast 
of  Pomerania  and  Mecklenburgh.  A  striking  resemblance 
of  manners,  complexion,  religion,  and  language,  seemed  to 
indicate  that  the  Vandals  and  the  Goths  were  originally  one 
great  people."  The  latter  appear  to  have  been  subdivided 
into    Ostrogoths,   Visigoths,    and    Gepidse.''     The   distinction 

"  Tacit.  Gerinania,  c.  44. 

'^  Tacit.  Aniial.  ii.  G2.  If  we  coiiLl  yield  a  firm  assent  to  the  navi- 
gations of  Pytheas  of  Marseilles,  we  must  allow  'that  the  Goths  bad 
passed  the  Baltic  at  least  three  hundred  years  before  Christ. 

'*  Ptolemy,  1.  ii. 

'°  By  the  German  colonies  who  followed  the  arms  of  the  Teutonic 
Vnights.  The  conquest  and  conversion  of  Prussia  were  completed  by 
those  adventurers  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

'■''  Pliny  (Hist.  Natur.  iv.  14)  and  Procopius  (in  Bell.  VandaL  1.  i.e.  1) 
xgvae  in  this  opinion.  Tliey  lived  in  distant  age-,  and  possessed  differ- 
•nt  means  of  investigating  the  truth. 

'*  The  Odro  and  Vlsi,  the  eastern  and  western  Gotlis,  obtained 
those,   denominations  from  their  original  seats  in  Scandinavia.*     In 


nf  this  expedition  of  Odin.  The  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Gotlw  is  almost 
certain  from  the  affinity  of  tlicir  language  to  the  Sanscrit  and  Persian ; 
but  their  northern  migration  must  have  taken  place  long  before  the  period 
of  liistory.  The  transformation  of  the  deity  Odin  into  a  wan-ior  chieftaiu, 
and  the  whole  legend  of  his  establi.shmeut  in  Scandinavia,  is  probably  a 
theory  of  the  noribern  writers,  when  all  mythology  w^as  reduced  to  hero- 
vvorsiiip. — M. 

*  It  was  not  in  Scandinavia  that  the  Goths  were  divided  into  Ostrogoths 
imd  Visigoths  ;  that  division  took  place  after  their  irruption  into  Dacia  in 
the  lliird  century  :  those  who  came  from  Mecklenburgh  and  Pomerania  were 
ctMix\  Visigoths ;  those  who  came  from  the  south  of  Prussia,  and  the  rjrrtii- 
WCF.  f.f  Poland,  calliid  tliemselves  Ostrogoths.  AdeUmg,  Hi.st.  All.  p.  204 
3i.i:c--'-t.  iiist   Uriiv  4:n.— G. 


286  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-268 

among  the  Vandals  was  more  strongly  marked  by  the  inde- 
pendent names  of  Heruli,  Burgundians,  Lombards,  and  a 
variety  of  other  petty  states,  many  of  whicli,  in  a  future  age, 
expanded  themselves  into  powerful  monarchies.* 

In  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  the  Goths  were  still  seated  in 
Prussia.  About  tlie  reign  of  Alexander  Severus,  the  Roman 
province  of  Dacia  had  already  experienced  their  proximity 
by  frequent  and  destructive  inroads.'^     In  this  interval,  there- 


all  their  futui'e  marches  and  settlements  they  preserved,  with  their 
names,  the  same  relative  situation.  When  they  first  departed  frota 
S'^eden,  the  infant  colony  was  contained  in  three  vessels.  The  third, 
be.'iig  a  heavy  sailer,  lagged  behind,  and  the  crew,  which  afterwards 
swelled  into  a  nation,  received  from  that  circumstance  the  appellutioD 
of  Gepidffi  or  Loiterers.     Jornandes,  c.  17. 

'"  See  a  fragment  of  Peter  Patricias  in  the  Excerpta  Logatioaum 
and  with  regard  to  its  probable  date,  see  Tdlemont,  Hist,  des  Empe 
rflurs,  torn.  iii.  p.  346. 


*  This  opinion  is  by  no  means  probable.  The  Vandals  and  tL*  Goths 
equally  belonged  to  the  great  division  of  the  Suevi,  but  the  tvso  tribes 
were  very  different.  Those  who  have  treated  on  this  part  of  liistory,  appear 
to  mc  to  have  neglected  to  remark  that  the  ancients  ahnost  always  gave  the 
name  of  the  dominant  and  conquering  people  to  all  the  weaker  aud  con- 
quered races.  So  Pliny  calls  Vmdcli,  Vandals,  all  the  people  of  the  north- 
east of  Europe,  because  at  that  epoch  the  Vandals  were  doubtlesj  the  con- 
iiuermg  tribe.  Ca;sar,  on  the  contrary,  ranges  under  the  name  of  Suevi, 
many  of  the  tribes  whom  Pliny  reckons  as  Vandals,  because  tlie  Suevi, 
properly  so  called,  were  tlien  tlie  most  powerful  tribe  in  Germany.  When 
the  Goths,  become  in  tlicir  turn  conquerors,  bad  subjugated  llie  nations  whom 
they  encountered  on  their  ^vay,  these  nations  lost  their  name  with  their  lib- 
erty, and  became  of  Gothic  origin.  The  Vandals  themselves  were  then  con- 
sidered as  Goths ;  the  Heruli,  the  GepidfB,  &c.,  suffered  the  same  fate.  A 
common  origin  was  thus  attributed  to  tribes  who  had  only  been  united  by 
the  conquests  of  some  dominant  nation,  and  this  confusion  has  gi/en  rise  to 
a  number  of  historical  errors. — G. 

M.  St.  Martin  has  a  learned  note  (to  Le  Beau,  v.  261)  on  the  origin  of  the 
Vandals.  Tbe  dilBculty  appears  to  he  in  rejecting  the  close  analogy  of  the 
name  witli  the  Vend  or  ^Vendish  race,  who  were  of  Sclavonian,  not  of  Sue- 
vian  or  German,  origin.  M.  St.  Martin  supposes  that  the  different  races 
spread  fi-om  the  head  of  the  Adriatic  to  the  Baltic,  and  even  the  Veneti,  on 
the  sliores  of  the  Adriatic,  the  VindeUci,  the  tribes  wliich  gave  their  name 
to  Vindobana,  Vindoduua,  Viudonissa,  were  branches  of  the  same  stock  with 
tlie  Sclavonian  Vcnedi,  who  at  one  time  gave  their  name  to  tbe  Baltic;  that 
they  all  spoke  dialects  of  tbe  ^Vcndish  language,  which  still  prevails  in  Ca 
rinthia,  Carniola,  part  of  Bohemia,  and  Lusatia,  and  is  hardly  extinct  in 
Mecklenburgh  and  Pomerania.  The  Vandal  race,  once  so  fearfully  cele- 
brated in  the  annals  of.  mankind,  has  so  utterly  perished  from  tbe  face  of  tbe 
earth,  that  we  are  not  aware  that  any  vestiges  of  their  language  car  b<? 
traced,  so  as  to  throw  light  on  tbe  disputed  question  of  their  Germui  V  f ' 
Sclavonian,  or  independent  origin.  The  weight  of  ancient  aaiiionty  scc.isi 
R^aiust  M.  St.  Martin's  opinion.  Compare,  on  the  Vandals,  Malte  Hmc,  L 
394.     Also  Gibbon's  note,  e.  xh.  n.  38. — M. 


A.  D.  248-268.J     of  the  roman  empire,  281 

fore,  of  about  seventy  years,  we  must  piace  the  second  migra- 
tion of  the  Goths  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Euxhie  ;  but  the  cause 
that  produced  it  hes  concealed  among  the  various  motives 
which  actuate  the  conduct  of  unsettled  barbarians.  Either  a 
pestilence  or  a  famine,  a  victory  or  a  defeat,  an  oracle  of  the 
gods  or  the  eloquence  of  a  daring  leader,  were  sufficient  to 
imj^^el  the  Gothic  arms  on  the  milder  climates  of  the  south. 
Behides  the  influence  of  a  martial  religion,  the  numbers  and 
spirit  of  the  Goths  were  equal  to  the  most  dangerous  advep- 
lures.  The  use  of  round  bucklers  and  short  swords  rendered 
them  formidable  in  a  close  engagement ;  the  manly  obedience 
which  they  yielded  to  hereditary  kings,  gave  uncommon  union 
and  stability  to  their  councils;^"  and  the  renowned  Amala, 
the  hero  of  that  age,  and  the  tenth  ancestor  of  Theodoric,  king 
of  Italy,  enforced,  by  the  ascendant  of  personal  merit,  the  pre- 
rogative of  his  birth,  which  he  derived  from  the  Anscs,  or  demi' 
gods  of  the  Gothic  nation."' 

The  fame  of  a  great  enterprise  excited  the  bravest  warriors 
from  all  the  Vandalic  states  of  Germany,  many  of  whom  are 
seen  a  few  years  afterwards  combating  under  the  common 
standard  of  the  Goths.''*  The  first  motions  of  the  eraigTanta 
carried  them  to  the  banks  of  the  Prypec,  a  river  universally 
conceived  by  the  ancients  to  be  the  southern  branch  of  the 
Borysthenes.''^  The  windings  of  that  great  stream  through 
the  plains  of  Poland  and  Russia  gave  a  direction  to  their  line 
of  march,  and  a  constant  supply  of  fresh  water  and  pasturage 
to  their  numerous  herds  of  cattle.  They  followed  the  un- 
known course  of  the  river,  confident  in  their  valor,  and  care- 
less of  whatever  power  might  oppose  their  progress.  The 
Bastarnee  and  the  Venedi  were  the  first  who  presented  them- 
selves ;  and  the  flower  of  their  youth,  either  from  choice  or 
compulsion,  incre;vsed  the  Gothic  army.     The  Bastarnre  dwell 

*"  Omnium  harum  gentium  insigne,  rotur.da  scuta,  breves  gladii,  et 
erga  rages  obsequium.  Tacit.  Gerinania,  c.  43.  The  Goths  probably 
acquired  their  iron  by  the  commerce  of  amber. 

-'  Jornandes,  c.  13,  1-4. 

^'  The  Heruli,  and  the  Uregundi  or  Burgundi,  are  particularly 
mentioned.  See  Mascou's  History  of  the  Germans,  1.  v.  A  passage 
in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  28,  seems  to  allude  to  this  ^reat  emigia- 
tion.  The  Marcomannic  war  was  partly  occasioned  by  the  pressure 
of  barbarous  tribes,  who  lied  before  the  arms  of  more  northern  barba 
.ians. 

"  D'Auvillc,  Geographic  Ancieiuie,  aid  the  third  [lart  of  liio  iufon) 
■^abie  map  of  Europe. 


2H9  THE    DECLINE    AND    PALL      [A.  D.  248-268. 

Ob  tae  northern  side  of  the  Carpathian  Mountains  :  the  im- 
mease  tract  of  land  that  separated  the  Bastarnaj  from  the 
savages  of  Finland  was  possessed,  or  rather  wasted,  by  the 
Venedi ;  *'  we  have  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  first  of 
these  nations,  which  distinguished  itself  in  the  Macedonian 
war,"  and  was  afterwards  divided  into  the  formidable  tribes 
of  the  Peucini,  the  Borani,  the  Carpi,  &c.,  derived  its  origin 
from  the  Germans.*  With  better  authority,  a  Sarraatian 
extraction  may  be  assigned  to  the  Venedi,  who  rendered 
themselves  so  famous  in  the  middle  ages.^^  But  the  confu- 
feion  of  blood  and  manners  on  that  doubtful  frontier  often  per- 
plexed the  most  accurate  observers.^'  As  the  Goths  advanced 
near  the  Euxine  Sea,  they  encountered  a  purer  race  of  Sar- 
matians,  the  Jazyges,  the  Alani,J  and  the  Roxolani ;  and  they 
were  probably  the  first  Germans  who  saw  the  mouths  of  the 
Borysthenes,  and  of  the  Tanais.  If  we  inquire  into  the  char- 
acteristic marks  of  the  people  of  Germany  and  of  Sarmatia, 
we  shall  discover  that  those  two  great  portions  of  human  kind 
were  principall}^  distinguished  by  fixed  huts  or  movable  tents, 
by  a  close  dress  or  flowing  garments,  by  the  marriage  of  one 


'*  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  46. 

''*  Cluver.  Germ.  Antiqua,  L  iii.  c.  43. 

'^  The  Venedi,  the  Slavi,  and  the  Antes,  were  the  three  great  tribes 
of  the  same  people.     Jornandes,  '24.f 

'^^  Tacitus  most  assuredly  deserves  that  title,  and  even  his  cautioua 
suspense  is  a  proof  of  his  diligent  inquiries. 


*  The  BastariiiB  cannot  be  considered  original  inhabitants  of  Germany 
Strabo  and  Tacitus  appear  to  doubt  it;  Pliny  alone  calls  thcni  Germans: 
Ptolemy  and  Dion  treat  them  as  Scythians,  a  vagnc  rvoellation  at  this  period 
of  history;  Livj',  Plutarch,  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  call  them  Gauls,  and  this 
is  the  most  probable  opinion.  Thej'  descei'ded  from  the  Gauls  who  entered 
Germany  under  Sigrioesus.  They  are  always  found  associated  with  other 
Gaulish  tribes,  such  as  the  Boii,  the  Taurisci,  &c.,  and  not  to  the  German 
tribes.  The  names  of  their  chiefs  or  princes,  Chlonix,  Chlondicus.  Deldon, 
Hre  not  German  names.  Those  who  were  settled  in  the  island  of  Peuce  in 
the  Danube,  took  the  name  of  Peucini. 

The  Carpi  appear  in  237  as  a  Suevian  tribe  who  had  made  an  irruption 
into  Majsia.  Afterwards  they  reappear  under  the  Ostrogoths,  with  wliom  they 
wei-e  probably  blended.     Adelung,  p.  236,  27S. — G. 

t  They  formed  the  great  Sclavonian  nation. — G. 

X  Jac.  Reineggs  supposed  that  he  had  found,  in  the  mountains  of  Caucasus, 
some  descendants  of  the  Alani.  The  Tartars  call  them  Edeki-Alan :  they 
speak  a  peculiar  dialect  of  the  ancient  language  of  the  Tartai-s  of  Caajasua 
See  J.  Reineggs'  Descr.  of  Caucasus,  p.  11,  13. — G. 

According  to  Klaproth,  they  arc  the  Ossptes  oi  tne  ptcsent  day  in  Monci 
C(xuoas»;a  anil  were  the  same  with  the  AlbapiaBd  of  sntiqaity.  Klaprolh. 
■'^•l^icaux  Tlist.  de  I'Asic.  p.  180. — M. 


A'  D.  248-268.J     of  the  koman  empire.  289 

•r  of  several  wives,  by  a  military  force,  consisting,  for  the 
most  part,  either  of  infantry  or  cavahy ;  and  above  all,  by  the 
use  of  the  Teutonic,  or  of  the  Sclavonian  language ;  the  last 
of  which  has  been  diflused  by  conquest,  from  the  confines  of 
Italy  to  the  neighborhood  of  Japan. 

The  Goths  were  now  in  possession  of  the  Ukraine,  a  country 
of  considerable  extent  and  uncommon  fertility,  intersected 
with  navigable  rivers,  which,  from  either  side,  discharge 
themselves  into  the  Borysthenes ;  and  interspersed  with  large 
and  leafy  forests  of  oaks.  The  plenty  of  game  and  fish,  the 
innumerable  bee-hives  deposited  in  the  hollow  of  old  trees, 
and  in  the  cavities  of  rocks,  and  forming,  even  in  that  rude 
age,  a  valuable  branch  of  commerce,  the  size  of  the  cattle,  the 
temperature  of  the  air,  the  aptness  of  the  soil  for  every  species 
of  gain,  and  the  luxuriancy  of  the  vegetation,  all  displayed  the 
liberality  of  Nature,  and  tempted  the  industry  of  man.^'  But 
the  Goths  withstood  all  these  temptations,  and  still  adhered  to 
a  life  of  idleness,  of  poverty,  and  of  rapine. 

The  Scythian  hordes,  which,  towards  the  east,  bordered  on 
the  new  settlements  of  the  Goths,  presented  nothing  to  their 
arms,  except  the  doubtful  chance  of  an  unprofitable  victory. 
But  the  prospect  of  the  Roman  territories  was  for  more  allur- 
ing ;  and  the  fields  of  Dacia  were  covered  with  rich  harvests, 
sown  by  the  hands  of  an  industrious,  and  exposed  to  be  gath- 
ered by  those  of  a  warlike,  people.  It  is  probable  that  the 
conquests  of  Trajan,  maintained  by  his  successors,  less  for 
any  real  advantage  than  for  ideal  dignity,  had  contributed  to 
weaken  the  empire  on  that  side.  The  new  and  unsettled 
province  of  Dacia  was  neither  strong  enough  to  resist,  nor 
•ich  enough  to  satiate,  the  rapaciousiiess  of  the  barbarians. 
As  long  as  the  remote  banks  of  the  Niester  were  considered 
as  the  boundary  of  the  Roman  power,  the  fortifications  of  the 
Lower  Danube  were  more  carelessly  guarded,  and  the  inhab 
itants  of  Msesia  lived  in  supine  security,  fondly  conceiving 
themselves  at  an  inaccessible  distance  from  any  barbarian 
mvaders.  The  irruptions  of  the  Goths,  under  the  reign  of 
Philip,  fatally  convinced  them  of  their  mistake.  The  king, 
or  leader,  of  that  fierce   nation,  traversed  with  contempt  the 

^*  Genealogical  History  of  the  Tartars,  p.  593.  Mr.  Bell  (vol.  ii.  p 
879)  traversed  the  Ukraine,  in  his  journey  from  Petevsburgh  to  Coii- 
etantinople.  The  modern  face  of  the  country  is  a  just  representation 
c-f  the  vncient,  since,  in  tlie  hands  of  the  Cossacks,  it  still  remains  in  a 
■tate  o.'  nature. 

VOL   I. — N 


S0O  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-268. 

province  of  Dacia,  and  passed  both  the  Niester  and  the 
Danube  without  encountering  any  opposition  capable  of  re- 
tarding his  progress.  The  relaxed  discipline  of  the  Roman 
troops  betrayed  the  most  important  posts,  where  they  were 
stationed,  and  the  fear  of  deserved  punishment  induced  great 
numbers  of  them  to  enlist  under  the  Gothic  standard.  The 
various  multitude  of  barbarians  appeared,  at  length,  under 
the  walls  of  Marcianopolis,  a  city  built  by  Trajan  in  honor 
of  his  sister,  and  at  that  time  the  capital  of  tlie  second 
Maesia."'  The  inhabitants  consented  to  ransom  their  lives 
and  property  by  the  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  and 
the  invaders  retreated  back  into  their  deserts,  animated,  rather 
than  satisfied,  with  the  first  success  of  their  arms  against  ar 
opulent  but  feeble  country.  Intelligence  was  soon  transmitted 
to  the  emperor  Decius,  that  Cniva,  king  of  the  Goths,  had 
passed  the  Danube  a  second  time,  with  more  considerable 
forces ;  that  his  numerous  detachments  scattered  devastation 
over  the  province  of  Msesia,  whilst  the  main  body  of  the 
army,  consisting  of  seventy  thousand  Germans  and  Sarma- 
tians,  a  force  equal  to  the  most  daring  achievements,  required 
he  presence  of  the  Roman  monarch,  and  the  exertion  of  his 
.military  power. 

Decius  found  the  Goths  engaged  before  Nico])olis,  on  tho 
•  «trus,  one  of  the  many  monuments  of  Trajan's  victories.' 
<*n  his  approach  they  raised  the  siege,  but  with  a  design  only 
c»f  marching  avi-ay  to  a  conquest  of  greater  importance,  tho 
■viege  of  Philippopolis,  a  city  of  Thrace,  founded  by  the  father 
of  Alexander,  near  the   foot   of   Mount   Hajmus.'*      Decius 

*'  In  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Jornandes,  instead  of  secundo  Msesiam 
we  may  venture  to  substitute  secundam,  the  second  Msssia,  of  whicL 
Marcianopolis  was  certainly  the  capital.  (See  Hierocles.  de  Provinciis, 
and  Wesseling  ad  locum,  p.  636.  Itinerar.)  It  is  surprising  hew 
this  palpable  error  of  the  scribe  should  escape  the  judicious  correction 
of  Grotius.* 

'°  The  place  is  still  called  Nicop.  D'Anville,  Geographic  Anciennc, 
torn.  i.  p.  307.  The  little  stream,  on  whose  banks  it  stood,  falls  iut<i 
the  Danube. 

^'  Stephan.  Byzant.de  Urbibus,  p.  740.  Wesseling,  Itinerar.  p.  136. 
Zonaras,  by  an  odd  mistake,  ascribes  the  foundation  of  Philippupolii 
to  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Decius. f 

*  Luden  has  observed  that  Jornandes  mentions  two  passages  over  Ihi 
Danube  ;  this  relates  to  the  second  in-uption  into  Massia.  Gescliichte  des  T 
V.  ii.  p.  448.— M. 

t  Now  Philippopolis  or  Philiba;  its  situation  among  the  hills  caused  it  to 
te  ftleo  called  Trimortiura.     D'Anville,  Geog.  Anr  i  "95. — G. 


A.  D.  248-268.]     of  the  roman  empire.  S91 

folic  wed  them  ibrough  a  difficult  country,  and  by  fortsed 
marches;  but  when  he  imagined  himself  at  a  considerabla 
distance 'from  the  rear  of  the  Goths,  Ciiiva  turned  with  rapid 
fury  on  bis  pursuers.  The  camp  of  the  Romans  was  sur- 
prised and  pillaged,  and,  for  the  first  time,  their  emperor  fled 
in  disorder  before  a  troop  of  half-armed  barbarians.  After  a 
long  resistance,  Philoppopolis,  destitute  of  succor,  was  taken 
by  storm.  A  hundred  thousand  persons  are  reported  to  have 
been  massacred  in  the  sack  of  that  great  city.°^  j^fany  prison- 
ers of  consequence  became  a  valuable  accession  to  the  spoil; 
and  Priscus,  a  brother  of  the  late  emperor  Philip,  blushed  not 
to  assume  the  purple,  under  the  protection  of  the  barbarous 
enemies  of  Rome."  The  time,  however,  consumed  in  that 
tedious  siege,  enabled  Decuis  to  revive  the  courage,  restore  the 
discipline,  and  recruit  the  numbei-s  of  his  troops.  He  inter- 
cepted several  parties  of  Carpi,  and  other  Germans,  who  were 
hastening  to  share  the  victory  of  their  countrymen,'*  intrusted 
the  passes  of  the  mountains  to  officers  of  approved  valor  and 
fidelity,"  repaired  and  strengthened  the  fortifications  of  the 
Danube,  and  exerted  his  utmost  vigilance  to  oppose  either  the 
progress  or  the  retreat  of  the  Goths.  Encouraged  by  the  re- 
turn of  fortune,  he  anxiously  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  re- 
trieve, by  a  great  and  decisive  blow,  his  own  glory,  and  that 
of  the  Roman  arms.'" 

At  the  same  time  o'hen  Dccius  was  struggling  with  the  vio- 
lence of  the  tempest,  his  mind,  calm  and  deliberate  amidst 
the  tumult  of  war,  investigated  the  m-re  general  causes,  that, 
since  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  had  so  impetuously  urged  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  greatness.  Ho  soon  discovered  that  it 
was  impossible  to  replace  that  greatness  on  a  permanent  basis, 
without  restoring  public  virtue,  ancient  principles  and  mannei-s, 
and  the  oppressed  majesty  of  the  laws.     To  execute  this  noble 

"  Ammian.  xxxi.  5. 

"  Aurel.  Victor,  c.  29. 

^*  Vic'.orice  Car])icce,  on  some  medals  rf  Decius,  insinuate  tlicse  m]- 
rantages. 

^^  Claudius  (-^ho  afterwards  reigned  with  so  much  glory)  wm 
posted  in  the  pass  of  Thermopyke  with  200  Dardanians,  100  heavy 
and  IGO  light  horse,  GO  Cretan  archers,  and  1000  well-armed  recruits. 
See  an  original  letter  from  the  emperor  to  his  officer,  in  the  Augustan 
History,  p.  200. 

**  Jornandes,  c.  16 — 18.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  22.  In  the  general  ao- 
e»unt  of  this  .war,  it  is  easy  to  discover  the  opposite  pn^judices  of  the 
&othi ;  and  the  Grecian  writer.     lu  carelessness  alone  they  are  alik« 


292  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-268 

bnt  arduous  design,  be  first  resolved  to  revive  the  obsoleta 
office  of  censor ;  an  office  which,  as  long  as  it  had  subsisted 
in  its  pristine  integrity,  had  so  much  contributed  to  the  per- 
petuity of  the  state,"  till  it  was  usurped  and  gradually  neg- 
lected by  the  Caesars.'*  Conscious  that  the  favor  of  the  sove- 
reign may  confer  power,  but  that  the  esteem  of  the  people 
can  alone  bestow  authority,  he  submitted  the  choice  of  the 
censor  to  the  unbiased  voice  of  the  senate.  By  their  unan- 
imous votes,  or  rather  acclamations,  Valerian,  who  was  after- 
wards emperor,  and  who  then  served  with  distinction  in  the 
army  of  Decius,  was  declared  the  most  worthy  of  that  exalted 
honor.  As  soon  as  the  decree  of  the  senate  was  transmitted 
to  the  emperor,  he  assembled  a  great  council  in  his  camp,  and 
before  the  investiture  of  the  censor  elect,  he  apprised  him  of 
the  difficulty  and  importance  of  his  great  office.  "  Happy 
Valerian,"  said  the  prince  to  his  distinguished  subject,  "  happy 
in  the  general  approbation  of  the  senate  and  of  the  Roman 
republic !  Accept  the  censorship  of  mankind ;  and  judge  of 
our  mannere.  You  will  select  those  who  deserve  to  continue 
members  of  the  senate ;  you  will  restore  the  equestrian  order 
to  its  ancient  splendor ;  you  will  improve  the  revenue,  yet 
moderate  tiie  public  burdens.  You  will  distinguish  into  reg- 
ular classes  the  various  and  infinite  multitude  of  citizens,  and 
accurately  view  the  military  strength,  the  wealth,  the  virtue, 
and  the  resources  of  Rome.  Your  decisions  shall  obtain  the 
force  of  laws.  The  army,  the  palace,  the  ministers  of  justice, 
and  the  great  officers  of  the  empire,  are  all  subject  to  your 
tribunal.  None  are  exempted,  excepting  only  the  ordinary 
consuls,*'  the  preefect  of  the  city,  the  king  of  the  sacrifices, 
and  (as  long  as  she  preserves  her  chastity  inviolate)  the  eldest 
of  the  vestal  virgins.  Even  these  few,  who  may  not  dread 
the  severity,  will  anxiously  solicit  the  esteem,  of  the  Roman 
censor."  ■*" 

"  Montesquieu,  Grandeur  et  Decadence  des  Romains,  c.  viii.  He 
illustrates  the  nature  and  use  of  the  censorship  with  his  usual  inge- 
auity,  and  with  uncommon  precision. 

^^  Vespasian  and  Titus  were  the  last  censors,  (Pliny,  Hist.  Natur 
v'n.  49.  Censorinus  de  Die  Natali.)  The  modesty  of  Trajan  refused 
jm  honor  which  he  deserved,  and  his  example  became  a  law  to  the 
Anticnines.     See  PHny's  Panegyi'ic,  c.  45  and  60. 

*  Yet  in  spite  of  his  exemption,  Pompey  appeared  before  that 
tribunal  during  his  consubhip.  The  occasion,  indeed,  was  equallt 
singular  and  honorable.     Plutarch  in  Pomp,  p  630. 

*^  See  the  original  speech  in  the  Augustan  Hist  p,  1^3   114 


A.  D.  248-268.J     of  the  roman  EMriRE.  i9Jl 

A  magistrate,  invested  with  such  extcnsixe  powers,  would 
have  appeared  not  so  much  the  miuister,  as  the  cclleague  of 
his  sovereign/'  Valerian  justly  dreaded  an  elevation  so  full 
of  envy  and  of  suspicion.  He  modestly  argued  the  alarming 
greatness  of  the  trust,  his  own  insufficiency,  and  the  incura- 
ble corruption  of  the  times.  He  artfully  insinuated,  that  the 
office  of  censor  was  inseparable  from  the  Imperial  dignity, 
and  that  the  feeble  hands  of  a  subject  were  unequal  to  the 
support  of  such  an  immense  weight  of  cares  and  of  power." 
The  approaching  event  of  war  soon  put  an  end  to  the  prose- 
cution of  a  project  so  specious,  but  so  impracticable ;  and 
whilst  it  preserved  Valerian  from  the  danger,  saved  the  em 
peror  Decius  from  the  disappointment,  which  would  most 
probably  have  attended  it.  A  censor  may  maintain,  he  can 
never  restore,  the  morals  of  a  state.  It  is  impossible  for  such 
a  magistrate  to  exert  his  authority  with  benefit,  or  even  with 
effect,  unless  he  is  supported  by  a  quick  sense  of  honor  and 
virtue  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  by  a  decent  reverence  for 
the  public  opinion,  and  by  a  train  of  useful  prejudices  combat- 
ing on  the  side  of  national  manners.  In  a  period  when  these 
principles  are  annihilated,  the  censorial  jurisdiction  must 
either  sink  into  empty  pageantry,  or  be  converted  into  a  par- 
tial instrument  of  vexatious  oppression."  It  was  easier  to 
vanquish  the  Goths  than  to  eradicate  the  public  vices ;  yet, 
even  in  the  first  of  these  enterprises,  Decius  lost  his  army  and 
his  hfe. 

The  Goths  were  now,  on  every  side,  surrounded  and  pur- 
sued by  the  Roman  arms.  The  flower  of  their  troops  had 
perished  in  the  long  siege  of  Philippopolis,  and  the  exhausted 
country  could  no  longer  afford  subsistence  for  the  remaining 
multitude  of  licentious  barbarians.  Reduced  to  this  extremity, 
the  Goths  would  gladly  have  purchased,  by  the  surrender  of 
all  their  booty  and  prisoners,  the  permission  of  an  undisturbed 
retreat.  But  the  emperor,  confident  of  victory,  and  resolving, 
by  the  chastisement  of  these  invaders,  to  strike  a  salutary 
terror  into  the  nations  of  the  North,  refused  to  listen  to  any 
terms  of  accommodation.     The  high-spirited  barbarians  pre- 


**  This  transaction  might  deceive  Zonar.is,  who  supposes  that  Val» 
rian  was  actually  declared  the  colleague  of  Decius,  1.  xl  r>.  625. 

*^  Hist.  August,  p.  174.     The  emperor's  reply  is  emitted. 

**  Such  as  the  attempts  of  Augustus  towards  a  reformation  of  iiuu» 
a«ia.    Tacit  Aiual.  iii.  24. 


294  TlIK    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  248-268 

ferred  deatli  to  slavery.  Aa  obscure  town  of  Maesia,  called 
Forum  Terebroiiii,"  was  the  scene  of  the  battle.  The  Gothic 
army  was  drawn  up  in  three  lines,  and  either  from  choice  or 
accident,  the  front  of  the  third  line  was  covered  by  a  morass. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  action,  the  son  of  Decius,  a  youth  of 
the  fairest  hopes,  and  already  associated  to  the  honors  of  the 
purple,  was  slain  by  an  arrow,  in  the  sight  of  his  afflicted 
father ;  who,  summoning  all  his  fortitude,  admonished  the  dis- 
mayed troops,  that  the  loss  of  a  single  soldier  was  of  little  im- 
portance to  the  republic."  The  conflict  was  terrible ;  it  was 
the  combat  of  despair  against  grief  and  rage.  The  first  line 
of  the  Goths  at  length  gave  way  in  disorder ;  the  second,  ad- 
vancing to  sustain  it,  shared  its  fate  ;  and  the  third  only  re- 
mained entire,  prepared  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  morass, 
which  was  imprudently  attempted  by  the  presumption  of  the 
enemy.  "  Here  the  fortune  of  the  day  turned,  and  all  things 
became  adverse  to  the  Romans ;  the  place  deep  with  ooze, 
sinking  under  those  who  stood,  slippery  to  such  as  advanced ; 
their  armor  heavy,  the  waters  deep;  nor  could  they  wield,  in 
that  uneasy  situation,  their  weighty  javelins.  The  barbarians, 
on  the  contrary,  were  inured  to  encounter  in  the  bogs,  their 
persons  tall,  their  spears  long,  such  as  could  wound  at  a  dis- 
tance."" In  this  morass  the  Roman  army,  after  an  ineffectual 
struggle,  was  irrecoverably  lost;  nor  could  the  body  of  the  em- 
peror ever  be  found."  Such  was  the  fate  of  Decius,  in  the 
fiftieth  year  of  his  age ;  an  accomplished  prince,  active  in  war 
and  afiable  in  peace ; "  who,  together  with  his  son,  has  deserved 
to  be  compared,  both  in  life  and  death,  with  the  brightest  ex- 
amples of  ancient  virtue.'"' 


**  Tillemont,  Histoire  des  Empereurs,  torn.  iii.  p.  598.  As  Zosimus 
and  some  of  his  followers  mistake  the  Danube  for  the  Tanais,  they 
"^ace  the  field  of  battle  in  the  plains  of  Scj'tbia. 

*^  Aurelius  Victor  allows  two  distinct  actions  for  the  deaths  of  the 
two  Decii ;  but  I  have  preferred  the  account  of  Jornandes. 

*"  I  have  ventured  to  copy  from  Tacitus  (Annal.  L  64)  the  picture 
of  a  similar  engagement  between  a  Roman  army  and  a  German  tribe. 

*''  Jornandes,  c.  18.  Zosimus,  L  L  p.  22,  [c.  23.]  Zonaras,  1.  xii 
p.  627.     Aurehus  Victor. 

*^  The  Decii  were  killed  before  the  end  of  the  year  two  hundred 
and  fifty-one,  since  the  new  j)rinces  took  possession  of  the  consulship 
on  the  ensuing  calends  of  January. 

*'  Hist.  August,  p.  223,  gives  them  a  very  honorable  place  among 
the  small  number  of  good  emperors  who  reigned  between  Augtutua 
■od  Diode Uan 


A.  1).'- 48-268.]        OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  298 

This  fatal  blow  humbled,  for  a  very  little  tiiue,  ^hc  insolence 
of  the  legions.  They  appeared  to  have  patiently  expected,  and 
Bubmissively  obeyed,  the  decree  of  the  senate  which  regulated 
the  succession  to  the  throne.  From  a  just  regard  for  the  mem- 
ory of  Decius,  the  Imperial  title  was  conferred  on  Hostilianus, 
ois  only  surviving  son ;  but  an  equal  rank,  with  more  effectual 
Dower,  was  granted  to  Gallus,  whose  experience  and  ability 
»eemed  equal  to  the  great  trust  of  guardian  to  the  young 
orince  and  the  distressed  empire."  The  first  care  of  the  new 
emperor  was  to  deliver  the  Illyrian  provinces  from  the  ii  toler- 
able weight  of  the  victorious  Goths.  He  consented  to  le  ive  in 
their  hands  the  rich  fruits  of  their  invasion,  an  immense  booty, 
and  what  was  still  more  disgraceful,  a  great  number  of  prisoners 
of  the  highest  merit  and  quality.  He  plentifully  supplied  their 
camp  with  every  conveniency  that  could  assuage  their  angry 
spirits  or  facilitate  their  so  much  wished-for  departure;  and  he 
even  promised  to  pay  them  annually  a  large  sum  of  gold,  on 
condition  they  should  never  afterwards  infest  the  Roman  terri- 
tories by  their  incursions.^' 

In  the  age  of  the  Scipios,  the  most  opulent  kings  of  the 
earth,  who  courted  the  protection  of  the  victorious  common- 
wealth, were  gratified  with  such  trifling  presents  as  could  only 
derive  a  value  from  the  hand  that  bestowed  them ;  an  ivory 
chair,  a  coarse  garment  of  purple,  an  inconsiderable  piece  of 
plate,  or  a  quantity  of  copper  coin."  After  the  wealth  of 
nations  had  centred  in  Rome,  the  emperors  displayed  their 
greatness,  and  even  their  policy,  by  the  regular  exercise  of  a 
steady  and  moderate  liberality  towards  the  allies  of  the  state. 
They  relieved  the  poverty  of  the  barbarians,  honored  their 
merit,  and  recompensed  their  fidelity.  These  voluntary  marks 
of  bounty  were  understood  to  flow,  not  from  the  fears,  but 
merely  from  the  generosity  or  the  gratitude  of  the  Romans ; 
and  whilst  presents  and  subsidies  were  liberally  distributed 
among  friends  and  suppliants,  they  were  sternly  refused  to 


'"  Haec  ubi  Patres  comperere       .    .         .    .  decernuut.    Victor  m 
Caesaribus. 

"  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  628. 

'^  A  Sella,  a  Toga,  and  a  golden  Patera  of  five  pounds  weight,  wer 
accepted  with  joy  and  gratitude  by  the  wealthy  king  of  Egypt.     (Livy, 
xxvii.  4.)     Quina  inillia  JEris,  a  weight  of  copper,   in  value  about 
eighteen  pounds  sterling,  was  the  usual  present  made  to  foreign  am 
baasadora     (Livy,  xxxl  9.) 


296  THE    DECLINE    A7iD    FALL       [A.  D.  24B-2f)?A 

Bucli  as  claimed  them  as  a  debt."  But  tins  stipulation,  of  an 
annual  payment  to  a  victorious  enemy,  appeared  without  dis- 
guise in  the  light  of  an  ignominious  tribute ;  the  minds  of  the 
Romans  were  not  yet  accustomed  to  accept  such  unequal  laws 
from  a  tribe  of  barbarians ;  and  the  prince,  who  by  a  necessary 
concession  had  probably  saved  his  country,  became  the  object 
of  the  general  contempt  and  aversion.  The  death  of  Hostilia- 
Bus,  though  it  happened  in  the  midst  of  a  raging  pestilence, 
was  interpreted  as  the  personal  crime  of  Gallus ; "  and  even 
the  defeat  of  the  late  emperor  was  ascribed  by  the  voice  of 
suspicion  to  the  perfidious  counsels  of  his  hated  successor.** 
The  tranquillity  which  the  empire  enjoyed  during  the  first 
year  of  his  administration,^*  served  rather  to  inflame  than  to 
appease  the  public  discontent ;  and  as  soon  as  the  apprehen- 
sions of  war  were  removed,  the  infamy  of  the  peace  was  more 
deeply  and  more  sensibly  felt. 

But  the  Romans  were  irritated  to  a  still  higher  degree,  when 
they  discovered  that  they  had  not  even  secured  their  repose, 
though  at  the  expense  of  their  honor.  The  dangerous  secret 
of  the  wealth  and  weakness  of  the  empire  had  been  revealed 
to  the  world.  New  swarms  of  barbarians,  encouraged  by  the 
success,  and  not  conceiving  themselves  bound  by  the  obliga- 
tion of  their  brethren,  spread  devastation  though  the  lUyrian 
provinces,  and  terror  as  far  as  the  gates  of  Rome.  The 
defence  of  the  monarchy,  which  seemed  abandoned  by  the 
pusillanimous  emperor,  was  assumed  by  ^milianus,  governor 
of  Pannonia  and  Msesia ;  who  rallied  the  scattered  forces,  and 
revived  the  fainting  spirits  of  the  troops.  The  barbarians  were 
unexpectedly  attacked,  routed,  chased,  and  pursued  beyond 
the  Danube.  The  victorious  leader  distributed  as  a  donative 
the  money  collected  for  the  tribute,  and  the  acclamations  of 
the  soldiers  proclaimed  him  emperor  on  the  field  of  battle." 
Gallus,  who,  careless  of  the  general  welfare,  indulged  himself 
in  the  pleasures  of  Italy,  was  almost  in  the  same  instant 
informed  of  the  success,  of  the  revolt,  and  of  the  rapid  ap- 

'^  See  the  firmness  of  a  Roman  general  so  late  as  the  time  of  Alex 
ander  Severus,  in  the  Exeerpta  Legationum,  p.  25,  edit.  Louvre. 

°*  For  the  plague,  see  Jornandes,  c.  19,  and  Victor  in  Csesaribua. 

'*  These  improbable  accusations  are  alleged  by  Zosimjis,  1.  L  p. 
28,  24. 

*'  Jornandes,  c.  19.  The  Gothic  writer  at  least  observed  the  poact 
vbich  bis  victorici-s  countrymen  had  sworn  tc  Gallua 

"  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p  25,  26" 


K.  D.  248-268.]     of  the  roman  empire.  297 

proach  of  his  aspiring  lieutenint.  lie  advanced  to  meet  him 
as  far  as  the  plains  of  Spoleto.  When  the  armies  came  iu 
sight  of  each  other,  the  soldiers  of  Gallus  compared  the  igno- 
minious conduct  of  their  sovereign  with  the  glory  of  his  rival. 
They  admired  the  valor  of  ^milianus ;  they  were  attracted 
l>y  his  liberality,  for  he  offered  a  considerable  increase  of  pay 
to  all  deserters.'*  The  murder  of  Gallus,  and  of  his  son 
V^olasianus,  put  an  end  to  the  civil  war ;  and  the  senate  gave 
%  legal  sanction  to  the  rights  of  conquest.  The  letters  of 
/Emilianus  to  that  assembly  displayed  a  mixture  of  moderation 
and  vanity.  He  assured  them,  that  he  should  resign  to  their 
wisdom  the  civil  administration ;  and,  contenting  himself  witli 
the  quality  of  their  general,  would  in  a  short  time  assert  the 
glory  of  Rome,  and  deliver  the  empire  from  all  the  barbariana 
both  of  the  North  and  of  the  East."  His  pride  was  flattered 
by  the  applause  of  the  senate ;  and  medals  are  still  extant, 
representing  him  with  the  name  and  attributes  of  Hercules  the 
Victor,  and  Mars  the  Avenger."" 

If  the  new  monarch  possessed  the  abilities,  he  wanted  the 
time,  necessary  to  fulfil  these  splendid  promises.  Less  than 
four  months  intervened  between  his  victory  and  his  fall."'  He 
had  vanquished  Gallus  :  he  sunk  under  the  weight  of  a  compet- 
itor more  formidable  than  Gallus.  That  unfortunate  prince 
had  sent  Valerian,  already  distinguished  by  the  honorable  title 
of  censor,  to  bring  the  legions  of  Gaul  and  Germany "'  to  his 
aid.  Valerian  executed  that  commission  with  zeal  and  fidelity  ; 
and  as  he  arrived  too  late  to  save  his  sovereign,  he  resolved 
to  revenge  him.  The  troops  of  -^milianus,  who  still  lay 
encamped  in  the  plains  of  Spoleto,  were  awed  by  the  sanctity 
of  his  character,  but  much  more  by  the  superior  strength  of  his 
army  ;  and  as  they  were  now  become  as  incapable  of  personal 
attachment  as  they  had  always  been  of  constitutional  principle, 
they  readily  imbrued  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  a  prince  who 
60  lately  had  been  the  object  of  their  partial  choice.  The  guilt 
was   theirs,*   but  the  advantage   of  it  was   Valerian's ;  who 

"  Victor  in  Caesaribus. 

"  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  628. 

°°  Banduri  Numismata,  p.  94. 

"  Eutropius,  L  ix.  c.  6,  says  tcrtio  mcnse.  Eusebiis  canity  Ihi* 
«nperor. 

"  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  28.  Eutropius  and  Victor  station  Yalviaa't 
■rmy  in  Rlisetia. 

*  Aurelius  Victor  says  that  iEmilianus  died  )f  a  natural  disorder.     Bo- 


298  THE    DECLINE    ANi)    FALL        [A.  D.  248-268 

obtained  the  possession  of  the  throne  by  the  means  indeed  of 
a  civil  war,  but  with  a  degree  of  innocence  singular  in  that  age 
•f  revolutions ;  since  he  owjd  neither  gratitude  nor  allegiancfl 
to  his  predecessor,  whom  he  dethroned. 

Valerian  was  about  sixty  years  of  age  *"  when  he  was  in- 
vested with  the  purple,  not  by  the  caprice  of  the  populace,  or 
the  clamors  of  the  army,  but  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
Roman  world.  In  his  gradual  ascent  through  the  honors  of 
the  state,  he  had  deserved  the  favor  of  virtuoas  princes,  and 
had  declared  himself  the  enemy  of  tyrants."  His  noble  birth, 
his  mild  but  unblemished  manners,  his  learning,  prudence,  and 
experience,  were  revered  by  the  senate  and  people ;  and  if 
mankind  (according  to  the  observation  of  an  ancient  writer) 
had  been  left  at  liberty  to  choose  a  master,  their  choice  would 
mohi^  assuredly  have  fallen  on  Valerian.'*  Perhaps  the  merit 
of  this  emperor  was  inadequate  to  his  reputation ;  perhaps  his 
abilities,  or  at  least  his  spirit,  were  affected  by  the  languor 
and  coldness  of  old  age.  The  consciousness  of  his  decline 
engaged  him  to  share  the  throne  with  a  younger  and  more 
active  associate ;  '*  the  emergency  of  the  times  demanded  a 
general  no  less  than  a  prince ;  and  the  experience  of  the 
Roman  censor  might  have  directed  him  where  to  bestow  the 
Imperial  purple,  as  the  reward  of  military  merit.  But  instead 
of  making  a  judicious  choice,  which  would  have  confirmed  his 
reign  and  endeared  his  memory,  Valerian,  consulting  only  the 
dictates  of  affection  or  vanity,  immediately  invested  with  the 
supreme  honors  his  son  Gallienus,  a  youth  whose  effeminate 
vices  had  been  hitherto  concealed  by  the  obscurity  of  a  private 
Rtation.     The  joint   government   of  the   father  and  the  son 


*'  He  was  about  seventy  at  the  time  of  his  accession,  or,  as  it  if 
more  probable,  of  his  death.  Hist.  August,  p.  173.  Tillemont,  Hist 
des  Empereurs,  tom.  iii.  p.  893,  note  1. 

'^*  Inimicus  tyrannormn.  Hist.  August,  p.  173.  In  the  glorious 
struggle  of  the  senate  against  Maximin,  Valerian  acted  a  very  spirited 
part.     Hist.  August,  p.  156. 

^^  Accor  ling  to  the  distinction  of  Victor,  he  seems  to  have  received 
the  title  of  Imperator  from  the  army,  and  that  of  Augustus  from  the 
tenate. 

*°  From  Victor  and  from  the  medals,  TiUemont  (tom.  iii.  p.  710) 
^ery  justly  infers,  that  Gallienus  was  associated  to  the  empire  aboul 
ihe  month  of  August  of  the  year  253. 


tropins,  in  spoakirg  of  his  deat':,  does  not  say  that  he  was  assatiiaftted 


A.  D.  248-268.]      of  the  roman  empire  'iM 

subsisted  about  seven,  and  the  sole  administration  of  Gallien 
continued  about  eight,  years.  But  the  whole  period  was  on) 
uninterrupted  series  of  confusion  and  calamity.  As  the 
Roman  empire  was  at  the  same  time,  and  on  every  side, 
attacked  by  the  blind  fury  of  foreign  invaders,  and  the  wild 
ambition  of  domestic  usurpers,  we  shall  consult  order  and 
perspicuity,  by  pursuing,  not  so  much  the  doubtful  arrange- 
ment of  dates,  as  the  more  natural  distribution  of  subjects. 
The  most  dangerous  enemies  of  Rome,  during  the  reigns  of 
Valerian  and  Gallienus,  were,  1.  The  Franks;  2.  The  Ale- 
Jianni ;  3.  The  Goths ;  and,  4.  The  Pei-sia»^s.  Under  these 
general  appellations,  we  may  comprehend  the  adventures  of 
less  considerable  tribes,  whose  obscure  and  uncouth  names 
would  only  serve  to  oppress  the  memory  and  perplex  the 
•attention  of  the  reader. 

I.  As  the  posterity  of  the  Franks  compose  one  of  the  great 
est  and  most  enlightened  nations  of  Europe,  the  powers  of 
learning  and  ingenuity  have  been  exhausted  in  the  discovery 
of  their  unlettered  ancestors.  To  the  tales  of  credulity  have 
succeeded  the  systems  of  fancy.  Every  passage  has  been 
sifted,  ever}'  spot  has  been  surveyed,  that  might  possibly  reveal 
some  faint  traces  of  their  origin.  It  has  been  supposed  that 
Pannonia,"  that  Gaul,  that  the  northern  parts  of  Germany," 
gave  birth  to  that  celebrated  colony  of  warriors.  At  length 
the  most  rational  critics,  rejecting  the  fictitious  emigrations  of 
ideal  conquerors,  have  acquiesced  in  a  sentiment  whose  sim- 
pHcity  persuades  us  of  its  truth.*"  They  suppose,  that  about 
the  year  two  hundred  and  forty,^"  a  new  confederacy  was 
formed  under  the  name  of  Franks,  by  the  old  inhabitants  of 
the  Lower  Rhine  and  the   Weser.*     The  present   circle  of 

"  Various  systems  have  been  formed  to  explain  a  difficult  passage 
in  Gregory  of  Tours,  L  ii.  c  9. 

'^  The  Geographer  of  Ravenna,  i.  11,  by  mentioning  Mauringania, 
rn  the  confines  of  Denmark,  as  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Franks,  gave 
birth  to  an  ingenious  system  of  Leibi  itz. 

'"'  See  Cluver.  Germania  Antiqiu,  1.  iii.  c.  20.  M.  Freret,  in  the 
Memoires  de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  tom.  xviii. 

"•"  Most  probably  under  the  reign  of  Gordian,  from  an  accidental 
circumstance  fully  canvassed  by  Tillemont,  tom.  iiL  p.  710, 1181. 


*  The  confederation  of  the  Franks  appears  to  have  been  formed,  1.  Of  the 
Chauci.  2.  Of  the  Sicambri,  the  inhabitants  of  the  duchy  of  Berg.  3.  Of 
the  Attuarii,  to  the  north  of  the  Sicambri,  in  the  principality  of  Waldeck, 
between  the  Dimel  and  the  Eder.  4.  Of  the  Bructeri,  on  the  banks  of  th* 
Lippe,  and  in  the  Hartz.     5.  Of  the  Chamavii,  the  Gambrivii  of  Taoitoib 


800  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [/x.  D.  248-26!i 

Westphalia,  the  Landgraviate  of  Hesse,  and  ihe  duchies  of 
Brunswick  and  Luneburg,  were  the  ancient  se.x.  of  the  Chauci, 
who,  in  their  inaccessible  morasses,  defied  tho  Koman  arms ;" 
of  the  Cherusci,  proud  of  the  fame  of  Armin',us  ;  of  the  Catti, 
formidable  by  their  firm  and  intrepid  infantry ;  and  of  several 
other  tribes  of  inferior  power  and  renowi.."  The  love  of 
hberty  was  the  ruling  passion  of  these  Germaxis ;  the  enjoyment 
of  it  their  best  treasure ;  the  word  that  expressed  that  enjoy- 
ment, the  most  pleasing  to  their  ear.  They  deserved,  they 
assumed,  they  maintained  the  honorable  appellation  of  Franks, 
or  Freemen ;  which  concealed,  though  it  did  not  extinguish, 
the  peculiar  names  of  the  several  states  of  the  confederacy." 
Tacit  consent,  and  mutual  advantage,  dictated  the  first  laws  of 
the  union  ;  it  was  gradually  cemented  by  habit  and  experience. 
The  league  of  the  Franks  may  admit  of  some  comparison  with 
the  Helvetic  body ;  in  which  every  canton,  recammg  its  inde- 
pendent sovereignty,  consults  with  its  brethren  in  the  common 
cause,  without  acknowledging  the  authority  of  any  supreme 
head,  or  representative  assembly."  But  the  principle  of  the 
two  confederacies  was  extremely  different.  A  peace  of  two 
hundred  years  has  rewarded  the  wise  and  honest  policy  of  the 
Swiss.  An  inconstant  spirit,  the  thirst  of  rapine,  and  a  dis- 
regard to  the  most  solemn  treaties,  disgraced  the  character  of 
the  Franks. 

The  Romans  had  long  experienced  the  daring  valor  of  the 
people  of  Lower  Germany.  The  union  of  their  strength 
threatened  Gaul  with  a  more  formidable  invasion,  and  required 
the  presence  of  GaUienus,  the  heir  and  colleague  of  Imperial 
power."  Whilst  that  prince,  and  his  infant  son  Salonius, 
displayed,  in  the  court  of  Treves,  the  majesty  of  the  empire, 
its  armies  were  ably  conducted  by  their  general,  Posthumus, 
who,  though  he  afterwards  betrayed  the  family  of  Valerian, 
was  ever  faithful  to  the  great  interests  of  the  monarchy.     The 


'^  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  xvi.  1.  1  he  Panegyrists  frequently  allude  to 
the  morasses  of  the  Franks. 

'*  Tacit.  Germania,  c.  30,  37. 

■"  In  a  subsequent  period,  most  of  those  old  names  are  occasionaDy 
aentioned.     See  some  vestiges  of  them  in  Cluver.  Germ.  Antiq.  L  iil 

''*  Simler  de  Republica  Helvet.  cum  notis  Fuselin. 

**  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  27. 

who  were  established,  at  the  time  of  the  Frankish  confeieration,  in  the 
ctrantry  of  the  Bracteri.  C.  Of  the  Catti,  in  Hessia.— G.  The  Salii  aai 
Cherasci  are  added.     Greenwood's  Hist,  of  Gejtnans,  i  193— M. 


A.  D.  248-268.]        OP   THE    ROMAN    EMriRE.  30i 

treacherous  language  of  panegyrics  and  medals  darkly  an 
nounces  a  long  series  of  victories.  Trophies  and  titles  attest 
(if  such  evidence  can  attest)  the  fame  of  Posthumus,  who  is  re- 
peatedly f^tvled  the  Conqueror  of  the  Germans,  and  the  Savior 
of  Gaul. '•  ' 

But  a  single  foct,  the  only  one  indeed  of  which  we  have 
any  distinct  knowledge,  erases,  in  a  great  measure,  these 
Eioiiuments  of  vanity  and  adulation.  The  Rhine,  though 
dignified  with  the  title  of  Safeguard  of  the  provinces,  was  an 
imperfect  barrier  against  the  daring  spirit  of  enterprise  with 
which  the  Franks  were  actuated.  Their  rapid  devastations 
stretched  from  the  river  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees ;  nor  were 
they  stopped  by  those  mountains.  Spain,  which  had  nevef 
dreaded,  was  unable  to  resist,  the  inroads  of  the  Germans 
During  twelve  years,  the  greatest  part  of  the  reign  of  Gallic 
nus,  that  opulent  country  was  the  theatre  of  unequal  and 
destructive  hostilities.  Tarragona,  the  flourishing  capital  of 
a  peaceful  province,  was  sacked  and  almost  destroyed ;"  and 
so  late  as  the  days  of  Orosius,  who  wrote  in  the  fifth  century, 
wretched  cottages,  scattered  amidst  the  ruins  of  magnificent 
cities,  still  recorded  the  rage  of  the  barbarians.'*  When  the 
exhausted  country  no  longer  supplied  a  variety  of  plunder,  the 
Franks  seized  on  some  vessels  in  the  ports  of  Spain,"  and 
transported  themselves  into  Mauritania.  The  distant  province 
was  astonished  with  the  fury  of  these  barbarians,  who  seemed 


'®  M.  de  Brequigny  (in  the  Memoires  de  rAcademie,  torn,  xxx.)  has 
given  us  a  very  curious  life  of  Posthumus.  A  series  of  the  Augustan 
History  from  Medals  and  Inscriptions  has  been  more  than  once  planned, 
and  is  still  much  wanted.* 

"  Aurel.  Victor,  c.  33.  Instead  oi  Pane  direpto,  both  the  sense  and 
Che  expression  require  deleto;  though  indeed,  for  different  reasons, 
it  is  alike  difficult  to  correct  the  text  of  the  best,  and  of  the  worst, 
writers. 

'*  In  the  time  of  Ausonius  (the  end  of  the  fourth  century)  Herda  or 
Lerida  was  in  a  very  ruinous  state,  (Auson.  Epist.  xxv.  58,)  which 
probably  was  the  consequence  of  this  invasion. 

"  Valesius  is  therefore  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  FranLs  bad 
invaded  Spain  by  sea. 


•  M.  Eckhel,  Keeper  of  the  Cabinet  of  Medals,  and  Professor  of  Aiitiqni 
ties  at  Vienna,  lately  deceased,  has  supplied  this  want  by  his  excellcD'  work, 
Doctriua  veterum  Numniorum,  conscripta  a  Jos.  Eckhel,  8  vol.  in  4to  Vindo- 
bona,  17S7. — G.  Captain  Smj'th  has  likewise  printed  (privately)  a  ^  alaablt 
Descriptive  Catologue  of  a  series  of  Large  Brass  Medals  of  till*  jm\oi 
Bedford,  1834.— M.  1845. 


402  THE  DECLINE  AND  faLl   [A.  D.  248-268 

to  fall  from  a  new  world,  as  tbeir  name,  manners,  aovil  com- 
plexion,  were  equally  unknown  ^xi  the  coast  of  Africa.** 

II.  In  that  part  of  Upper  Saxony,  beyond  the  Elbe,  which  ia 
at  present  called  the  Marquisate  of  Lusace,  there  existed,  in 
ancient  times,  a  sacred  wood,  the  awful  seat  of  the  supersti- 
tion of  the  'Suevi.  None  were  permitted  to  enter  the  holy 
precincts,  without  confessing,  by  their  servile  bonds  and  sup- 
pliant posture,  the  immediate  presence  of  the  sovereign 
Deity.**  Patriotism  contributed,  as  well  as  devotion,  to  con- 
secrate the  Sonnenwald,  or  wood  of  the  Semnones.*"  It  was 
universally  beUeved,  that  the  nation  had  received  its  first 
existence  on  that  sacred  spot.  At  stated  periods,  the  numer- 
ous tribes  who  gloried  in  the  Suevic  blood,  resorted  thither  by 
their  ambassadors ;  and  the  memory  of  their  common  extrac- 
tion was  perpetrated  by  barbaric  rites  and  human  sacrifices. 
The  wide-extended  name  of  Suevi  filled  the  interior  countries 
of  Germany,  from  the  banks  of  the  Oder  to  those  of  the  Dan- 
ube. They  were  distinguished  from  the  other  Germans  by 
their  peculiar  mode  of  dressing  their  long  hair,  which  they 
gathered  into  a  rude  knot  on  the  crown  of  the  head  ;  and  they 
delighted  in  an  ornament  that  showed  their  ranks  more  lofty 
and  terrible  in  the  eyes  of  the  enemy.*'  Jealous  as  the  Ger- 
mans were  of  military  renown,  they  all  confessed  the  superior 
valor  of  the  Suevi;  and  the  tribes  of  the  Usipetes  and  Tencteri, 
who,  with  a  vast  army,  encountered  the  dictator  Caesar,  de- 
clared that  they  esteemed  it  not  a  disgrace  to  have  fled  before 
a  people  to  whose  arms  the  immortal  gods  themselves  were 
unequal.** 

In  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Caracalla,  an  innumerable 
swarm  of  Suevi  appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Mein,  and  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Roman  provinces,  in  quest  either  of 
food,  of  plunder,  or  of  glory.**  The  hasty  army  of  volun- 
teers gradually  coalesced  into  a  great  and  permanent  nrifaon, 
and  as  it  was  composed  from  so  many  different  tribes,  assumed 
the  name  of  Alemanni,*  or  Allmen  ;  to  denote  at  once  their 

**  Aurel.  Victor.     Eutrop.  ix.  6. 
"  Tacit.  Germania,  38. 
*^  Cluver.  Germ.  Antiq.  iii.  25. 

"  Sic  Suevi  a  ceteris  Germanis,  sic  SucTorum  ingenui  a  oerria  sop 
MBntur.     A  proud  separation ! 
•*  Caesar  in  Bello  Gallico,  iv.  T. 
'*  Victor  in  Caracal     Dion  Cassius,  Ixvii.  p.  1350. 

"  The  nation  of  the  AlemaDni  was  not  originally  ^nned  by  the  Bv0f\ 


A..  D.  268-268.1     of  the  roman  EMPraE.  80S 

various  lineage  and  their  common  bravery."  Tne  latter  wm 
^oon  folt  by  the  Romans  in  mnny  a  hostile  im-oad.  The  Ale- 
manni  fought  chiefly  on  horseback ;  but  their  cavalry  was  ren- 
dered still  more  formidable  by  a  mixture  of  light  infantry, 
selected  from  the  bravest  and  most  active  of  the  youth,  whom 
frequent  exercise  had  inured  to  accompany  the  horsemen  in  tho 
longest  march,  the  most  rapid  charge,  or  the  most  precipitate 
retreat.*' 

This  warlike  people  of  Germans  had  been  astonished  by 
the  immense  preparations  of  Alexander  Severus;  they  were 
dismayed  by  the  arms  of  his  successor,  a  barbarian  equal  in 
valor  and  fierceness  to  themselves.  But  still  hovering  on  the 
frontiei"S  of  the  empire,  they  increased  the  general  disorder 
that  ensued  after  the  death  of  Decius.  They  inflicted  severe 
wounds  on  the  rich  provinces  of  Gaul ;  they  were  the  first 
who  removed  the  veil  that  covered  the  feeble  majesty  of  Italy. 
A.  numerous  body  of  the  Alemanni  penetrated  across  the 
Danube  and  through  the  Rhaetian  Alps  into  the  plains  of 


**  This  etymology  (far  different  from  those  which  amuse  the  fancy 
of  the  learned)  is  preserved  by  Asinius  Quadratus,  an  origiaal  histo- 
rian, quoted  by  Agatbias,  i.  c.  5. 

*'  The  Sucvi  engaged  Cajsar  in  tliis  manner,  and  the  manoeuvre  de- 
served the  approbation  of  the  conqueror,  (in  Bello  Gallico,  i.  48.) 


properly  so  called  ;  tliese  have  always  preserved  their  own  name.  Shortly 
afterwards  they  made  (A.  D.  357)  an  imiption  into  E,lioetia,  and  it  was  not 
long  after  that  they  were  reunited  with  the  Alemanni.  Still  they  have 
always  been  a  distinct  people ;  at  the  present  day,  the  people  who  inhabit 
the  north-west  of  the  Black  Forest  call  themselves  Schwabcn,  Suabians, 
Suevcs,  while  those  who  inhabit  near  the  Rhine,  in  Ortenau,  the  Hrissraw, 
the  Margraviate  of  Baden,  do  not  consider  themselves  Suabians,  and  are  by 
orii^in  Alemanni. 

The  Teucteri  and  the  Usipctae,  inliabitants  of  the  interior  and  of  tlic  north 
of  Westphalia,  formed,  says  Gatterer,  the  nucleus  of  the  Alcmannic  nation ; 
they  occupied  the  country  where  the  name  of  the  Al(>manni  first  appears, 
as  conquered  in  213,  by  Caracalla.  They  were  well  trained  to  fight  on 
horseback,  (according  toTacitus,  Genu.  c.  32 ;)  and  Aurelius  Victor  givoi 
the  same  praise  to  the  Alemanni  :  finally,  they  never  made  part  of  the 
Frankish  league.  The  Alemanni  became  suhseiiucntly  a  centre  round  which 
gathered  a  multitude  of  German  tribes,  See  Eumen.  PanegjT.  c.  2.  Amm. 
Marc,  xviii.  2,  xxix.  4. — G. 

The  question  whether  the  Suevi  was  a  generic  name  comprehending  the 
clans  which  peopled  central  Germany,  is  rather  hastily  decided  by  M.  Guizot 
Mr.  Greenwood,  who  has  studied  the  modern  German  writers  on  their  owa 
origin,  suppo.ses  the  Sucvi,  Alemanni,  and  Marcomanni,  one  people,  nodal 
iifiereat  appellations.    History  of  Germany,  vol  i. — M. 


804  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  248-268 

Lorubardy,  advanced  as  far  as  Ravenna,  and  displayed  the 
victorious  banners  of  barbarians  almost  in  sight  of  Rome."* 

The  insult  and  the  danger  rekindled  in  the  senate  some 
sparks  of  their  ancient  virtue.  Both  the  emperors  were 
engaged  in  far  distant  wars,  Valerian  in  the  East,  and  Gallie- 
nus  on  the  Rhine.  All  the  hopes  and  resources  of  the  Romans 
wore  in  themselves.  In  this  emergency,  the  senators  resumed 
he  defence  of  the  republic,  drew  out  the  Praetorian  guards, 
ivho  had  been  left  to  garrison  the  capital,  and  filled  up  their 
numbers,  by  enlisting  into  the  public  service  the  stoutest  and 
most  willing  of  the  Plebeians.  The  Alemanni,  astonished  with 
the  sudden  appearance  of  an  army  more  numerous  than  their 
own,  retired  into  Germany,  laden  with  spoil ;  and  their  retreat 
was  esteemed  as  a  victory  by  the  un  warlike  Romans.'* 

When  Gallienus  received  the  intelligence  that  his  capital 
was  delivered  from  the  barbarians,  he  was  much  less  delighted 
than  alarmed  with  the  courage  of  the  senate,  since  it  might 
one  day  prompt  them  to  rescue  the  pubHc  from  domestic 
tyranny  as  well  as  from  foreign  invasion.  His  timid  ingrati- 
tude was  published  to  his  subjects,  in  an  edict  which  prohibited 
the  senators  from  exercising  any  military  employment,  and 
even  from  approaching  the  camps  of  the  legions.  But  his 
fears  were  groundless.  The  rich  and  luxurious  nobles,  sinking 
into  their  natural  character,  accepted,  as  a  favor,  this  disgrace- 
ful exemption  from  military  service ;  and  as  long  as  they  were 
indulged  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  baths,  their  theatres,  and 
their  villas,  they  cheerfully  resigned  the  more  dangerous  cares 
of  empire  to  the  rough  hands  of  peasants  and  soldiers."" 

Another  invasion  of  the  Alemanni,  of  a  more  formidable 
aspect,  but  more  glorious  event,  is  mentioned  by  a  writer  of 
the  lower  empire.  Three  hundred  thousand  of  that  warlike 
people  are  said  to  have  been  vanquished,  in  a  battle  near 
Milan,  by  Gallienus  in  person,  at  the  head  of  only  ten  thou- 
sand Romans."  We  may,  however,  with  great  probability, 
ascribe  this  incredible  victory  either  to  the  credulity  of  thu 
historian,  or  to  some  exaggerated  exploits  of  one  of  the  empe- 
ror's lieutenants.     It  was  b'^  arms  of  a  very  difl:erent  nature, 

**  Hist.  August,  p.  215,  216.  Dexippus  in  the  Excerpta  Legatio 
Bum,  p.  8.     Hieronym.  Chron.     Orosius,  vii.  22. 

*'  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  34. 

**  Am-el.  Victor,  in  Gallieno  et  Probo.     His  complaints  IreatJw  aa 
oncommon  spirit  of  freedom. 
- -4>  ZoDftras,  L  xii.  p.  631. 


A.  D.  248-268.]     of  the  roman  empirb.  30* 

that  Gallienus  endeavored  to  protect  Italy  fiom  the  fury  of  th« 
Germans.  He  espoused  Pipa,  the  daughter  of  a  king  of  the 
Marcomanni,  a  Suevic  tribe,  which  Avas  often  confounded  with 
the  Alemanni  in  their  wars  and  conquests."  To  the  father, 
as  the  price  of  his  alhance,  he  granted  an  ample  settlement  in 
Pannouia.  The  native  charms  of  unpolished  beauty  seem  i/o 
have  fixed  the  daughter  in  the  aft'ections  of  the  inconstant 
emperor,  and  the  bands  of  policy  were  more  firmly  connected 
oy  those  of  love.  But  the  haughty  prejudice  of  Rome  still 
refiised  the  name  of  marriage  to  the  profane  mixture  of  a  citi- 
Een  and  a  barbarian ;  and  has  stigmatized  the  German  prin- 
cess with  the  opprobrious  title  of  concubine  of  Gallienus." 

in.  We  have  already  traced  the  emigration  of  the  Gotlis 
from  Scandianvia,  or  at  least  from  Prussia,  to  the  mouth  of  th^ 
Borysthenes,  and  have  followed  their  victorious  arms  from  the 
Borysthenes  to  the  Danube.  Under  the  reigns  of  Valerian 
and  Gallienus,  the  frontier  of  the  last-mentioned  river  was 
perpetually  infested  by  the  inroads  of  Germans  and  Sarma- 
tians ;  but  it  was  defended  by  the  Romans  with  more  than 
usual  firmness  and  success.  The  provinces  that  were  the 
seat  of  war,  recruited  the  armies  of  Rome  with  an  inexhausti- 
ble supply  of  hardy  soldiers ;  and  more  than  one  of  these 
Illyrian  peasants  attained  the  station,  and  displayed  the  abili- 
ties, of  a  general.  Though  flying  parties  of  the  barbariansy 
who  incessantly  hovered  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  pene- 
trated sometimes  to  the  confines  of  Italy  and  Macedonia, 
their  progress  was  commonly  checked,  or  their  return  inter- 
cepted, by  the  Imperial  lieutenants.**  But  the  great  stream 
of  the  Gothic  hostilities  was  diverted  into  a  very  different 
channel.  The  Goths,  in  their  new  settlement  of  the  Ukraine, 
soon  became  masters  of  the  northern  coast  of  the  Euxine  :  to 
the  south  of  that  inland  sea  were  situated  the  soft  and  wealthy 
provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  which  possessed  all  that  could  attract, 
and  nothing  that  could  resist,  a  barbarian  conqueror. 

The  banks  of  the  Borysthenes  arc  only  sixty  miles  distant 
from  the  narrow  entrance"*  of  the  peninsula  of  Grim  Tartary, 

•*  One  of  the  Victors  calls  him  king  of  the  Marcomanni ;  the  oiheti 
of  the  Germans. 

""  See  TiUemont,  Hist,  des  Empereurs,  torn.  iii.  p.  398,  <fec. 

■*  Se€  the  lives  of  Claudius,  Aurelian,  and  Probus,  in  the  AugustaB 
B  istory 

**  It  is  about  half  a  league  hi  br?adfh.  Genealogical  History  <^tli( 
Tartars,  p  598. 


S06  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-268 

knowu  to  the  anaents  under  the  name  of  Chersonesus  Tau- 
rica."  On  that  inhospitable  shore,  Euripides,  embelhshing 
with  exquisite  art  the  tales  of  antiquity,  has  placed  tha 
scene  of  one  of  his  most  affecting  tragedies.®'  The  bloody 
sacrifices  of  Diana,  the  arrival  of  Orestes  and  Pylades,  and 
the  triumph  of  virtue  and  religion  over  savage  fierceness, 
serve  to  represent  an,  historical  truth,  that  the  Tauri,  the 
original  inhabitants  of  the  peninsula,  were,  in  some  degree, 
reclaimed  from  their  brutal  manners,  by  a  gradual  intercourse 
with  the  Grecian  colonies,  which  settled  along  the  maritime 
coast.  The  little  kingdom  of  Bosphorus,  whose  capital  was 
Bituated  on  the  Straits,  through  which  the  Maeotis  communi- 
cates itself  to  the  Euxine,  was  composed  of  degenerate 
Greeks  and  half-civilized  barbarians.  It  subsisted,  as  an 
independent  state,  from  the  time  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,*' 
was  at  last  swallowed  up  by  the  ambition  of  J\lithridates,°'  and, 
with  the  rest  of  his  dominions,  sunk  under  the  weight  of  the 
Roman  arms.  From  the  reign  of  Augustus,""  the  kings  of 
Bosphorus  were  the  humble,  but  not  useless,  allies  of  the 
empire.  By  presents,  by  arms,  and  by  a  slight  fortification 
drawn  across  the  Isthmus,  they  effectually  guarded  against  the 
roving  plunderers  of  Sarraatia,  the  access  of  a  country,  which, 
from  its  peculiar  situation  and  convenient  harbors,  commanded 
the  Euxine  Sea  and  Asia  Minor."'  As  long  as  the  sceptre 
was  possessed  by  a  lineal  succession  of  kings,  they  acquitted 
themselves  of  their  important  charge  with  vigilance  and  suc- 
cess. Domestic  factions,  and  the  fears,  or  private  interest,  of 
obscure  usurpers,  who  seized  on  the  vacant  throne,  admitted 
the  Goths  into  the  heart  of  Bosphorus.  With  the  acquisition 
of  a  superfluous  waste  of  fertile  soil,  the  conquerors  obtained 
the  command  of  a  naval    force,  sufficient  to  transport   their 

^''  M.  de  Peyssonel,  who  had  been  French  Consul  at  CafFa,  in  his 
Observations  sur  les  Peuples  Barbares,  qui  ont  habite  les  bords  du 
Danube. 

"  Eeripides  in  Iphigenia  iu  Taurid. 

^^  Strabo,  1.  vii.  p.  309.  The  first  kings  of  Bosphorus  were  the 
allies  of  Athens. 

*"  Appian  in  Mithridat. 

'°°  It  was  reduced  by  the  arms  of  Agrippa.  Orosius,  vL  21.  Eu 
te-ojiius,  vii.  9.  The  Romans  once  advanced  within  thi'ee  days'  march 
«f  the  Tanais.     Tacit.  Annal.  xii.  17. 

""  See  the  Toxaris  of  Lucian,  if  we  credit  the  sincerity  and  the 
virtues  of  th  j  Scythian,  who  relates  a  great  war  of  his  nation  agaioel 
the  kings  of  Bosphorus. 


A.  1).  248-268.J      of  the  roman  empire.  307 

armies  to  the  coast  of  Asia.""  The  ships  ustd  in  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Euxine  were  of  a  very  singular  construction 
They  were  sHght  flat-bottomed  barks  fr.amed  of  timber  only, 
without  the  least  mixture  of  iron,  and  occasionally  covered 
with  a  shelving  roof,  on  the  appearance  of  a  teinpest.'*"  In 
these  floating  houses,  the  Goths  carelessly  trusted  themselves 
to  the  mercy  of  an  unknown  sea,  under  the  conduct  of  sailora 
pressed  into  the  service,  and  whose  skill  and  fidelity  were 
equally  suspicious.  But  the  hopes  of  plunder  had  banished 
every  idea  of  danger,  and  a  natural  fearlessness  of  temper 
supplied  in  their  minds  the  more  rational  confidence,  which  is 
the  just  result  of  knowledge  and  experience.  Warriors  of 
such  a  daring  spirit  must  have  often  murmured  against  the 
cowardice  of  their  guides,  who  required  the  strongest  assur- 
ances of  a  settled  calm  before  they  would  venture  to  embark  ; 
and  would  scarcely  ever  be  tempted  to  lose  sight  of  the  land. 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  practice  of  the  modern  Turks ; '"''  and 
they  are  probably  not  inferior,  in  the  art  of  navigation,  to  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Bosphorus. 

The  fleet  of  the  Goths,  leaving  the  coast  of  Circassia  on 
the  left  hand,  first  appeared  before  Pityus,"^  the  utmost  limits 
of  the  Roman  provinces ;  a  city  provided  with  a  convenient 
port,  and  fortified  with  a  strong  wall.  Here  they  met  with  a 
resistance  more  obstinate  than  tliey  had  reason  to  expect  from 
the  feeble  garrison  of  a  distant  fortress.  They  were  re- 
pulsed; and  their  disappointment  seemed  to  diminish  the 
terror  of  the  Gothic  name.  As  long  as  Successianus,  an 
oSicer  of  superior  rank  and  merit,  defended  that  frontier,  all 
their  efforts  were  ineffectual ;  but  as  soon  as  he  was  removed 
by  Valerian  to  a  more  honorable  but  less  important  station, 
they  resumed  the  attack  of  Pityus ;  and  by  the  destruction  of 
that  city,  obliterated  the  memory  of  their  former  disgrace."' 

'"  Zosimus,  1.  i  p>  28. 

'"'  Strabo,  1.  xi.     Tacit.  Hist.  iii.  47.     They  were  called  Camarae. 

*°*  See  a  very  natural  picture  of  the  Euxine  navigation,  in  the 
xvith  letter  of  Tourn  ifort. 

105  ^rj-ian  places  the  frontier  garrison  at  Dioscurias,  or  Sebastopcn 
Us,  forty-four  miles  to  the  east  of  Pityus.  The  garrison  of  Phaais 
consisted  in  his  time  of  only  four  hundred  foot.  See  the  Periplus  ol 
the  Euxine.* 

"»  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  80. 

"  Pityus  is  Pitchuida,  according  to  D'Auville,  ii.  115.-  -G.  Batbec 
BonK.oun.--M.    Dioscuriaa  is  Iskuriah.—  G. 


508  THK    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  24 1:    2tJa 

Circling  round  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Eux\.ie  Sea. 
the  navigation  from  Pityus  to  Trebizond  is  about  three  hun- 
dred miles.""  The  course  of  the  Goths  carried  them  in 
sight  of  the  country  of  Colchis,  so  famous  by  the  expedition 
of  the  Argonauts  ;  and  they  even  attempted,  though  without 
success,  to  pillage  a  rich  temple  at  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Phasis,  Trebizond,  celebrated  in  the  retreat  of  the  ten  thou- 
sand as  an  ancient  colony  of  Greeks,"*  derived  its  wealth 
and  splendor  from  the  magnificence  of  the  emperor  Hadrian, 
who  had  constructed  an  artificial  port  on  a  coast  left  destitute 
by  nature  of  secure  harbors.'"*  The  city  was  large  and  pop- 
ulous ;  a  double  enclosure  of  walls  seemed  to  defy  the  fury 
of  the  Goths,  and  the  usual  garrison  had  been  strengthened 
by  a  reenforcement  of  ten  thousand  men.  But  there  are  not 
any  advantages  capable  of  supplying  the  absence  of  discipline 
and  vigilance.  The  numerous  garrison  of  Trebizond,  dis- 
solved in  riot  and  luxury,  disdained  to  guard  their  impregnable 
fortifications.  The  Goths  soon  discovered  the  supine  negli- 
gence of  the  besieged,  erected  a  lofty  pile  of  fascines, 
ascended  the  walls  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  and  entered 
the  defenceless  city  sword  in  hand.  A  general  massacre  of 
the  people  ensued,  whilst  the  affrighted  soldiers  escaped 
through  the  opposite  gates  of  the  town.  The  most  holy  tem- 
ples, and  the  most  splendid  edifices,  were  involved  in  a 
common  destruction.  The  booty  that  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Goths  was  immense :  the  wealth  of  the  adjacent  countries 
had  been  deposited  in  Trebizond,  as  in  a  secure  place  of 
refuge.  The  number  of  captives  was  incredible,  as  the  victo- 
rious barbarians  ranged  without  opposition  through  the  exten- 
sive province  of  Pontus.""  The  rich  spoils  of  Trebizond 
filled  a  great  fleet  of  ships  that  had  been  found  in  the  port. 
The  robust  youth  of  the  sea-coast  were  chained  to  the  oar ; 
and  the  Goths,  satisfied  with  the  success  of  their  first  naval 

"''  Arrian  (in  Periplo  Maris  Euxine,  p.  130)  calls  the  distance  261S 
fitadia. 

'°*  Xenophon,  Anabasis,  1.  iv.  p.  348,  edit.  Hutchinson.* 
'"*  Arrian,  p.  129.     The  general  observation  is  Tournefort's. 
""  See  an  epistle  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  bishop  of  Neo-Caasareft, 
quoted  by  Mascou,  v.  37. 


*  Fallmerayer  (Grescliichte  des  Kaiserthuras  von  Trapezunt,  p.  S,  Stc] 
«M«igns  a  very  ancient  date  to  the  first  (Pelasgic)  foundation  of  Trapezma 
ffrebiaoni)— M. 


/LD.  248 -268.]      of  the  roman  empire.  30ft 

expedition,  returned  in  triumph  to  their  new  establishment  in 
the  kingdom  of  Bosphorus.'" 

The  second  expedition  of  the  Goths  was  undertaken  with 
greater  powei-s  of  men  and  ships  ;  but  they  steered  a  different 
course,  and,  disdaining  the  exhausted  provinces  of  Pontus,  fol- 
lowed the  western  coast  of  the  Euxine,  passed  before  tlie  wide 
mouths  of  the  Borysthenes,  the  Niester,  and  the  Danube,  and 
increasing  their  fleet  by  the  capture  of  a  great  number  of  fish- 
ing barks,  they  approached  the  narrow  outlet  through  which  the 
Euxine  Sea  pours  its  waters  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  divides 
^he  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia.  The  ganison  of  Chalcedon 
t\'£is  encamped  near  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Urius,  on  a  promon- 
tory that  commanded  the  entrance  of  the  Strait ;  and  so 
inconsiderable  were  the  dreaded  invasions  of  the  barbarians 
that  this  body  of  troops  surpassed  in  number  the  Gothic  army 
But  it  was  in  numbers  alone  that  they  surpassed  it.  Thej 
deserted  with  precipitation  their  advantageous  post,  and  aban 
doned  the  town  of  Chalcedon,  most  plentifully  stored  with 
arras  and  money,  to  the  discretion  of  the  conquerors.  Whils'. 
they  hesitated  whether  they  should  prefer  the  sea  or  land 
Europe  or  Asia,  for  the  scene  of  their  hostilities,  a  perfidious 
fugitive  pointed  out  Nicomedia,*  once  the  capital  of  the  kings 
of  Bithynia,  as  a  rich  and  easy  conquest.  He  guided  the  march, 
which  was  only  sixty  miles  from  the  camp  of  Chalcedon,* 
directed  the  resistless  attack,  and  partook  of  the  booty ;  for 
the  Goths  had  learned  suflicient  policy  to  reward  the  traitor 
whom  they  detested.  Nice,  Prusa,  Apamsea,  Cius,f  cities  that 
had  sometimes  rivalled,  or  imitated,  the  splendor  of  Nicome- 
dia,  were  involved  in  the  same  calamity,  which,  in  a  few  weeks, 
raged  without  control  through  the  whole  province  of  Bithynia. 
Three  hundred  years  of  peace,  enjoyed  l>y  the  soft  inhabit- 
ants of  Asia,  had  abolished  the  exercise  of  arms,  and  removed 
the  apprehension  of  danger.  The  ancient  walls  were  suffered 
to  moulder  away,  and  all  the  revenue  of  the  most  opulent 
cities  was  reserved  for  the  construction  of  baths,  temples,  and 
theatres."' 

'"  Zosimus,  1.  L  p.  32,  33. 

*"  Itiner.  HieriDsolym.  p.  572.     Wesscllng. 

'•»  Zosimus,  1.  .  p.  82,  33. 

It  has  preserved  its  name,  joined  to  the  pi'eposition  of  piw,*  la  that  H 
IB  Nikmid.     D' Anv.  Geotr.  Anc.  ii.  28.— G. 
t  Now  Isnik,  Bursa,  Mondaiiia  Ghio  or  Kenilik      D'Auv.  ii.  23. — (i 


810  '       THE   DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  24S-288, 

When  tke  cily  of  Cyzicus  withstood  the  utmost  effort  of 
Mithridates,'"  it  was  distinguished  by  wise  laws,  a  nava 
power  of  two  hundred  galleys,  and  three  arsenals,  of  armS; 
of  military  engines,  and  of  corn."^  It  was  still  the  seat  of 
u'ealth  and  luxury  ;  but  of  its  ancient  strength,  nothing  re- 
mained except  the  situation,  in  a  little  island  of  the  Propontis, 
connected  with  the  continent  of  Asia  only  by  two  bridges. 
From  the  recent  sack  of  Prusa,  the  Goths  advanced  within 
eighteen  miles "°  of  the  city,  which  they  had  devoted  to 
destruction  ;  but  the  ruin  of  Cyzicus  was  delayed  by  a  fortu- 
nate accident.  The  season  was  rainy,  and  the  Lake  ApoUoni- 
ates,  the  reservoir  of  all  the  springs  of  Mount  Olympus,  rose 
to  an  uncommon  height.  The  little  river  of  Rhyndacus,  which 
issues  from  the  lake,  swelled  into  a  broad  and  rapid  stream,  and 
stopped  the  progi'ess  of  the  Goths.  Their  retreat  to  the  mari- 
time city  of  Heraclea,  where  the  fleet  had  probably  been 
stationed,  was  attended  by  a  long  train  of  wagons,  laden  with 
the  spoils  of  Bithynia,  and  was  marked  by  the  flames  of  Nice 
and  Nicomedia,  which  they  wantonly  burnt."'  Some  obscure 
hints  are  mentioned  of  a  doubtful  combat  that  secured  their 
retreat."*  But  even  a  complete  victory  would  have  been  of  little 
moment,  as  the  approach  of  the  autumnal  equinox  summoned 
them  to  hasten  their  return.  To  navigate  the  Euxine  before  the 
month  of  May,  or  after  that  of  September,  is  esteemed  by  the 
modern  Turks  the  most  unquestionable  instance  of  rashnais 
and  folly."' 

When  we  are  informed  that  the  third  fleet,  equipped  by  thy 
Goths  in  the  ports  of  Bosphorus,  consisted  of  five  hundred 
sail  of  ships,'*"  our  ready  imagination  instantly  computes  and 
multiplies  the  formidable  armament;  but,  as  we  are  assured 
by  the  judicious  Strabo,'^'  that  the  piratical  vessels  used  by 

"*  He  besieged  the  place  with  400  galleys,  150,000  foot,  and  a 
numerous  cavahy.  See  Plutarch  in  Lucul.  Appian  in  Mithridat 
Cicero  pro  Lege  Manilla,  c.  8. 

■''  Strabo,  1.  xii.  p.  573. 

""  Pocock's  Description  of  the  East,  1.  ii.  c.  23,  24. 

'"  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  33. 

^'^  Syncellus  tells  an  unintelligible  story  of  Prince  Oclenath  is,  whs 
defeated  the  Goths,  and  who  was  killed  by  Prince  Odenathus. 

''"  Voyages  de  Chardin,  torn.  i.  p.  45.  He  sailed  with  the  Tuila 
from  Constantinople  to  CafFa. 

"'  Syncellus  (p  382)  speaks  of  this  expedidon,  as  undertatoi  by 
lie  Heruh. 

"'  Strabo,  1.  xi.  p.  495. 


r 


A.  D.  248-268.]     of  the  poman  empire.  311 

the  barbarians  of  Pontus  and  the  Lesser  Sj}'tLia,  were  not 
capable  of  containing  more  than  twenty-five  or  th-rty  inen_ 
we  may  safely  afiirra,  that  fifteen  thousand  wairio'-s,  at  tha 
most,  embarked  in  this  great  expedition.  Impati'^nt  of  the 
limits  of  the  Euxine,  they  steered  their  destructi\e  course 
from  the  Cimmerian  to  the  Thracian  Bosphorus.  When  they 
bad  almost  gained  the  middle  of  the  Straits,  they  were  sud- 
denly driven  back  to  the  entrance  of  them ;  till  a  favorable 
wind,  springing  up  the  next  day,  carried  them  in  a  few  hours 
into  the  placid  sea,  or  rather  lake,  of  the  Propontis.  Their 
landing  on  the  little  island  of  Cyzicus  was  attended  with 
the  ruin  of  that  ancient  and  noble  city.  From  thence  issuing 
again  through  the  narrow  passage  of  the  Hellespont,  they 
pursued  their  winding  navigation  amidst  the  numerous  islands 
scattered  over  the  Archipelago,  or  the  ^gean  Sea.  The  assist- 
ance of  captives  and  deserters  must  have  been  very  necessary 
to  pilot  their  vessels,  and  to  direct  their  various  incursions,  as 
well  on  the  coast  of  Greece  as  on  that  of  Asia.  At  length  the 
Gothic  fleet  anchored  in  the  port  of  Pira3us,  five  miles  distant 
from  Athens,"'*  which  had  attempted  to  make  some  prepara- 
tions for  a  vigorous  defence.  Cleodamus,  one  of  the  engineers 
employed  by  the  emperor's  orders  to  fortify  the  maritime  cities 
against  the  Goths,  had  already  begun  to  repair  the  ancient 
walls,  fallen  to  decay  since  the  time  of  Scylla.  The  efforts  of 
his  skill  were  ineffectual,  and  the  barbarians  became  m-^sters 
of  the  native  seat  of  the  muses  and  the  arts.  But  while  the 
conquerors  abandoned  themselves  to  the  license  of  plunder  and 
intemperance,  their  fleet,  that  lay  with  a  slender  guard  in  the 
harbor  of  Pirseus,  was  unexpectedly  attacked  by  the  brave 
Dexippus,  who,  flying  with  the  engineer  Cleodamus  from  th^j 
sack  of  Athens,  collected  a  hasty  band  of  volunteers,  peasauv^a 
as  well  as  soldiers,  and  in  some  measure  avenged  the  calamities 
of  his  country."^ 

'"  riin.  Hist.  Natur.  iii.  '7. 

"*  Hist.  August,  p.  181.  Victor,  c.  33.  Orosius,  vii.  42.  ZoitI- 
taus,  1.  i.  p.  35.  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  635.  Synccllus,  p.  3fe2.  It  is  not 
without  some  attention,  tliat  we  can  explain  and  conciliate  their 
imperfect  hints.  We  can  still  discover  some  traces  of  the  partiality 
of  Dexippus,  in  tlie  relation  of  his  own  and  his  countryrien's  exploits.* 

According  to  a  new  fragment  of  Dexippus,  publishes  by  Mai,  he  aail 
2000  men.  He  took  up  a  strong  position  in  a  iiountainous  and  wooilji 
district,  and  kept  up  a  harassing  warfuro.  He  expresses  a  hope  of  beiii^ 
epoedily  joined  by  the  Imperial  fleet.  Dexippus  in  rwv.  IJyzaulinonun 
Cdlect."  aNiebuhr,  p  26,  8.— fi/^' 


m  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  248-2881 

But  this  exploit,  whatever  lustre  it  might  shed  on  the  de^ 
dining  age  of  Athens,  seived  rather  to  irritate  than  to  subdue 
the  undaunted  spirit  of  the  northern  invaders.  A  general 
conflagration  blazed  out  at  the  same  time  in  every  district  of 
Greece.  Thebes  and  Argos,  Corinth  and  Sparta,  which  had 
formerly  waged  such  memorable  wars  against  each  other, 
were  now  imable  to  bring  an  army  into  the  field,  or  even  to 
defend  their  ruined  fortifications.  The  rage  of  war,  both  by 
iand  and  by  sea,  spread  from  the  eastern  point  of  Suuium  to 
the  western  coast  of  Epirus.  The  Goths  had  already  ad- 
vanced within  sight  of  Italy,  when  the  approach  of  such  im 
minent  danger  awakened  the  indolent  Gallienus  from  his 
dream  of  pleasure.  The  emperor  appeared  in  arms ;  and  his 
presence  seems  to  have  checked  the  ardor,  and  to  have 
divided  the  strength,  of  the  enemy.  Naulobatus,  a  chief  of 
the  Heruli,  accepted  an  honorable  capitulation,  entered  with  a 
large  body  of  his  countrymen  into  the  service  of  Rome,  and 
was  invested  with  the  ornaments  of  the  consular  dignity, 
which  had  never  before  been  profaned  by  the  hands  of  a  bar- 
barian.'" Great  numbers  of  the  Goths,  disgusted  with  the 
perils  and  hardships  of  a  tedious  voyage,  broke  into  Msesia, 
with  a  design  of  forcing  their  way  over  the  Danube  to  their 
riettleraents  in  the  Ukraine.  The  wild  attempt  would  have 
proved  inevitable  destruction,  if  the  discord  of  the  Roman 
generals  had  not  opened  to  the  barbarians  the  means  of  an 
escape.'^*  The  small  remainder  of  this  destroying  host  re- 
turned on  board  their  vessels  ;  and  measuring  back  their  way 
through  the  Hellespont  and  the  Bosphorus,  ravaged  in  their 
passage  the  shores  of  Troy,  whose  fame,  immortalized  by 
Homer,  wiU  probably  survive  the  memory  of  the  Gothic  con- 
quests. As  soon  as  they  found  themselves  in  safety  within 
the  basin  of  the  Euxine,  they  landed  at  Anchialus  in  Thrace, 
near  the  foot  of  Mount  Hasmus ;  and,  after  all  their  toils, 
indulged  themselves  in  the  use  of  those  pleasant  and  salutary 
hot  baths.  What  remained  of  the  voyage  was  a  short  and 
easy  navigation."'  Such  was  the  various  fate  of  this  third 
and  greatest  of  their  naval  enterprises.     It  may  seem  difficult 

"*  Syncellus,  p.  382.  This  body  of  Heruli  was  for  a  long  time 
ftiithful  and  famous. 

"*  Claudius,  ■wlio  commanded  on  the  Danube,  thought  -with  pro- 
priei  y  and  acted  with  spirit.  His  colleague  was  jealous  of  hie  f^saa 
Hi«t  A-.igust.  p.  181. 

**    Jorn&ndes,  c.  20. 


4..  D.  248-268.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  81S 

to  conceive  how  the  original  body  of  fifteen  thousand  war- 
riors could  sustain  the  losses  and  divisions  of  so  bold  an  ad- 
venture. But  as  their  numbers  were  gradually  wasted  by  the 
sword,  by  shipwrecks,  and  by  the  influence  of  a  warm  cli- 
mate, they  were  perpetually  renewed  by  troops  of  banditti 
and  deserters,  who  flocked  to  the  standard  of  plunder,  and  by 
a  crowd  of  fugitive  slaves,  often  of  German  or  Sarmatian 
extraction,  who  eagerly  seized  the  glorious  opportunity  of 
freedom  and  revenge.  In  these  expeditions,  the  Gothic  nation 
claimed  a  superior  share  of  honor  and  danger ;  but  the  tribes 
that  fought  under  the  Gothic  banners  are  sometimes  distin- 
guished and  sometimes  confojinded  in  the  imperfect  histories 
of  that  age ;  and  as  the  barbarian  fleets  seemed  to  issue  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Tanais,  the  vague  but  familiar  appellation 
of  Scythians  was  frequently  bestowed  on  the  mixed  multi- 
tude.'" 

In  tlie  general  calamities  of  mankind,  the  death  of  an  indi- 
vidual, however  exalted,  the  ruin  of  an  edifice,  howevei 
famous,  are  passed  over  with  careless  inattention.  Yet  we 
cannot  forget  that  the  temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  after 
having  risen  with  increasing  splendor  from  seven  repeated 
misfortunes,"*  was  finally  burnt  by  the  Goths  in  their  third 
aaval  invasion.  The  arts  of  Greece,  and  the  wealth  of  Asia, 
had  conspired  to  erect  that  sacred  and  magnificent  structure. 
It  was  supported  by  a  hundred  and  twent3r-seven  marble 
columns  of  the  Ionic  order.  They  were  the  gifts  of  devout 
monarchs,  and  each  was  sixty  feet  high.  The  altar  was 
adorned  with  the  masterly  sculptures  of  Praxiteles,  who  had, 
perhaps,  selected  from  the  favorite  legends  of  the  place  the 
birth  of  the  divine  children  of  Latona,  the  concealment  of 
Apollo  after  the  slaughter  of  the  Cyclops,  and  the  clemency 
of  Bacchus  to  the  vanquished  Amazons.'^'  Yet  the  length  of 
the  temple  of  Ephesus  was  only  four  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet,  about  two  thirds  of  the  measure  of  the  church  of  St 
Peter's  at  Rome.*'"     In  the  other  dimensions,  it  was  still  more 

**'  Zosimus  and  the  Greeks  (as  the  author  of  the  Philopatris)  give 
Ihe  name  of  Scythians  to  those  whom  Joruandes,  and  the  Latii 
writers,  constantly  represent  as  Goths. 

"*  Hist.  Aug.  p.  178.     Jornandes,  c.  20. 

^^^  Strabo,  ].  xiv.  p.  640.  Vitruvius,  1.  i.  c.  i.  praefaL  V  vii  T&nt 
dinnaL  iii  61.     Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvi.  14. 

"•  The  length   of  St.  Peter's  is  840   Roman  palms ;  each  palm  it 

VOL.  I. 0 


314  THE   DECUNE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-268. 

Inferior  to  that  sublime  production  of  modern  architecture. 
The  spreading  arms  of  a  Christian  cross  require  a  much 
greater  breadth  than  the,  oblong  temples  of  the  Pagans ;  and 
the  boldest  artists  of  antiquity  would  have  been  startled  at  the 
proposal  of  raising  in  the  air  a  dome  of  the  size  and  propor- 
tions of  the  Pantheon.  The  temple  of  Diana  was,  however, 
admired  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Successive 
empires,  the  Persian,  the  Macedonian,  and  the  Roman,  had 
revered  its  sanctity  and  enriched  its  splendor."'  But  the  rude 
Davages  of  the  Baltf.c  were  destitute  of  a  taste  for  the  ele- 
gant arts,  and  ther  despised  the  ideal  terrors  of  a  foreign 
superstition."^ 

Another  circumstance  is  related  of  these  invasions,  which 
might  deserve  our  notice,  were  it  not  justly  to  be  suspected  as 
the  fanciful  conceit  of  a  recent  sophist.  We  are  told,  that  in 
the  sack  o'l  Athens  the  Goths  had  collected  all  the  libraries, 
and  were  on  the  point  of  setting  fire  to  this  funeral  pile  of 
Grecian  learning,  had  not  one  of  their  chiefs,  of  more  refined 
policy  than  his  brethieo,  dissuaded  them  from  the  design;  by 
the  profound  observation,  that  as  long  as  the  Greeks  were 
addicted  to  the  study  of  books,  they  would  never  apply  them- 
selves to  the  exercise  of  arms."'  The  sagacious  counsellor 
(should  the  truth  of  tho  ftict  be  admitted)  reasoned  like  an 
ignorant  barbarian.  In  the  most  polite  and  poweiful  nations, 
genius  of  every  kind  han  d'&played  itself  about  the  same  period ; 
and  the  age  of  science  has  generally  been  the  age  of  military 
virtue  and  success. 

IV.  The  new  sovereign  •,  rl  Persia,  Artaxerxes  and  his  soe 
Sapor,  had  triumphed  (as  we  have  already  seen)  over  the 
house  of  Arsaces.     Of  the  mfxciy  princes  of  that  ancient  race, 

very  little  short  of  nine  English  inches.  See  Greaves's  Miscellanies 
vol.  i.  p.  233 ;  on  the  Roman  Foot.* 

'°'  The  policy,  however,  of  the  Roraaus  induced  them  to  abridge 
the  extent  of  the  sanctuary  or  asylum,  -which  by  successive  privileges 
had  spread  itself  two  stadia  round  the  temple.  Strabo,  1.  xiv.  p.  641. 
Tacit  Annal.  iii.  60,  &c. 

"''  They  offered  no  sacrifices  to  the  Grecian  gods.  See  EjistaS 
Gregor.  Thaumat. 

"^  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  635.  Such  an  ar.ocdcte  ■«  as  perfectly  suited  t* 
the  taste  of  Montaigne.  He  makes  use  of  ix.  in  h:a  agreeable  Eesaj 
OH  Pedantry,  1,  i  c.  24. 

"  Si,  Paul's  Cathedral  is  500  feet.    Dallaway  on  Architecture,  d.  «M 


A.D.248-2G8-]      of  the  roman  emvire.  31 A 

CSiosroes,  king  of  Armenia,  had  alone  preserved  both  his  Ufa 
and  bis  independence.  He  defended  himself  by  the  natural 
strength  of  his  country ;  by  the  perpetual  resort  of  fugitives 
and  malecontents ;  by  the  alliance  of  the  Romans,  and  abovo 
all,  by  his  own  courage.  Invincible  in  arms,  during  a  thirty 
years'  war,  he  was  at  length  assassinated  by  the  emissaries  of 
Sapor,  king  of  Persia.  The  patriotic  satraps  of  Armenia,  who 
asserted  the  freedom  and  dignity  of  the  crown,  implored  the 
protection  of  Rome  in  favor  of  Tiridates,  the  lawful  heir.  But 
the  son  of  Chosroes  was  an  infant,  the  allies  were  at  a  distance, 
and  the  Persian  monaich  advanced  towards  the  frontier  at  the 
head  of  an  irresistible  force.  Young  Tiridates,  the  future 
hope  of  his  country,  was  saved  by  the  fidelity  of  a  servant, 
and  Armenia  continued  above  twenty-seven  years  a  reluctant 
province  of  the  great  monarchy  of  Persia."*  Elated  with 
this  easy  conquest,  and  presuming  on  the  distresses  or  tho 
degeneracy  of  the  Romans,  Sapor  obliged  the  strong-  garrisons 
of  Carrhse  and  Nisibis*  to  surrender,  and  spread  devastation 
and  terror  on  either  side  of  the  Euphrates. 

The  loss  of  an  important  frontier,  the  ruin  of  a  faithful  and 
natural  ally,  and  the  rapid  success  of  Sapor's  ambition,  affected 
Rome  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  insult  as  well  as  of  the  danger. 
Valerian  flattered  himself,  that  the  vigilance  of  his  lieutenants 
would  sufficiently  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  Rhine  and  of 
the  Danube;  but  he  resolved,  notwithstanding  his  advanced 
age,  to  march  in  person  to  the  defence  of  the  Euphrates. 
During  his  progress  through  Asia  Minor,  the  naval  enterprises 
of  the  Goths  were  suspended,  and  the  afflicted  province  enjoyed 
a  transient  and  fallacious  calm.  He  passed  the  Euphrates, 
encountered  the  Persian  monarch  near  the  walls  of  Edessa, 
was  vanquished,  and  taken  prisoner  by  Sapor.  The  particu- 
lars of  this  great  event  are  darkly  and  imperfectly  represented ; 
yet,  by  the  glimmering  light  which  is  afforded  us,  we  may 
discover  a  long  series  of  imprudence,  of  error,  and  of  deserved 
misfortunes  on  the  side  of  the  Roman  emperor.     He  reposed 

'•*  Moses  Chorenensis,  1.  ii.  c.  '71,  73,  74.  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  628. 
The  .inthentic  relation  of  the  Armenian  historian  serves  to  rectify  the 
confused  account  of  the  Greek.  The  latter  talks  of  the  children  of 
Tiridates,  who  at  tliat  time  was  himself  an  infant.  [Compare  St 
Martiu  Memoires  sur  I'Armenie,  i.  p.  301. — M.] 


"  Niaihis,  according  to  Persian  authors,  was  taken  by  a  miracle;  th« 
wnll  fell  in  comi»liance  with  the  prayers  of  the  aimy.  Malcolm'e  P«nri«, 
L  76.  -M. 


816  THE    DECLINE    AND    TALL       [A.  D.   248-268i 

an  implicit  confidence  in  Macrianus,  bis  Picetorian  prcefect"' 
That  worthless  minister  rendered  his  master  formidable  only 
to  the  oppressed  subjects,  and  contemptible  to  the  enemies  of 
Rome."'  By  his  weak  or  wicked  counsels,  the  Imperial  army 
was  betrayed  into  a  situation  where  valor  and  military  skill 
were  equally  unavailing/"  The  vigorous  attempt  of  the 
Romans  to  cut  their  way  thi-ough  the  Persian  host  wa« 
repulsed  with  great  slaughter ; "'  and  Sapor,  who  encom- 
passed the  camp  with  superior  numbers,  patiently  waited 
till  the  increasing  rage  of  famine  and  pestilence  had  insured 
his  victory.  The  licentious  murmurs  of  the  legions  soon 
accused  Valerian  as  the  cause  of  their  calamities ;  their 
seditious  clamors  demanded  an  instant  capitulation.  An  im- 
mense sum  of  gold  was  offered  to  purchase  the  permission  of 
a  disgraceful  retreat.  But  the  Persian,  conscious  of  his  supe- 
riority, refused  the  money  with  disdain ;  and  detaining  the 
deputies,  advanced  in  order  of  battle  to  the  foot  of  the  Roman 
rampart,  and  insisted  on  a  personal  conference  with  the  em- 
peror. Valerian  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  intrusting 
his  life  and  dignity  to  the  faith  of  an  enemy.  The  interview 
ended  as  it  was  natural  to  expect.  The  emperor  was  made 
a  prisoner,  and  his  astonished  troops  laid  djwn  their  arms.''* 
In  such  a  moment  of  triumph,  the  pride  and  policy  of  Sapor 
prompted  him  to  fill  the  vacant  throne  with  a  successor 
entirely  dependent  on  his  pleasure.  Cyriades,  an  obscure 
fugitive  of  Antioch,  stained  with  every  vice,  was  chosen  to 
dishonor  the  Roman  purple ;  and  the  will  of  the  Persian  victor 
could  not  fail  of  being  ratified  by  the  acclamations,  however 
reluctant,  of  the  captive  army."" 

The  Imperial  slave  was  eager  to  secure  the  favor  of  his 
master  by  an  act  of  treason  to  his  native  country.  He  con- 
ducted Sapor  over  the  Euphrates,  and,  by  the  way  of  Chalcis, 
to  the  metropolis  of  the  East.     So  rapid  were  the  motions  of 

"^  Hist.  Aug.  p.  191.  As  Macrianus  was  an  enemy  to  the  Chris 
tians,  they  charged  him  with  being  a  magician. 

""  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  33. 

"'  Hist.  Aug.  p.  174. 

"*  Victor  in  Caesar.     Eutropius,  ix.  7. 

"*  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  33.  Zonaras  1.  xii.  p.  630.  Peter  Patricius,  in 
the  Excerpta  Legat.  p.  29. 

-*"  Hist.  August,  p.  185.  The  reign  of  Cyriades  apj>ears  in  that 
collection  prior  to  the  death  of  Valerian;  but  I  have  preferr&l  a 
probable  series  of  tvents  to  the  doubtful  chronology  of  a  most  iimo 
earat«  writer 


A.  D.  248-268.]      of  the  roman  empiuib.  S11 

the  ].*ersian  cavalry,  that,  if  we  may  credit  a  very  judicious 
historian,"'  the  city  of  Antioch  was  surprised  when  the  idle 
multitude  was  fondly  gazing  on  the  amusements  of  the  thea- 
tre. The  splendid  buildings  of  Antioch,  private  as  well  aa 
public,  wtre  either  pillaged  or  destroyed ;  and  the  numeroua 
inhabitants  were  put  to  the  sword,  or  led  away  into  captiv- 
ity."* The  tide  of  devastation  was  stopped  for  a  moment  by 
the  resolution  of  the  high  priest  of  Emesa.  Arrayed  in  his 
sacerdotal  robes,  he  appeared  at  the  head  of  a  great  body  of 
fanatic  peasants,  ai-med  only  with  shngs,  and  defended  his 
god  and  his  property  from  the  sacrilegious  hands  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Zoroaster."^  But  the  ruin  of  Tarsus,  and  of  many 
other  cities,  furnishes  a  melancholy  proof  that,  except  in  this 
singular  instance,  the  conquest  of  Syria  and  Cilicia  scarcely 
interrupted  the  progress  of  the  Persian  arms.  The  advan- 
tages of  the  narrow  passes  of  Mount  Taurus  were  abandoned, 
in  which  an  invader,  whose  principal  force  consisted  in  his 
cavalry,  would  have  been  engaged  in  a  very  unequal  combat : 
and  Sapor  was  permitted  to  form  the  sieo-e  of  Csesarea,  the 
capital  of  Cappadocia;  a  city,  though  of  the  second  rank, 
which  was  supposed  to  contain  four  hundred  thousand  inhabit- 
ants. Demosthenes  commanded  in  the  place,  not  so  much  by 
the  commission  of  the  emperor,  as  in  the  voluntary  defence 
of  his  country.  For  a  long  time  he  deferred  its  fate ;  and 
when  at  last  Csesarea  was  betrayed  by  the  oerfidy  of  a  phy- 
eician,  he  cut  his  way  through  the  Persians,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  exert  their  utmost  diligence  to  take  him  alive. 
This  heroic  chief  escaped  the  power  sf  a  foe  who  might 
either  have  honored  or  punished  his  obstinate  valor ;  but  many 
thousands  of  his  fellow-citizens  were  involved  in  a  general 
massacre,  and  Sapor  is  accused  of  treating  his  prisoners  with 


***  The  sack  of  Antioch,  anticipated  by  some  historians,  is  assigned, 
by  the  decisive  testimony  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  to  the  reign  of 
Gallienus,  xxiii.  5.* 

"*  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  35. 

'^'  John  Malala,  torn.  i.  p.  391  He  corrupts  this  probable  event  bji 
some  fabulous  circumstances. 


•  Heyne,  in  his  note  on  Zosimus,  contests  tliis  opinion  of  Gibbon,  knd 
observes,  that  the  testimony  of  Ammianus  is  in  (act  by  no  means  cleitr  4,1 
decisive.  Gallienus  and  Valerian  reigned  together.  2^osimas,  in  a  rr»«<.'1 
paesa^e,  1.  iii.  32,  8,  distinctly  places  this  event  before  tb'j  capture  * 
Valenan. — M. 


J18  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  248-268ii 

wanton  and  unrelenting  cruelty.'"  Much  should  undoubtedly 
be  allowed  for  national  animosity,  much  for  humbled  pride 
and  impotent  revenge ;  yet,  upon  the  whole,  it  is  certain,  that 
the  same  prince,  who,  in  Armenia,  had  displayed  the  mild 
aspect  of  a  legislator,  showed  himself  to  the  Romans  imder  the 
stern  features  of  a  conqueror.  He  despaired  of  making  any 
permanent  establishment  in  the  empire,  and  sought  only  to 
leave  behind  him  a  wasted  desert,  whilst  he  transported  into 
Persia  the  people  and  the  treasures  of  the  provinces/" 

At  the  time  when  the  East  trembled  at  the  name  of  Sapor, 
he  received  a  present  not  imworthy  of  the  greatest  kings ;  a 
long  train  of  camels,  laden  with  the  most  rare  and  valuable 
merchandises.  The  rich  offering  was  accompanied  with  an 
epistle,  respectful,  but  not  servile,  from  Odenathus,  one  of  the 
noblest  and  most  opulent  senators  of  Palmyra.  "  Who  is  this 
Odenathus,"  (said  the  haughty  victor,  and  he  commanded  that 
the  present  should  be  cast  into  the  Euphrates,)  "  that  he  thus 
insolently  presumes  to  write  to  his  lord  ?  If  he  entertains  a 
hope  of  mitigating  his  punishment,  let  him  fall  prostrate  be- 
fore the  foot  of  our  throne,  with  his  hands  bound  behind  his 
back.  Should  he  hesitate,  swift  destruction  shall  be  poured 
on  his  head,  on  his  whole  race,  and  on  his  country."  "°  The 
desperate  extremity  to  which  the  Palrayrenian  was  reduced, 
called  into  action  all  the  latent  powers  of  his  soul.  He  met 
Sapor ;  but  he  met  him  in  arms.  Infusing  his  own  spirit  into 
a  little  army  collected  from  the  villages  of  Syria"'  and  the 
tents  of  the  desert,"*  he  hovered  round  the  Persian  host, 
harassed  their  retreat,  carried  off  part  of  the  treasure,  and, 
what  was  dearer  than  any  treasure,  several  of  the  women  of 
the  great  king ;  who  was  at  last  obliged  to  repass  the  Eu- 
phrates with  some  marks  of  haste  and  confusion."*     By  this 

"*  Zonaras,  1.  xiL  p.  630.  Deep  valleys  were  filled  up  with  the 
glain.  Crowds  of  prisoners  were  driven  to  water  Uke  beasts,  and 
many  perished  for  want  of  food. 

"^  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  25,  asserts,  that  Sapor,  had  he  not  preferred  spoil 
to  conquest,  might  have  remained  master  of  Asia. 

"■*  Peter  Patricius  in  Excerpt.  Leg.  p.  29. 

"'  Sjrorum  agrestixmi  manu.  Sextus  Rufus,  c.  23.  Rufus  Victof, 
the  Augustan  History,  (p.  192,)  and  several  inscriptions,  agree  in 
making  Odenathus  a  citizen  of  PalmjTa. 

**"  He  possessed  so  powerful  an  interest  among  the  wandering 
tribes,  that  Procopius  (Bell.  Persic.  1.  ii.  c.  f))  and  John  Malala  (torn,  i 
p.  891)  style  him  Prince  of  the  Saracena. 

**•  Peter  Patricius,  p.  25. 


A.  D,  248-268.]      of  the  roman  empire.  S19 

exploit,  Odenatlius  laid  the  foundations  of  his  future  fame  and 
fortunes.  The  majesty  of  Rome,  oppressed  by  a  Persian,  was 
protected  by  a  Syrian  or  Arab  of  Palmyra. 

The  voice  of  history,  which  is  often  little  more  than  the 
organ  of  hatred  or  flattery,  reproaches  Sapor  with  a  proud 
abuse  of  the  rights  of  conquest.  We  are  told  that  Valerian, 
in  chains,  but  invested  with  the  Imperial  purple,  was  exposed 
to  the  multitude,  a  constant  spectacle  of  fallen  greatness ;  and 
that  whenever  the  Persian  monarch  mov^nted  on  horseback,  he 
placed  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  a  Romjin  emperor.  Notwith- 
standing all  the  remonstrances  of  his  allies,  who  repeatedly 
ad\'ised  him  to  remember  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  to  dread 
the  returning  power  of  Rome,  and  to  make  his  illustrious  cap- 
tive the  pledge  of  peace,  not  the  object  of  insult.  Sapor  still 
remained  inflexible.  When  Valerian  sunk  under  the  weight 
of  shame  and  grief,  his  skin,  stuffed  with  straw,  and  formed 
into  the  Hkeness  of  a  human  figure,  was  preserved  for  ages 
in  the  most  celebrated  temple  of  Pei"sia ;  a  more  real  monu- 
ment of  triumph,  than  the  fancied  trophies  of  brass  and  mar- 
ble so  often  erected  by  Roman  vanity.'^"  The  tale  is  moral 
and  pathetic,  but  the  truth  f  of  it  may  very  fairly  be  called  in 
question.  The  letters  still  extant  from  the  princes  of  the  East 
to  Sapor  are  manifest  forgeries  ;  '*'  nor  is  it  natural  to  suppose 
that  a  jealous  monarch  should,  even  in  the  person  of  a  rival, 
thus  publicly  degrade  the  majesty  of  kings.  Whatever  treat- 
ment the  unfortunate  Valerian  might  experience  in  Persia,  it 
is  at  least  certain  that  the  only  emperor  of  Rome  who  had 
ever  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  languished  away  his 
.ife  in  hopeless  captivity. 

""  The  Pagan  writers  lament,  the  Christian  insult,  the  misfortjunoa 
of  Valerian.  Their  various  testimonies  are  accurately  collected  hy 
TiUemont,  torn.  iii.  p.  739.  &c.  So  little  has  been  preserved  of  eastern 
history  before  Mahomet,  that  the  modern  Persians  are  totally  ignorant 
of  ti:e  victory  of  Sapor,  au  event  so  glorious  to  their  nation.  See 
Bibliotheque  Orientale.* 

'^'  One  of  these  epistles  is  from  Artavasdes,  king  of  Armenia;  since 
Armenia  was  then  a  province  of  Persia,  the  king,  the  kingdom,  and  tha 
tpistle  must  be  fictitious. 


*  Malcolm  appears  to  write  from  Persian  authorities,  1.  76. — M. 

t  Yet  Gibbon  himself  records  a  speech  of  the  emperor  Galerius,  which 
tlludes  to  the  cruelties  exercised  ai^ainst  the  liviag-,  und  tlie  mdignities  to 
nrhicb  they  exposed  the  dead  Valerian,  vol.  ii.  ch.  13.  Respect  for  tha 
kingly  character  v,'OTild  by  no  meau3  prevent  an  eastern  monarch  from 
Brati^'ing  his  pnd"  and  his  vengeance  on  a  faUon  foe. — M. 


820  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL      [A.  1).  248-2681 

The  emperor  Gallienus,  who  had  long  supported  with  im< 
patience  the  censorial  seveiity  of  his  father  and  colleague, 
receiv2d  the  intelligence  of  his  misfortunes  with  secret  pleas- 
ure and  avowed  indifference.  "I  knew  that  my  father  was 
a  mortal,"  said  he ;  "  and  since  he  has  acted  as  it  becomes  a 
brave  man,  I  am  satisfied."  Whilst  Rome  lamented  the  fate 
of  her  sovereign,  the  savage  coldness  of  his  son  was  extolled 
by  the  servile  courtiers  as  the  perfect  firmness  of  a  hero  and 
a  stoic.'"  It  is  difficult  to  paint  the  light,  the  various,  the 
inconstant  character  of  Gallienus,  which  he  displayed  without 
constraint,  as  soon  as  he  became  sole  possessor  of  the  empire. 
In  every  art  that  he  attempted,  his  lively  genius  enabled  him 
to  succeed ;  and  as  his  genius  was  destitute  of  judgment,  he 
attempted  every  art,  except  the  important  ones  of  war  and 
government.  He  was  a  master  of  several  curious,  but  useless 
sciences,  a  ready  orator,  an  elegant  poet,'"  a  skilful  gardener, 
an  excellent  cook,  and  most  contemptible  prince.  When  the 
great  emergencies  of  the  state  required  his  presence  and 
attention,  he  was  engaged  in  conversation  with  the  philosopher 
Plotinus,'"  wasting  his  time  in  trifling  or  licentious  pleasures, 
2:)rcparing  his  initiation  to  the  Grecian  mysteries,  or  soliciting 
a  place  in  the  Areopagus  of  Athens.  His  profuse  magnifi- 
cence insulted  the  general  poverty ;  the  solemn  ridicule  of  his 
triumphs  impressed  a  deeper  sense  of  the  pubhc  disgrace."* 

'^^  See  his  life  in  the  Augustan  History. 

'^^  There  is  still  extant  a  very  pretty  Epithalamiiun,  composed  by 
Gallienus  for  the  nuptials  of  his  nephews : — 

"  Ite  ait,  O  Juvenes,  pariter  sndate  meduUis 
Onmibus,  inter  vos :  non  mumiura  vestra  columbaa, 
Bracliia  non  hederae,  non  vincant  oscula  conchse." 

'""  He  was  on  the  point  of  giving  Plotinns  a  ruined  city  of  Campania 
to  try  the  experiment  of  realizing  Plato's  Republic.  See  the  Life  of 
Plotinns,  by  Porphyry,  in  Fabricius's  Biblioth.  Grssc.  1.  iv. 

"^  A  medal  which  bears  the  head  of  GalUenus  has  perplexed  the 
antiquarians  by  its  legend  and  reverse  ;  the  former  Gallience  Augustoe, 
the  latter  Ubique  Pax.  M.  Spanheira  supppsea  that  the  coin  was 
struck  by  some  of  the  enemies  of  Gallienus,  and  was  designed  as  a 
severe  sath'e  on  that  effeminate  prince.  But  as  the  use  of  irony  may 
seem  unworthy  of  the  gravity  of  the  Roman  mint,  M.  de  Vallemont 
has  deduced  from  a  passage  of  Trebellius  PoUio  (Hist.  Aug.  p.  198) 
an  ingenious  and  natural  solution.  Gallicna  was  first  cousiu  to  the 
emperor.  By  delivering  Africa  from  the  usurper  Celsus,  she  de- 
served the  title  of  Augusta.  On  a  medal  in  the  French  king's  col- 
lection,  we  read  a  similar  inscription  of  Faustina  Augusta  round  thp 
kead   cf  Marcus   Aurelius.     With   rcgaid  to    the    Ubique  Pax,  it  > 


k.  D.  248-268.]       OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  92\ 

The  repeated  intelligence  of  invasions,  defeats,  and  rebel- 
lions, ho  received  with  a  careless  smile ;  and  singling  cut, 
with  affected  contempt,  some  particular  production  of  the  lost 
province,  he  carelessly  asked,  whether  Rome  must  be  ruined, 
unless  it  was  supphed  with  linen  from  Egypt,  and  arras  tloth 
from  Gaul.  There  were,  however,  a  few  short  moments  in  the 
lite  of  Gallienus,  when,  exasperated  by  some  recent  injury^ 
he  suddenly  appeared  the  intrepid  soldier  and  the  cruel  tyrant; 
till,  satiated  with  blood,  or  fixtigued  by  resistance,  he  insensi- 
bly sunk  into  the  natural  mildness  and  indolence  of  his  char- 
acter."" 

At  the  time  when  the  reins  of  government  were  held  with 
so  loose  a  hand,  it  is  not  surprising,  that  a  crowd  of  usurpers 
should  start  up  in  every  province  of  the  empire  against  the  son 
of  Valerian.  It  was  j^robably  some  ingenious  fancy,  of  com- 
paring the  thirty  tyrants  of  Rome  with  the  thirty  tyrants  of 
Athens,  that  induced  the  writers  of  the  Augustan  History  to 
select  that  celebrated  number,  which  has  been  gradually  re- 
ceived into  a  popular  appellation.'"  But  in  every  light  the  par- 
allel is  idle  and  defective.  What  resemblance  can  we  discover 
between  a  council  of  thirty  persons,  the  united  oppressors  of  a 
single  city,  and  an  uncertain  list  of  independent  rivals,  who  rose 
and  fell  in  irregular  succession  through  the  extent  of  a  vast  em- 
pire ?  Nor  can  the  number  of  thirty  be  completed,  unless  we 
include  in  the  account  the  women  and  children  who  were  hon- 
ored with  the  Imperial  title.  The  reign  of  Gallienus,  distracted 
as  it  was,  produced  only  nineteen  pretenders  to  the  throne  :  Cy- 
riades,  Macrianus,  Bahsta,  Odenathus,  and  Zenobia,  in  the  East; 
in  Gaul,  and  the  western  provinces,  Posthumus,  Lollianus, 
Victorinus,  and  his  mother  Victoria,  Marius,  and  Tetricus ;  in 
Illyricura  and  the  confines  of  the  Danube,  Ingenuus,  Regillia- 

easily  explained  by  the  vanity  of  Gallienus,  who  seized,  perhaps,  the 
occasion  of  some  momentary  calm.  See  Nouvelle.«  de  la  Republique 
des  Lettres,  Janvier,  1700,  p.  21—34. 

"*  This  singular  character  has,  I  believe,  been  fairly  transmitted  to 
as.  The  reign  of  his  immediate  successor  was  short  and  busy ;  and  the 
historians  who  wrote  before  the  elevation  of  the  family  of  Constantine 
could  not  have  the  most  remote  interest  to  misrepresent  the  character 
of  Gallienus. 

"'  Pollio  expresses  the  most  minute  anxiety  to  compleve  the 
number.* 

"  Compare  a  dissertation  of  Manso  on  the  thirty  tyrants,  at  the  end  tt  kk 
Leben  Constantius  des  Grossen.    Breslau,  1817.— M. 

o 


822  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A.  D.  248-208 

nus,  and  Aureolus ;  in  Pontus,"*  Saturninus ;  in  Isauria,  Tre- 
bellianus ;  Piso  in  Thessaly  ;  Valens  in  Acliaia ;  ^milianus  in 
Egypt ;  and  Celsus  in  Africa.*  To  illustrate  the  obscure  mon- 
uments of  the  life  and  death  of  each  individual,  would  prove  a 
iaborious  task,  aUke  barren  of  instruction  and  of  amusement. 
We  may  content  ourselves  with  investigating  some  general 
characters,  that  most  strongly  mark  the  condition  of  the  times, 
and  the  manners  of  the  men,  their  pretensions,  their  motives, 
their  fate,  and  their  destructive  consequences  of  their  usurpa- 
tion."' 

It  is  sufficiently  known,  that  the  odious  appellation  of  Tyrant 
was  often  employed  by  the  ancients  to  express  the  illegal 
jeizure  of  supreme  power,  without  any  reference  to  the  abuse 
of  it.  Several  of  the  pretenders,  who  raised  the  standard  of 
.-ebellion  against  the  emperor  Gallienus,  were  shining  models 
of  virtue,  and  almost  all  possessed  a  considerable  share  of 
figor  and  ability.  Their  merit  had  recommended  them  to  the 
favor  of  Valerian,  and  gradually  promoted  them  to  the  most 
important  commands  of  the  empire.  The  generals,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  Augustus,  were  either  respected  by  their 
troops  for  then  able  conduct  and  severe  discipline,  or  admired 
for  valor  and  success  in  war,  or  beloved  for  frankness  and 
generosity.  The  held  of  victory  was  often  the  scene  of  their 
election  ;  and  even  the  armorer  Marius,  the  most  contemptible 

'"  The  place  of  his  reign  ia  somewhat  doubtful;  but  there  wai 
a  tyi'ant  in  Pontus,  ana  we  are  acquainted  with  the  seat  of  all  the 
others. 

"^  Tillemont,  torn.  iii.  p.  llo3,  reckons  them  somewhat  differ 
cntly. 

*  Captain  Smyth,  in  his  "  Catalogue  of  Medals."  p.  307,  substitntes  two 

new  names  to  make  up  the  number  of  nineteen,  fcv  those  of  Odenathus  anj 

Zenobia.     He  subjoins  this  list : — 

1.  2.  3. 

Of  those  vrhose  coins  Those  whose  coins  Those  of  whom  no 

are  undoubtedly  true.  are  suspected.  coins  are  known. 

Posthumus.  Cyriades.  Valens. 

Laelianus,  {Lollianus,  G.)  Ingenuus.  Balista. 

Victorinus.  Celsus.  Saturninus. 

Marius.  Piso  Frugi.  Trebellianua. 

Tetricus.  — M.  184! 

Macrianus. 

diiietus. 

Regalianns  (Regilliamis,  3.) 

A.lcx.  jEmilianus. 

A.uref)lus. 

Sulpicius  Antoninus 


A.  D- 248-268.]      ok  the  uoman  empire.  323 

of  all  the  candidates  for  the  purple,  was  distinguished,  however 
by  intrepid  courage,  matchless  strength,  and  blunt  honesty.'" 
His  mean  and  recent  trade  cast,  indeed,  an  air  of  ridicule  on 
his  elevation  ;*  but  his  birth  could  not  be  more  obscure  than 
was  that  of  the  greater  part  of  his  rivals,  who  were  born  of 
peasants,  and  enlisted  in  the  army  as  private  soldiers.  In 
times  of  confusion,  every  active  genius  linds  the  place  assigned 
him  by  nature :  in  a  general  state  of  war,  military  merit  is 
the  road  to  glory  and  to  greatness.  Of  the  nineteen  tyrants 
Tetricus  only  was  a  senator;  Piso  a.one  was  a  noble.  The 
blood  of  Numa,  through  twenty -eight  successive  generations, 
ran  in  the  veins  of  Calphurnius  Piso,*"  who,  by  female  alli- 
ances, claimed  a  right  of  exhibiting,  in  his  house,  the  images 
of  Crassus  and  of  the  great  Pompey.""  llis  ancestors  had 
been  repeatedly  dignified  with  all  the  honors  which  the  com- 
monwealth could  bestow ;  and  of  all  the  ancient  famiUes  of 
Rome,  the  Calphurnian  alone  had  survived  the  tyranny  of  the 
Csesaics.  The  personal  qualities  of  Piso  added  new  lustre  to 
his  race.  The  usurper  Valens,  by  whose  order  he  was  killed, 
confessed,  with  deep  remorse,  that  even  an  enemy  ought  to 
have  respected  the  sanctity  of  Piso ;  and  although  he  died  in 
arms  against  Gallienus,  the  senate,  with  the  emperor's  generous 
permission,  decreed  the  triumphal  ornaments  to  the  memory  of 
Bo  virtuous  a  rebel.*" 

The  lieutenants  of  Valerian  were  grateful  to  the  father, 
whom  they  esteemed.  They  disdained  to  serve  the  luxurious 
indolence  of  his   unworthy  son.     The  throne  of  the   Roman 

"°  See  the  speech  of  Marius  in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  197.  The 
accidental  identity  of  names  was  the  only  circumstance  that  could 
tempt  Pollio  to  miitate  Sallust. 

101  u  Y(jg^  Q  pompilius  sanguis !"  is  Horace's  address  to  the  Pisou 
See  Art.  Poet.  v.  292,  with  Dacier's  and  Sanadon's  notes. 

"^  Tacit.  Annal.  xv.  48.  Hist.  i.  15.  In  the  former  of  these  pas- 
sages wc  may  venture  to  change  paterna  into  materna.  In  every  gen- 
eration from  Augustus  to  Alexander  Severus,  one  or  more  Ilsoa 
appear  as  consuls.  A  Piso  was  deemed  wortliy  of  the  throne  by 
Augustus,  (Tacit.  Annal.  L  13 ;)  a  second  headed  a  formidable  con- 
spiracy against  Nero ;  and  a  third  was  adoptf >d,  and  declared  Caesar,  by 
Galba. 

^*'  Hist.  August,  p.  195.  The  senate,  in  a  moment  of  entbuaiaem, 
seems  to  have  presumfid  on  the  approbation  of  GaUienus. 

•  Marias  was  killed  by  a  soldier,  who  had  formerly  served  as  a  wcrkmu 
in  his  shop,  and  who  excliHined,  as  he  struck,  "  Behold  the  sword  whiob 
thyself  hast  forgfd."     Trcb  'ivitd. — G. 


824  I'HE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A  D.  248-201 

world  ft'as  unsupported  by  hnj  principle  of  loyalty ;  and  trea- 
son against  such  a  prince  might  easily  be  considered  as  patriot- 
ism to  the  state.  Yet  if  we  examine  with  candor  the  conduct 
of  these  usurpers,  it  will  appear,  that  they  were  much  oftener 
driven  into  rebelhon  by  their  fears,  than  urged  to  it  by  their 
ambition.  They  dreaded  the  cruel  suspicions  of  Gallienus; 
they  equally  dreaded  the  capricious  violence  of  their  troops. 
If  the  dangerous  favor  of  the  army  had  imprudently  declared 
them  deserving  of  the  purple,  they  were  marked  for  sure  de- 
struction ;  and  even  prudence  would  counsel  them  to  secure  a 
short  enjoyment  of  empire,  and  rather  to  try  the  fortune  of  wai 
than  to  expect  the  hand  of  an  executioner.  When  the  clamor 
of  the  soldiers  invested  the  reluctant  victims  with  the  ensigns 
of  sovereign  authority,  they  sometimes  mourned  in  secret  theii 
approaching  fate.  ''  You  have  lost,"  said  Saturninus,  on  the 
day  of  his  elevation,  "  you  have  lost  a  useful  commander,  and 
you  have  made  a  very  wretched  emperor."  '" 

The  apprehensions  of  Saturninus  were  justified  by  the 
repeated  experience  of  revolutions.  Of  the  nineteen  tyrants 
v?ho  started  up  under  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  there  was  not  one 
who  enjoyed  a  life  of  peace,  or  a  natural  death.  As  soon  as 
they  were  invested  with  the  bloody  purple,  they  inspired  their 
adherents  with  the  same  fears  and  ambition  which  had  oc- 
casioned their  own  revolt.  Encompassed  with  domestic  con- 
spiracy, military  sedition,  and  civil  war,  they  trembled  on  the 
edge  of  precipices,  in  which,  after  a  longer  or  shorter  term  of 
anxiety,  they  were  inevitably  lost.  These  precarious  mon- 
archs  received,  however,  such  honors  as  the  flattery  of  their 
respective  armies  and  provinces  could  bestow ;  but  their 
claim,  founded  on  rebenion,'Could  never  obtain  the  sanction 
of  law  or  history.  Italy,  Rome,  and  the  senate,  constantly 
adhered  to  the  cause  of  Gallienus,  and  he  alone  was  con- 
sidered as  the  sovereign  of  the  empire.  That  prince  con- 
descended, indeed,  to  acknowledge  the  victorious  arms  of 
Odenathus,  who  deserved  the  honorable  distinction,  by  the 
respectful  conduct  which  he  always  maintained  towards  the 
son  of  Valerian.  With  the  general  applause  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  consent  of  Gallienus,  the  senate  conferred  \he  title  of 
Augustus  on  the  brave  Palmyrenian ;  and  seemed  to  intrust 
hLm  with  the  government  of  th'^.  East,  which  he  alrtAdy  poB- 


Hist.  August  p.  196, 


A.D.  248-2G8.]      of  the  koman  empire.  328 

•essed,  in  so  independent  a   manner,  that,  like  a  private  auo- 
cession,  he  bequeatlied  it  to  his  illustrious  widow,  Zenobia."* 

The  rapid  and  pei'petual  transitions  from  the  cottage  to  the 
throne,  and  from  the  throne  to  the  grave,  might  liave  amused 
an  indifierent  philosopher ;  were  it  possible  for  a  philosopher 
to  remain  indifferent  amidst  the  general  calamities  of  human 
kind.  The  election  of  these  precarious  emperors,  their  power 
and  their  death,  were  oqud.ly  destructive  to  their  subjects  and 
adherents.  The  price  of  their  fatal  elevation  was  instantly 
discharged  to  the  troops  by  an  immense  donative,  drawn  from 
the  bowels  of  the  exhausted  people.  However  virtuous  Wivs 
their  character,  however  pure  their  intentions,  they  found  them- 
selves reduced  to  the  hard  necessity  of  supporting  their  usur- 
pation by  frequent  acts  of  rapine  and  cruelty.  When  they  fell, 
they  involved  armies  and  provinces  in  their  fall.  There  is 
still  extant  a  most  savage  mandate  from  Gallienus  to  one  of  his 
ministers,  after  the  suppression  of  Ingenuus,  who  had  assumed 
the  purple  in  Illyricum.  "  It  is  not  enough,"  says  that  soft 
but  inhuman  prince,  "  that  you  exterminate  such  as  have 
appeared  in  arms  ;  the  chance  of  battle  might  have  served  me 
as  effectually.  The  male  sex  of  every  age  must  be  extirpated  ; 
provided  that,  in  the  execution  of  the  children  and  old  men,  you 
can  contrive  means  to  save  our  reputation.  Let  every  one  die 
who  has  dropped  an  expression,  who  has  entertained  a  thought 
against  me,  against  me^  the  son  of  Valerian,  the  father  and  bro- 
ther of  so  many  princes.'"  Remember  that  Ingenuus  wjis 
made  emperor :  tear,  kill,  hew  in  pieces.  I  write  to  you  with  my 
own  hand,  and  would  inspire  you  with  my  own  feelings."  *" 
Whilst  the  public  forces  of  the  state  were  dissipated  in  pii 
vate  quarrels,  the  defenceless  provinces  lay  exposed  to  every 
invader.  The  bravest  usurpers  were  compelled,  by  the  per- 
plexity of  their  situation,  to  conclude  ignominious  treaties  with 
the  common  enemy,  to  purchase  with  oppressive  tributes  the 

"*  The  association  of  the  brave  Palmyrenian  was  the  most  populai 
act  of  the  whole  reign  of  Gallienus.     Hist.  August,  p.  180. 

'°*  Gallienus  had  given  the  titles  of  Ccesar  and  Augustus  to  his 
son  Saloninus,  slain  at  Cologne  by  the  usurper  Posthuraus.  A  second 
son  of  Gallienus  succeeded  to  the  name  and  rank  of  his  elder 
brother  Valerian,  the  brother  of  GaUienus,  was  aLso  associated  to 
tlie  em;plfc :  several  otlier  brothers,  sisters,  nephews,  and  nieces  of 
the  emperor  formed  a  very  numerous  royal  family.  See  Tillemont 
torn  iii,  and  M  de  Brequigny  in  the  Memoires  de  rAcademie,  torn 
om,  p.  26?. 

*"  Ilist.  August,  p.  188. 


328  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL       [A,  D    248-208. 

neutrality  or  services  of  the  Barbarians,  and  to  introduce 
hostile  and  independent  nations  into  the  heart  of  the  Roman 
monarchy.'^* 

Such  were  the  barbarians,  and  such  the  tyrants,  who,  under 
the  reigns  of  Valerian  and  Gallienus,  dismembered  the  prov- 
'.nces,  and  reduced  the  empire  to  the  lowest  pitch  of  disgrace 
and  ruin,  fi-om  whence  it  seemed  impossible  that  it  should  ever 
smerge.  As  far  as  the  barrenness  of  materials  would  permit, 
wo  have  attempted  to  trace,  with  order  and  perspicuity,  the 
general  events  of  that  calamitous  period.  There  still  remain 
some  particular  facts  :  I.  The  disorders  of  Sicily ;  II.  The 
tumults  of  Alexandria ;  and,  III.  The  rebellion  of  the  Isauri- 
ans,  which  may  serve  to  reflect  a  strong  light  on  the  horrid 
picture. 

I,  Whenever  numerous  troops  of  banditti,  multiplied  by 
success  and  impunity,  publicly  defy,  instead  of  eluding  the 
justice  of  their  country,  we  may  safely  infer,  that  the  excessive 
weakness  of  the  government  is  felt  and  abused  by  the  lowest 
ranks  of  the  community.  The  situation  of  Sicily  preserved  it 
from  the  Barbarians  ;  nor  could  the  disarmed  province  have  sup- 
ported a  usurper.  The  sufferings  of  that  once  flourishing  and 
still  fertile  island  were  inflicted  by  baser  hands.  A  licentious 
crowd  of  slaves  and  peasants  reigned  for  a  while  over  the  plnn 
dered  country,  and  renewed  the  memory  of  the  servile  wars  of 
more  ancient  times."'  Devastations,  of  which  the  husbandman 
was  either  the  victim  or  the  accomplice,  must  have  ruined  the 
agriculture  of  Sicily ;  and  as  the  principal  estates  were  the 
property  of  the  opulent  senators  of  Rome,  who  often  enclosed 
within  a  farm  the  territory  of  an  old  republic,  it  is  not  improb- 
able, that  this  private  injury  might  affect  the  capital  more 
deeply,  than  all  the  conquests  of  the  Goths  or  the  Persians. 

II.  The  foundation  of -Alexandria  was  a  noble  design,  at 
once  conceived  and  executed  by  the  son  of  Philip.  The  beau- 
tiful and  regular  form  of  that  great  city,  second  only  to  Rome 
itself,  comprehended  a  circumference  of  fifteen  miles ; "'  it 
was  peopled  by  three  hundred  thousand  free  inhabitants,  besides 


"'  Regillianus  had  some  bands  of  Roxolani  in  his  service;  Post- 
liumus  a  body  of  Franks.  It  was,  perhaps,  in  the  character  of  aux- 
iliaries that  the  latter  introduced  themselves  into  Spain. 

"^^  The  Augustan  History,  p,  111,  calls  it  sertUe  kdhsm.  Sei 
Diodor.  Sicul.  1.  xxxiv. 

""  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  y  10. 


A.  D.  248-268.J     of  the  roman  empire.  82/ 

at  least  an  equal  number  of  slaves.'"  The  lucrative  trade 
of  Arabia  and  India  flowed  through  the  port  of  Alexandria,  to 
the  capital  and  provinces  of  the  empire.*  Idleness  was  un- 
known. Some  were  employed  in  blowing  of  glass,  others  in 
weaving  of  linen,  others  again  manufacturing  the  papyrus. 
Either  sex,  and  every  age,  was  engaged  in  the  pui*suits  of 
industry,  nor  did  even  the  blind  or  the  lame  want  occupations 
suited  to  their  condition.'"  But  the  people  of  Alexandria,  a 
various  mixture  of  nations,  united  the  vanity  and  inconstancy 
of  the  Greeks  with  the  superstition  and  obstinacy  of  the 
Egyptians.  The  most  trifling  occasion,  a  transient  scarcity  of 
flesh  or  lentils,  the  neglect  of  an  accustomed  salutation,  a 
mistake  of  precedency  in  the  public  baths,  or  even  a  religious 
dispute,'"  were  at  any  time  sufficient  to  kindle  a  sedition  among 
that  vast  multitude,  whose  resentments  were  furious  and  im- 
placable."* After  the  captivity  of  Valerian  and  the  insolence 
of  his  son  had  relaxed  the  authority  of  the  laws,  the  Alexan- 
drians abandoned  themselves  to  the  ungoverned  rage  of  their 
passions,  and  their  unhappy  country  was  the  theatre  of  a  civil 
war,  which  continued  (with  a  few  short  and  suspicious  truces) 
above  twelve  years.'"  All  intercourse  was  cut  oft'  between 
the  several  quarters  of  the  afflicted  city,  every  street  wjis 
polluted  with  blood,  every  building  of  strength  converted  into 
a  citadel ;  nor  did  the  tumults  subside  till  a  considerable  part 
of  Alexandria   was  irretrievably   ruined.      The  spacious  and 


'"  Diodor.  Sicul.  L  xvii.  p.  590,  edit.  "Wesseling. 

'"^  See  a  very  curious  letter  of  Hadrian,  in  the  Augustan  History, 
p.  245. 

"'  Such  as  the  sacrilegious  murder  of  a  divine  cat.  See  Diodor. 
KicuL  1.  i.f 

"*  Hist.  August,  p.  195.  This  long  and  terrible  sedition  was  first 
occasioned  by  a  dispute  between  a  soldier  and  a  townsman  about  a 
pair  of  shoes. 

"*  Dionysius  apud.  Eusew.  Hist.  Ecclea  vii.  p.  21.  Aramian 
xxii.  16. 


*  Berenice,  or  Myos-Homios,  on  the  Rod  Sea,  received  the  eastern  com- 
modities. From  thence  they  were  transported  to  the  Nile,  and  down  the 
Nile  to  Alexandria. — M. 

t  The  hostility  between  the  Jewish  and  Grecian  part  of  the  population 
afterwards  between  the  two  former  and  the  Christian,  were  unfailing  causes 
of  tumult,  sedition,  and  nia.ssacre.  In  no  place  Nverc  the  religious  disputes 
afler  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  ino-e  frequent  or  more  sangnmary 
Bee  Phjlo.  de  Legat.  Hist,  of  Jew»,  vi  171.  iii.  Ill,  198.  Giblxtn,  iii 
c.  xxi.  viii.  c.  xlvii. — M. 


328  THE  DECLINE  AND  ?ALL   [A  D.  248*  268 

maguificent  district  of  Bruchion,*  with  its  palaces  and  musa 
um,  the  residence  of  the  kings  and  philosophers  (»f  Egypt,  i? 
described  above  a  century  afterwards,  as  already  reduced  to  it« 
present  state  of  dreary  solitude."" 

III.  The  obscure  rebellion  of  Trebellianus,  who  assumed 
ihe  purple  in  Isauria,  a  petty  province  of  Asia  Minor,  was 
attended  with  strange  and  memorable  consequences.  The 
pageant  of  royalty  was  soon  destroyed  by  an  officer  of 
Gallienus ;  but  his  folbwers,  despairing  of  mercy,  resolved  to 
shake  off  their  allegiance,  not  only  to  the  emperor,  but  to  the 
empire,  and  suddenly  returned  to  the  savage  manners  from 
which  they  had  never  perfectly  been  reclaimed.  Their  craggy 
rocks,  a  branch  of  the  wide-extended  Taurus,  protected  their 
inaccessible  retreat.  The  tillage  of  some  fertile  valleys "' 
supplied  them  with  necessaries,  and  a  habit  of  rapine  with  the 
luxuries  of  life.  In  the  heart  of  th<i  Eoman  monarchy,  the 
Isaurians  long  continued  a  nation  of  wild  barbarians.  Suc- 
ceeding princes,  unable  to  reduce  them  to  obedience,  either 
by  arms  or  policy,  were  compelled  to  acknowledge  their  weak- 
ness, by  surroundins:  the  hostile  and  independent  spot  with  a 
strong  chain  of  fortifications,"*  which  often  proved  insufficient 
to  restrain  the  incursions  of  these  domestic  foes.  The  Isau- 
rians, gradually  extending  their  territory  to  the  sea-coast,  sub- 
dued the  western  and  mountainous  part  of  Cilicia,  formerly  the 
nest  of  those  daring  pirates,  against  whom  the  republic  had 
once  been  ob!ii|;ed  to  exert  its  utmost  force,  under  the  conduct 
of  the  great  Pomp^jy."' 

Our  habits  of  thinking  so  fondly  connect  the  order  of  the 
universe  v^th  the  fate  of  man,  that  this  gloomy  period  of  his- 
tory has  been  decorated  with  inundations,  earthquakes,  uncom- 
mon meteors,  preternatural  darkness,  and  a  crowd  of  prodigies 
fictitious  or  exaggerated.""     But  a  long  and  general  famine 


"'  Scaliger.  Animadver.  ad  Euseb.  Chron.  p.  258.  Thi-ee  diaeerta- 
tions  of  M.  Bonamy,  in  the  Mem.  de  I'Academie,  torn.  ix. 

" '  Strabo,  L  xiii.  p.  569. 

""  Hist.  August,  p.  197. 

'''^  See  Cellarius,  Geogr  Antiq.  torn.  ii.  p.  137,  upon  the  limita  of 
Isauria. 

""  Hist  August  p  177. 


*  The  Brachion  was  a  quarter  of  Alexandria  which  extended  along  tha 
largest  of  the  two  ports,  and  contained  many  psJaccs,  inhabited  iry  tha 
Ptolemies.    D'Anv.  Geogr.  Anc.  iii.  10. — G. 


A^D.  248-268.]     of  tue  roman  empire.  >2* 

was  a  calamity  of  a  more  serious  kiLd.  It  was  the  inevitabk 
consequence  of  rapine  and  oppression,  which  extirpated  the 
produce  of  the  present,  and  the  hope  of  futtu'e  harvests. 
Famine  is  almost  always  followed  by  epidemical  diseases,  the 
eflect  of  scanty  and  unwholesome  food.  Other  causes  must, 
however,  have  contributed  to  the  furious  plague,  which,  from 
tha  year  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  the  year  two  hundred  and 
sixty-five,  raged  without  interruption  in  every  province,  every 
city,  and  almost  every  family,  of  the  Koman  empire.  During 
some  time  five  thousand  persons  died  daily  in  Rome ;  and 
many  towns,  that  had  escaped  the  hands  of  the  Barbarians, 
wore  entirely  depopulated.'*^ 

We  have  the  knowledge  of  a  very  curious  circumstance,  of 
some  use  perhaps  in  the  melancholy  calculation  of  human 
calamities.  An  exact  register  was  kept  at  Alexandria  of  all 
the  citizens  entitled  to  receive  the  distribution  of  corn.  It  was 
found,  that  the  ancient  number  of  those  comprised  between  the 
ages  of  forty  and  seventy,  had  been  equal  to  the  whole  sum  of 
claimants,  from  fourteen  to  fourscore  years  of  age,  who  remain- 
ed alive  after  the  reign  of  Gallienus."'''  Applying  this  authen- 
tic fact  to  the  most  correct  tables  of  mortality,  it  evidently 
proves,  that  above  half  the  people  of  Alexandria  had  perished  ; 
and  could  we  venture  to  extend  the  analogy  to  the  other  prov- 
inces, we  might  suspect,  that  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  had 
consumed,  in  a  few  years,  the  moiety  of  the  human  species."' 

"'  Hist.  August,  p.  111.  Zosimus,  L  i.  p.  24.  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  623. 
Euseb.  Chronicon.  Victor  in  Epitom.  Victor  in  Csesar.  Eutropius, 
ix.  5.     Orosius,  vii.  21. 

'*^  Euseb.  Hist.  Ecclcs.  vii.  21.  The  fact  is  taken  from  the  Letters 
of  Dionysius,  who,  in  the  time  of  those  trout  iles,  was  bisliop  of  Alex- 
andria. 

"'  In  a  great  number  of  parishes,  11,000  persons  were  found  be- 
tween fourteen  and  eighty ;  5365  between  forty  and  flcvcnty.  Sm 
Sofiicn,  Hieti)ire  Naturelle,  torn,  il  p.  590. 


aSO  THE  Di:CUNQ  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  26& 


CHAPTEil   XI. 

BXIOK    OF    CLAUDIUS. DEFEAT    OF    THE    GOTHS.— VI dXiRIBB, 

TRIUMPH,   AND    DEATH    OF    AURELIAN. 

Under  the  deplorable  reigns  of  Valerian  and  Gallienus,  the 
empire  was  oppressed  and  almost  destroyed  by  the  soldiers, 
the  tyrants,  and  the  barbarians.  It  was  saved  by  a  series  of 
great  princes,  who  derived  their  obscure  origin  from  the  martial 
provinces  of  lUyricum.  Within  a  period  of  about  thirty  years, 
Claudius,  Aurelian,  Probus,  Diocletian  and  his  colleagues,  tri- 
umphed over  the  foreign  and  domestic  enemies  of  the  state, 
reestablished,  with  the  military  discipline,  the  strength  of  the 
frontiers,  and  deserved  the  glorious  title  of  Restorers  of  the  Ro- 
man world. 

The  removal  of  an  effeminate  tyrant  made  way  for  a  sue 
cession  of  heroes.  The  indignation  of  the  people  imputed  al' 
their  calamities  to  Gallienus,  and  the  far  greater  part  wer» 
indeed,  the  consequence  of  his  dissolute  manners  and  carelest 
administration.  He  was  even  destitute  of  a  sense  of  honor, 
which  so  frequently  supplies  the  absence  of  public  virtue ;  and 
as  long  as  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy  the  possession  of  Italy, 
a  victory  of  the  barbarians,  the  loss  of  a  province,  or  the 
rebellion  of  a  general,  seldom  disturbed  the  tranquil  course  of 
his  pleasures.  At  length,  a  considerable  army,  stationed  ou 
the  Upper  Danube,  inv^-sted  with  the  Imperial  purple  their 
leader  Aureolus ;  who,  disdaining  a  confined  and  barren  reign 
over  the  mountains  of  Rhsetia,  passed  the  Alps,  occupied 
Milan,  threatened  Rome,  and  challenged  Gallienus  to  dispute 
m  tlie  field  the  sovereignty  of  Italy.  The  en  peror,  provoked 
by  the  insult,  and  alarmed  by  the  instant  danger,  suddenly 
exerted  that  latent  vigor  which  sometimes  broke  through  the 
indolence  of  his  temper.  Forcing  himself  from  the  luxury 
cf  the  palace,  he  appeared  in  arms  at  the  head  of  his  legions, 
&nd  advanced  beyond  the  Po  to  encounter  his  competitor. 
The  corrupted  name  of  Pontirolo  *  still  preserves  the  memory 

*  Pons  Aureoli,  thirteen  miles  from  Bergamo,  and  thirty-two  from 
Milan.     See  Cluver.  Italia  Antiq.  torn.  i.  p    245,     Near  this  pla/>e,  io 


A.  D.  268.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  881 

of  a  bridge  over  the  Adda,  which,  during  the  action,  must 
have  proved  an  object  of  the  utmost  importance  to  both  armies. 
The  llhaetian  usurper,  after  receiving  a  total  defeat  and  a  dan- 
gerous wound,  retired  into  Milan.  The  siege  of  that  great 
city  was  immediately  formed ;  the  walls  were  battered  with 
every  engine  in  use  among  the  ancients  ;  and  Aureolas,  doubt- 
ful of  his  internal  strength,  and  hopeless  of  foreign  succors 
already  anticipated  the  fatal  consequences  of  unsuccessful 
rebellion. 

His  last  resource  was  an  attempt  to  seduce  the  loyalty  of 
the  besiegers.  He  scattered  libels  through  the  camp,  inviting 
the  troops  to  desert  an  unworthy  master,  who  sacrificed  the 
public  happiness  to  his  luxury,  and  the  lives  of  his  most  valu- 
able subjects  to  the  slightest  suspicions.  The  arts  of  Aureolua 
diffused  feai-s  and  discontent  among  the  principal  officers  of 
his  rival.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  by  Heraclianus  the  Prae- 
torian praefect,  by  Marcian,  a  general  of  rank  and  reputation, 
and  by  Cecrops,  who  commanded  a  numerous  body  of  Dal- 
matian guards.  The  death  of  Gallienus  was  resolved ;  and 
notwithstanding  their  desire  of  first  terminating  the  siege  of 
Milan,  the  extreme  danger  which  accompanied  every  mo- 
ment's delay  obliged  them  to  hasten  the  execution  of  their 
daring  purpose.  At  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  but  while  the 
emperor  still  protracted  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  an  alarm 
was  suddenly  given,  that  Aureolus,  at  the  head  of  all  his  forces, 
had  made  a  desperate  sally  from  the  town ;  Gallienus,  who 
was  never  deficient  in  personal  bravery,  started  from  his  silken 
couch,  and  without  allowing  himself  time  either  to  put  on  his 
armor,  or  to  assemble  his  guards,  he  mounted  on  horseback, 
and  rode  full  speed  towards  the  supposed  place  of  the  attack. 
Encompassed  by  his  declared  or  concealed  enemies,  he  soon, 
amidst  the  nocturnal  tumult,  received  a  mortal  dart  from  an 
uncertain  hand.  Before  he  expired,  a  patriotic  sentiment 
•ising  in  the  mind  of  Gallienus,  induced  him  to  name  a  de- 
serving successor ;  and  it  was  his  liist  request,  that  the  Impe- 
rial ornaments  should  be  delivered  to  Claudius,  who  then  com- 
manded a  detached  army  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pavia.  The 
report  at  least  was  diligently  propagated,  and  the  order  cheer- 


tho  yerir  1T03,  the  obstinate  battle  of  Cassano  was  fought  between  the 
French  and  Austrians.  The  excellent  relation  of  the  Chevalier  de 
Folard,  who  was  present,  gives  a  very  distinct  idea  of  the  ground 
Bee  Polybe  de  Folard,  torn.  iii.  p.  223—248. 


S82  THE   DECLINE    >  VD    FALL  [A.  D.  268, 

fiiUy  obeyed  by  the  conspirators,  who  had  al  ^aJy  agfreed  to 
phice  Claudius  on  the  throne.  On  the  first  news  of  the  em- 
peror's death,  the  troops  expressed  some  suspicion  and  resent- 
ment, till  the  one  was  removed,  and  the  other  assuaged,  by  » 
donative  of  twenty  pieces  of  gold  to  each  soldier.  They  then 
ratified  the  election,  and  acknowledged  the  merit  of  theii 
new  sovereign.^ 

The  obscurity  which  covered  the  origin  of  Claudius,  thougl 
it  was  afterwards  embellished  by  some  flattering  fictions,'  suf 
ficiently  betrays  the  meanness  of  his  birth.  We  can  onlj 
discover  that  he  was  a  native  of  one  of  the  provinces  border- 
ing on  the  Danube;  that  his  youth  was  spent  in  arras,  and 
that  his  modest  valor  attracted  the  favor  and  confidence  of 
Decius.  The  senate  and  people  already  considered  him  aj 
an  excellent  officer,  equal  to  the  most  important  trusts ;  and 
censured  the  inattention  of  Valerian,  who  siiffered  him  to 
remain  in  the  subordinate  station  of  a  tribune.  But  it  was  not 
long  before  that  emperor  distinguished  the  merit  of  Claudius, 
by  declaring  him  general  and  chief  of  the  lUyrian  frontier, 
with  the  command  of  all  the  troops  in  Thrace,  Maesia,  Dacia, 
Pannonia,  and  Dalmatia,  the  appointments  of  the  praefect  of 
Egypt,  the  establishment  of  the  proconsul  of  Africa,  and  the 
sure  prospect  of  the  consulship.  By  his  victories  over  the 
Goths,  he  deserved  from  the  senate  the  honor  of  a  statue,  and 
excited  the  jealous  apprehensions  of  Gallienus.  It  was  im- 
possible that  a  soldier  could  esteem  so  dissolute  a  sovereign, 
nor  is  it  easy  to  conceal  a  just  cont<ompt.  Some  unguarded 
expressions  which  dropped  from  Clauiiius  were  officiously  trans- 
mitted to  the  royal  ear.  The  emperor's  answer  to  an  officer 
of  confidence  describes  in  very  lively  colors  his  own  charac- 
ter, and  that  of  the  times.  "  There  is  not  any  thing  capable 
of  giving  me  more  serious  concern,  than  the  intelligence  con- 
tained in  your  last  despatch  ;  *  that  some  malicious  suggestions 

"  On  the  death  of  Gallienus,  see  TrcbeUius  Pollio  in  Hist.  August 
p.  181.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  37.  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  G34.  Eutrop.  ix.  11, 
Aurelius  Victor  in  Epitom.  Victor  in  CiBsar.  I  have  compared  and 
blended  them  all,  but  have  chiefly  followed  Aurelius  Victor,  who  seems 
to  have  had  the  best  memoirs. 

^  Some  supposed  him,  oddly  enough,  to  be  a  bastard  of  the  younger 
Oordian.  Others  took  advantage  of  the  province  of  Dardania,  to 
deduce  his  origin  from  Dardanus,  and  the  ancient  kings  of  Troy. 

*  Notoria,  a  periodical  and  official  despatch  which  the  emperoi« 
received  from  the  frumentarii,  or  agents  dispersed  through  the  prov- 
inces.    Of  these  we  may  speak  hereafter. 


A.  D.  268.]  OF    THE    KOMAN    KMl'IRE,  383 

have  indisposed  towards  us  the  mind  of  our  fiiond  and  ptireni 
Claudius,  As  you  regard  your  allegiance,  use  every  means 
to  appease  his  resentment,  but  conduct  your  negotiation  with 
eecrocy ;  let  it  not  reach  the  knowledge  of  the  Dacian  troops  ; 
they  are  already  provoked,  and  it  might  inflame  their  fury. 
I  myself  have  sent  him  some  presents :  be  it  your  care  that 
he  accept  them  with  pleasure.  Above  all,  let  him  not  susjiect 
yiat  I  am  made  acquainted  with  his  imprudence.  The  fear 
'A  my  anger  might  urge  him  to  desperate  counsels."^  The 
presents  which  accompanied  this  humble  epistle,  in  which  the 
monarch  solicited  a  reconciliation  with  his  discontented  sub- 
ject, consisted  of  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  a  splendid 
wardrobe,  and  a  valuable  service  of  silver  and  gold  plate. 
By  such  arts  Gallienus  softened  the  indignation  and  dispelled 
the  fears  of  his  Illyrian  general ;  and  during  the  remainder 
of  that  reign,  the  formidable  sword  of  Claudius  was  always 
drawn  in  the  cause  of  a  master  whom  he  despised.  At  last, 
indeed,  he  received  from  the  conspirators  the  bloody  purple 
of  Gallienus :  but  he  had  been  absent  from  their  camp  and 
counsels ;  and  however  he  might  applaud  the  deed,  we  may 
candidly  presume  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  knowledge  of 
it."  When  Claudius  ascended  the  throne,  he  was  about  fifty- 
four  years  of  age. 

Tlie  siege  of  Milan  was  still  cuntimied,  and  Aureolus  soon 
discovered  that  the  success  of  his  artifices  had  only  raised  up 
a  more  determined  adversary.  He  attempted  to  negotiate 
with  Claudius  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  partition.  "Tell  him," 
replied  the  intrepid  emperor,  "  that  such  proposals  should  have 
been  made  to  Gallienus ;  he,  perhaps,  might  have  listened  to 
them  with  patience,  and  accepted  a  colleague  as  despicable  as 
himself."''  This  stern  refusal,  and  a  last  unsuccessful  eflbrt, 
obliged  Aureolus  to  yield  the  city  and  himself  to  the  discretion 
of  the  conqueror.  The  judgment  of  the  army  pronounced 
him  worthy  of  death ;  and  Claudius,  after  a  feeble  resistance, 
consented  to  the  execution  of  the  sentence.  Nor  was  the  zea! 
of  the  senate  less  ardent  in  the  cause  of  their  new  sovereign. 

'  Hist.  August,  p.  208.  Gallienus  describes  the  plate,  vestments, 
Ac.,  like  a  man  who  loved  and  understood  tliose  splendid  trifles. 

'  Julian  (Orat.  i.  p.  6)  affirms  that  Claudius  acquired  the  empire  in 
a  just  aud  even  holy  manner.  But  we  may  distrust  the  partiality  of 
a  kinsman. 

^  Hist.  August,  p.  20.3.  There  are  some  trifling  difTcrcnces  con- 
eeriiiug  the  cucuuistarces  of  the  last  defeat  and  death  of  Aureolus 


S94  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  26& 

They  ratified,  perhaps  with  <i  sincere  transport  of  zeal,  tha 
election  of  Claudius  ;  and,  as  his  predecessor  had  shown  him- 
self the  personal  enemy  of  their  order,  they  exercised,  undei 
the  name  of  justice,  a  severe  revenge  against  his  friends  an(^ 
family.  The  senate  was  permitted  to  discharge  the  ungrateful 
office  of  punishment,  and  the  emperor  reserved  for  himself  tha 
pleasure  and  merit  of  obtaining  by  his  intercession  a  general 
act  of  indemnity/ 

Such  ostentatious  clemency  discovers  less  of  the  real  charac- 
ter of  Claudius,  than  a  trifling  circumstance  in  which  he  seems 
to  have  consulted  only  the  dictates  of  his  heart.  The  frequent 
rebellions  of  the  provinces  had  involved  almost  every  person  in 
the  guilt  of  treason,  almost  every  estate  in  the  case  of  confis- 
cation ;  and  Gallienus  often  displayed  his  liberality  by  distribut- 
ing among  his  officers  the  property  of  his  subjects.  On  the 
accession  of  Claudius,  an  old  woman  threw  herself  at  his  feet, 
and  complained  that  a  general  of  the  late  emperor  had  obtained 
an  arbitrary  grant  of  her  patrimony.  This  general  was  Claudius 
himself,  who  had  not  entirely  escaped  the  contagion  of  the 
times.  The  emperor  blushed  at  the  reproach,  but  deserved  the 
confidence  which  she  had  reposed  in  his  equity.  The  confes- 
sion of  his  fault  was  accompanied  with  immediate  and  ample 
restitution.* 

In  the  arduous  task  which  Claudius  had  undertaken,  of 
restoring  the  empire  to  its  ancient  splendor,  it  was  first  neces- 
sary to  revive  among  his  troops  a  sense  of  order  and  obe- 
dience. With  the  authority  of  a  veteran  commander,  he  rep- 
resented to  them  that  the  relaxation  of  discipline  had  intro- 
duced a  long  train  of  disorders,  the  etFects  of  which  were  at 
length  experienced  by  the  soldiers  themselves :  that  a  people 
ruined  by  oppression,  and  indolent  from  despair,  could  no 
longer  supply  a  numerous  army  with  the  means  of  luxury,  or 
even  of  subsistence ;  that  the  danger  of  each  individual  had 
increased   with    the    despotism    of  the    military   order,   since 


*  Aurelius  Victor  in  Gallien.  The  people  loudly  prayed  for  the 
damnation  of  Gallienus.*  The  senate  decreed  that  his  relations  and 
Bervants  should  be  thrown  down  headlong  from  the  Gemonian  stairs. 
An  obnoxious  officer  of  the  revenue  had  his  eyes  torn  out  wliilst  \md«f 
fxaniination. 

'  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  137. 


The  expression  is  curious,  "  terrain  malrcm  deosque  inferos  precnretu 
■edes  impias  uti  Gallienn  dareiit." — M. 


A.  D.  269.1  OF    THE    riOMAN    EMPIkK.  '^'** 

princes  who  tremble  on  the  throne  will  guard  their  safely  b? 
the  instant  sacrifice  of  eveiy  obfioxious  subject.  The  emperor 
expiated  on  the  mischiefs  of  a  lawless  caprice,  which  the  sol- 
diers could  only  gratify  at  the  expense  of  their  own  blood  ;  as 
their  seditious  elections  had  so  frequently  been  followed  by  civil 
wars,  which  consumed  the  flower  of  the  legions  either  in  the 
field  of  battle,  or  in  the  cruel  abuse  of  victory.  He  painted 
in  the  most  lively  colors  the  exhausted  state  of  the  treasury, 
iJie  desolation  of  the  provinces,  the  disgrace  of  the  Roman 
name,  and  the  insolent  triumph  of  rapacious  barbarians.  It 
was  against  those  barbarians,  he  declared,  that  he  intended  to 
point  the  fii-st  eflfort  of  their  arms.  Tetricus  might  reign  for  a 
while  over  the  West,  and  even  Zenobia  might  preserve  the 
dominion  of  the  Ejist.'"  These  usurpei^s  were  his  personal 
adversaries ;  nor  could  he  think  of  indulging  any  private 
resentment  till  he  had  saved  an  empire,  whose  impending  ruin 
would,  unless  it  was  timely  prevented,  crush  both  the  army 
and  the  people. 

The  various  nations  of  Germany  and  Sarmatia,  who  fought 
under  the  Gothic  standard,  had  already  collected  an  armament 
more  formidable  than  any  which  liad  yet  issued  from  the 
Euxine.  On  the  banks  of  the  Niester,  one  of  the  great  rivei-s 
that  discharge  themselves  into  that  sea,  they  constructed  a 
fleet  of  two  thousand,  or  even  of  six  thousand  vessels;"  num- 
bers which,  however  incredible  they  may  seem,  would  have 
been  insuflicient  to  transport  their  pretended  army  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  barbarians.  Wliatever  might 
be  the  real  strength  of  the  Goths,  the  vigor  and  success  of  the 
expedition  were  not  adequate  to  the  greatness  of  the  prepara- 
tions. In  their  passage  through  the  Bosphorus,  the  unskilful 
pilots  were  overpowered  by  the  violence  of  the  current ;  and 
while  the  multitude  of  their  ships  were  crowded  in  a  narrow 
channel,  many  were  dashed  against  each  other,  or  against  the 
shore.  The  barbarians  made  several  descents  on  the  coasts 
both  of  Europe  and  Asia ;  but  the  open  country  was  already 
plundered,  and  they  were  repulsed  with  shame  and  loss  from 
the  fortified  cities  which  they  assaulted.     A  spirit  of  discour- 

*'  Zonaras  on  this  occasion  mentions  Posthumua  but  the  registers 
oi  the  senate  (Hist.  August,  p.  203)  prove  that  Tetricus  was  already 
emperor  of  the  western  provinces. 

"  Thf.  Augustan  History  mentions  the  smaller,  Zonaras  the  larger, 
aorabir;  the  lively  faiwy  of  Montesquieu  iuduced  him  to  prefer  the 
Utter. 


9$6  THE   DECLINB  AWD   FALL  [A.  D.  20ft, 

agement  and  division  arose  in  tliA  fleet,  and  some  of  theil 
chiefs  sailed  away  towards  the  islands  of  Crete  and  Cyprus ; 
but  the  main  body,  pursuing  a  more  steady  course,  Anchored 
at  length  near  the  foot  of  Moimt  Athos,  and  assaulted  the  city 
of  Thessalonica,  the  wealthy  capital  of  all  the  Macedonian 
provinces.  Their  attacks,  in  which  they  displayed  a  fierce  but 
nrtless  bravery,  were  soon  interrupted  by  the  rapid  approach 
of  Claudius,  hastening  to  a  scene  of  action  that  deserved  tha 
presence  of  a  warlike  prince  at  the  head  of  the  remaining 
j)Owers  of  the  empire.  Impatient  for  battle,  the  Goths  imme- 
diately broke  up  their  camp,  relinipished  the  siege  of  Thessa- 
lonica, left  their  navy  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Athos,  traversed 
the  hills  of  Macedonia,  and  pressed  forwards  to  engage  the 
last  defence  of  Italy. 

We  still  possess  an  original  letter  addressed  by  Claudius  to 
the  senate  and  people  on  this  memorable  occasion.  "  Con- 
script fathers,"  says  tlie  emperor,  "  know  that  three  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  Goths  have  invaded  the  Roman  territory. 
If  I  vanquish  them,  your  gratitude  will  reward  my  services. 
Should  I  fall,  remember  that  I  am  the  successor  of  Gallienus. 
The  whole  republic  is  fatigued  and  exhausted.  We  shall  fight 
after  Valerian,  after  Ingenuus,  Regillianus,  Lollianus,  Posthu- 
mus,  Celsus,  and  a  thousand  others,  whom  a  just  contempt  for 
Gallienus  provoked  into  rebellion.  We  are  in  want  of  darts, 
of  spears,  and  of  shields.  The  strength  of  the  empire,  Gaul, 
and  Spain,  are  usurped  by  Tetricus,  and  we  blush  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  archers  of  the  East  serve  under  the  banners  of 
Zenobia.  Whatever  we  shall  perform  will  be  sufficiently 
g-reat."  '^  The  melancholy  firmness  of  this  epistle  announces 
fl  hero  careless  of  his  fate,  conscious  of  his  danger,  but  still 
deriving  a  well-grounded  hope  from  the  resources  of  his  own 
mind. 

The  event  surpassed  his  own  expectations  and  those  of  the 
world.  By  the  most  signal  victories  he  delivered  the  empire 
from  this  host  of  barbarians,  and  was  distinguished  by  pos- 
terity under  the  glorious  appellation  of  the  Gothic  Claudius. 
Ihe  imperfect  historians  of  an  irregular  war  '*  do  not  enable 
as  to  describe  the  order  and  circumstances   of  his  exploits,* 


'*  Trebell.  Pollio  in  Hist.  August,  p.  204. 

"  Hist.  August,  in  Claud.  Aurelian.  et  Prob.  Zosimus,  L  L  p 
88—4:2.  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  638.  AureL  Victor  in  Epitom,  Virtc* 
Junior  in  ^sesar.     Eutrop.  ix  11.     Euseb.  in  Chron- 


A.D.  269.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  837 

but,  if  we  could  be  indulged  in  the  allusion,  we  might  dia- 
tribute  into  three  acts  this  memorable  tragedy.  I.  The  de- 
cisive battle  was  fought  near  Naissus,  a  city  of  Dardania. 
The  legions  at  first  gave  way,  oppressed  by  numbers,  and  dis- 
mayed by  misfortunes.  Their  ruin  was  inevitable,  had  not 
the  abilities  of  their  emperor  prepared  a  seasonable  relief.  A 
large  detachment,  rising  out  of  the  secret  and  difficult  passes 
of  the  mountains,  which,  by  his  order,  they  had  occupied, 
suddenly  assailed  the  rear  of  the  victorious  Gotks.  The  favor- 
able instant  was  improved  by  the  activity  of  Claudius.  He 
revived  the  courage  of  his  troops,  restored  their  ranks,  and 
pressed  the  barbarians  on  every  side.  Fifty  thousand  men 
are  reported  to  have  been  slain  in  the  battle  of  Naissus.  Sev- 
eral large  bodies  of  barbarians,  covering  their  retreat  with  a 
movable  fortification  of  wagons,  retired,  or  rather  escaped, 
from  the  field  of  slaughter.  II.  We  may  presume  that  some 
insurmountable  difficulty,  the  fatigue,  perhaps,  or  the  disobe- 
dience, of  the  conquerors,  prevented  Claudius  from  completing 
in  one  day  the  destruction  of  the  Goths.  The  war  was  dif- 
fused over  the  province  of  Mgesia,  Thrace,  and  Macedonia, 
and  its  operations  drawn  out  into  a  variety  of  marches,  sur- 
prises, and  tumultuary  engagements,  as  well  by  sea  as  by 
land.  When  the  Romans  suffered  any  loss,  it  was  commonly 
occasioned  by  their  own  cowardice  or  rashness  ;  but  the  supe- 
rior talents  of  the  emperor,  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  his  judicious  choice  of  measures  as  well  as 
officers,  assured  on  most  occasions  the  success  of  his  arms. 
The  immense  booty,  the  fruit  of  so  many  victories,  consisted 
for  the  greater  part  of  cattle  and  slaves.  A  select  body  of 
the  Gothic  youth  was  received  among  the  Imperial  troops ; 
the  remainder  was  sold  into  servitude  ;  and  so  considerable 
was  the  number  of  female  captives,  that  every  soldier  obtained 
to  his  share  two  or  three  women.  A  circumstance  from  which 
we  may  conclude,  that  the  invaders  entertained  some  designs 
of  settlement  as  well  as  of  plunder ;  since  even  in  a  naval 
expedition,  they  were  accompanied  by  their  famihes.  III.  The 
loss  of  their  fleet,  which  was  either  taken  or  sunk,  had  inter- 
cepted the  retreat  of  the  Goths.  A  vast  circle  of  Roman 
posts,  distributed  with  skill,  supported  with  firmness,  and  grad- 
ually closing  towards  a  common  centre,  forced  the  barbarJona 
into  the  most  inaccessible  parts  of  Mount  Haimus,  where  they 
found  a  safe  refuge,  but  a  very  scanty  subsistence.  During 
!lie  course  of  a  rigorous  winter  in  which  they  were  besieged 

VOL.  I. — P. 


S36  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  270 

by  the  emperor's  troops,  famine  and  pestilence,  ilescrtion  and 
the  sword,  continually  diminished  the  impnsoned  multitude. 
On  the  return  of  spring,  nothing  appeared  in  arms  except  a 
hardy  and  desperate  band,  the  remnant  of  that  mighty  hosl- 
which  had  embarked  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niester. 

The  pestilence  which  swept  away  such  numbers  of  the 
barbarians,  at  length  proved  fatal  to  their  conqueror.  After  a 
short  but  glorious  reign  of  two  yeai-s,  Claudius  expired  at 
Sirmium,  amidst  the  tears  and  acclamations  of  his  subjects. 
In  his  last  illness,  he  convened  the  principal  officers  of  the 
state  and  army,  and  in  their  presence  recommended  Aure- 
han,"  one  of  his  generals,  as  the  most  deserving  of  the  throne, 
and  the  best  qualified  to  execute  the  great  design  which  he 
himself  had  been  permitted  only  to  undertake.  The  virtues 
of  Claudius,  his  valor,  affability,  justice,  and  temperance,  his 
love  of  fame  and  of  his  country,  place  him  in  that  short  list 
of  emperors  who  added  lustre  to  the  Roman  jjurple.  Those 
virtues,  however,  were  celebrated  with  peculiar  zeal  and  com- 
placency by  the  courtly  writers  of  the  age  of  Constantine,  who 
was  the  great  grandson  of  Crispus,  the  elder  brother  of  Clau- 
dius. The  voice  of  flattery  was  soon  taught  to  repeat,  that 
gods,  who  so  hastily  had  snatched  Claudius  from  the  earth, 
rewarded  his  merit  and  piety  by  the  perpetual  establishment 
of  the  empire  in  his  family. '° 

Notwithstanding  these  oracles,  the  greatness  of  the  Flavian 
family  (a  name  which  it  had  pleased  them  to  assume)  was 
deferred  above  twenty  years,  and  the  elevation  of  Claudius 
occasioned  the  immediate  ruin  of  his  brother  Quintilius,  who 
possessed  not  sufficient  moderation  or  courage  to  descend  into 
the  private  station  to  which  the  patriotism  of  the  late  emperor 
had  condemned  him.  Without  delay  or  reflection,  he  assumed 
the  purple  at  Aquileia,  where  he  commanded  a  considerable 
force ;  and  though  his  reign  lasted  only  seventeen  days,*  he 

**  According  to  Zonaras,  (1.  xii.  p.  638,)  Claudius,  before  his  d  >ath, 
uivested  him  with  the  purple;  but  this  singular  fact  Ls  rather  contra 
dieted  than  confirmed  by  other  writers. 

"  See  the  Life  of  Chxudius  by  PoUio,  and  the  Orations  of  Mamer^ 
tinus,  Eumenius,  and  Julian.  See  hkewise  the  Cassars  of  Juhan,  p 
SIS,     In  Julian  it  was  not  adulation,  but  superstition  and  vanity. 


*  Such  is  the  narrative  of  the  greater  part  of  the  older  historians ;  but 
the  naiuber  and  the  variety  of  his  medals  seem  to  require  more  time,  and 
give  probability  to  the  report  of  Zosimus,  who  makes  him  reign  aaiaa 
months. — G 


A.  D.  270.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  889 

had  time  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  senate,  and  to  experience 
a  mutiny  of  the  troops.  As  soon  as  he  was  informed  that  the 
great  army  of  the  Danube  had  invested  the  well-known  valor 
of  Aurelian  with  Imperial  power,  he  sunk  under  the  fome  and 
merit  of  his  rival ;  and  ordering  his  veins  to  be  opened,  pru- 
dently withdrew  himself  from  the  unequal  contest.'* 

The  general  design  of  this  work  will  not  permit  us  minutely 
to  relate  the  actions  of  every  emperor  after  he  ascended  the 
throne,  much  less  to  deduce  the  various  fortunes  of  his  private 
life.  We  shall  only  observe,  that  the  father  of  Aurelian  was  a 
peasant  of  the  territory  of  Sirmium,  who  occupied  a  small 
farm,  the  property  of  Aurelius,  a  rich  senator.  His  warlike 
sou  enlisted  in  the  troops  as  a  common  soldier,  successively 
rose  to  the  rank  of  a  centurion,  a  tribune,  the  praefect  of  a 
legion,  the  inspector  of  the  camp,  the  general,  or,  as  it  was 
then  called,  the  duke,  of  a  frontier;  and  at  length,  during  the, 
Gothic  war,  exercised  the  important  office  of  commander-in- 
chief,  of  the  cavalry.  In  every  station  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  matchless  valor,"  rigid  discipline,  and  successful  con- 
duct. He  was  invested  with  the  consulship  by  the  emperor 
Valerian,  who  styles  him,  in  the  pompous  language  of  that 
age,  the  deliverer  of  Illyricum,  the  restorer  of  Gaul,  and  the 
rival  of  the  Scipios.  At  the  recommendation  of  Valerian,  a 
senator  of  the  highest  rank  and  merit,  Ulpius  Crinitus,  whoso 
blood  was  derived  from  the  same  source  as  that  of  Trajan^ 
adopted  the  Pannonian  peasant,  gave  him  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage, and  relieved  with  his  ample  fortune  the  honorable  pov- 
erty which  Aurelian  had  preserved  inviolate." 

The  reign  of  Aurelian  lasted  only  four  years  and  about 
nine  months ;  but  every  instant  of  that  short  period  was  filled 
by  some  memorable  achievement.  He  put  an  end  to  the 
Gothic  war,  chastised  the  Germans  who  invaded  Italy,  recov- 
ered  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain   out  of  the  hands  of  Tetricus, 

'"  Zosunus,  1.  L  p.  4*2.  PoUio  (Hist.  August,  p.  107)  allows  hino 
virtues,  and  says,  that,  like  Pertinax,  he  was  killed  by  the  lircntioua 
poldiers.     According  to  Dexippus,  he  died  of  a  disease. 

"  Thejclius  (.as  quoted  in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  211)  afllrms 
thiit  in  one  diiy  lie  killed  with  his  own  hand  forty-eight  Sarmatians, 
and  in  several  subsequent  engagements  nine  hundred  and  fifty.  Thia 
heroic  valor  was  admired  by  the  soldiers,  and  celebrated  in  their  rude 
eongs,  the  burder.  of  which  was,  inille,  mille,  mille,  occidit. 

'*  Acholius  (ap.  Hist.  August,  p.  213)  describes  the  ceremocy  of 
the  adoption,  as  it  was  performed  at  Byzantium,  in  the  presence  ol 
the  emperor  and  his  great  officers. 


340  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL         [A,  D.  276 

and  destroyed  the  proud  monarcliy  which  Zenobia  had  erected 
in  the  E;ist  ou  the  ruins  of  the  afflicted  empire. 

It  was  the  rigid  attention  of  Aurehan,  even  to  the  minutest 
articles  of  disciphne,  which  bestowed  such  uninterrupted  suc- 
cess on  his  arms.  His  mihtary  regulations  are  contained  in 
a  very  concise  epistle  to  one  of  his  inferior  officers,  \\'ho  ia 
commanded  to  enforce  them,  as  he  wishes  to  become  a  trib- 
une, or  as  he  is  desirous  to  live.  Gaming,  drinking,  and  tha 
ftrts  of  divination,  were  severely  prohibited.  Aurelian  ex- 
pected that  his  soldiers  should  be  modest,  frugal,  and  labori 
ous ;  that  their  armor  should  be  constantly  kept  bright,  their 
weapons  sharp,  their  clothing  and  horses  ready  for  immediate 
service ;  that  they  should  live  in  their  quarters  with  chastity 
and  sobriety,  without  damaging  the  cornfields,  without  steal- 
ing even  a  sheep,  a  fowl,  or  a  bunch  of  grapes,  without  exact- 
ing from  their  landlords,  either  salt,  or  oil,  or  wood.  "  The 
public  allowance,"  continues  the  emperor,  "  is  sufficient  for 
their  support ;  their  wealth  should  be  collected  from  the  spoils 
of  the  enemy,  not  from  the  tears  of  the  provincials."  "  A 
single  instance  will  serve  to  display  the  rigor,  and  even  cruel- 
ty, of  Aurelian.  One  of  the  soldiers  had  seduced  the  wife 
of  his  host.  The  guilty  wretch  was  fastened  to  two  trees 
forcibly  drawn  towards  each  other,  and  his  hmbs  were  torn 
asunder  by  their  sudden  separation.  A  few  such  examples 
impressed  a  salutary  consternation.  The  punishments  of 
Aurelian  were  terrible ;  but  he  had  seldom  occasion  to  punish 
more  than  once  the  same  offence.  His  own  conduct  gave  a 
sanction  to  his  laws,  and  the  seditious  legions  dreaded  a  chief 
who  had  learned  to  obey,  and  who  was  worthy  to  command. 

The  death  of  Claudius  had  revived  the  fainting  spirit  of 
the  Goths.  The  troops  which  guarded  the  passes  of  Moun 
Haemus,  and  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  had  been  drawn  away 
by  the  apprehension  of  a  civil  war ;  and  it  seems  probable 
that  the  remaining  body  of  the  Gothic  and  Vandalic  tribes 
embraced  the  favorable  opportunity,  abandoned  their  settle- 
ments of  the  Ukraine,  traversed  the  rivers,  and  swelled  with 
new   multitudes   the    destroying   host   of    their   countrymen. 

**  Hist  August,  p.  211  This  laconic  epistle  is  truly  the  work  of  a 
joldier;  it  abounds  with  military  phrases  and  words,  some  of  which 
cannot  be  understood  without  difficulty.  Ferr amenta  samiata  is  well 
explained  by  Salmasius.  The  former  of  the  words  means  all  weapons 
of  offence,  and  is  contrasted  with  Ar7na,  defensive  armor  The  lattei 
signifies  keen  and  well  sharpened. 


A.  D.  2Y0.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE  341 

Their  united  numbers  wore  at  length  encountered  by  Aum- 
Han,  and  the  bloody  and  doubtful  conflict  ended  only  with  the 
approach  of  night.'"'  Exhausted  by  so  many  calamities, 
which  they  had  mutually  endured  and  inflicted  during  a  tvren- 
ty  years'  war,  the  Goths  and  the  Romans  consented  to  a  last- 
ing and  beneficial  treaty.  It  was  earnestly  solicited  by  the 
barbarians,  and  cheerfully  ratified  by  the  legions,  to  whoso 
suftrage  the  prudence  of  Aurelian  referred  the  decision  of 
that  important  question.  The  Gothic  nation  engaged  to  sup 
ply  the  armies  of  Rome  with  a  body  of  two  thousand  auxil 
laries,  consisting  entirely  of  cavalry,  and  stipulated  in  return 
an  undisturbed  retreat,  with  a  regular  market  as  far  as  the 
Danube,  provided  by  the  emperor's  care,  but  at  their  own  ex- 
pense. The  treaty  was  observed  with  such  religious  fidelity, 
that  when  a  party  of  five  hundred  men  straggled  from  the 
camp  in  quest  of  plunder,  the  king  or  general  of  the  barba- 
rians commanded  that  the  guilty  leader  should  be  apprehended 
and  shot  to  death  with  darts,  as  a  victim  devoted  to  the  sanc- 
tity of  their  engagements.*  It  is,  however,  not  unlikely,  that 
the  precaution  of  Aurelian,  who  had  exacted  as  hostages  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  Gothic  chiefs,  contributed  some- 
thing to  this  pacific  temper.  The  youths  he  trained  in  the 
exercise  of  arms,  and  near  his  own  person  :  to  the  damsels  he 
gave  a  liberal  and  Roman  education,  and  by  bestowing  them  in 
marriage  on  some  of  his  principal  officers,  gradually  introduced 
between  the  two  nations  the  closest  and  most  endearing 
connections."' 

But  the  most  important  condition  of  peace  was  understood 
rather  than  expressed  in  the  treaty.  Aurelian  withdrew  the 
Roman  forces  from  Dacia,  and  tacitly  relinquished  that  great 
province  to  the  Goths  and  Vandals."'  His  manly  judgment 
convinced  him  of  the  solid  advantages,  and  taught  him  to  de- 
spise the  seeming  disgTace,  of  thus  contracting  the  frontiers 
of  the  monarchy.     The  Dacian  subjects,  removed  from  those 

'"  Zosiraus,  1.  i.  p.  45. 

^'  Dexippus  (ap.  Excerpta  Legat.  p.  12)  relates  the  -whvile  traii»tc- 
tion  under  the  name  of  Vandals.  Aurelian  married  one  of  the  Ootliic 
ladies  to  his  general  Bonos  js,  who  was  able  to  drink  with  the  Godu 
and  discover  their  secrets.     Hist.  August,  p.  247. 

"*  Hist.  Augu?!..  p.  222.  Eutrop.  ix.  15.  Sextus  Rufus,  c  9.  L»K» 
Uatius  de  Mc';abu3  Perseculorum,  c.  9. 


•  The  five  hundred  stragglers  were  »U  elain. — 11. 


S42  TUE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  27(X 

distant  posse^sioris  whicli  they  were  unable  to  cultivate  o! 
defend,  added  strength  and  populousness  to  the  southern  side 
of  the  Danube.  A  fertile  territory,  which  the  repetition  of 
barbarous  inroads  had  changed  into  a  desert,  was  yielded  to 
their  industry,  and  a  new  province  of  Dacia  still  preserved 
the  memory  of  Trajan's  conquests.  The  old  country  of  that 
name  detained,  however,  a  considerable  number  of  its  inhabit- 
ants, who  dreaded  exile  more  than  a  Gothic  master."'  These 
degenerate  Romans  continued  to  serve  the  empire,  whose 
allegiance  they  had  renounced,  by  introducing  among  their 
conquerors  the  first  notions  of  agriculture,  the  useful  arts,  and 
the  conveniences  of  civilized  life.  An  intercourse  of  com- 
merce and  language  was  gradually  established  between  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  Danube ;  and  after  Dacia  became  an 
independent  state,  it  often  proved  the  firmest  barrier  of  the 
empire  against  the  invasions  of  the  savages  of  the  North.  A 
sense  of  interest  attached  these  more  settled  barbarians  to  the 
aUiance  of  Rome,  and  a  permanent  interest  very  frequently 
ripens  into  sincere  and  useful  friendship.  This  various  col- 
ony, which  filled  the  ancient  province,  and  was  insensibly 
blended  into  one  great  people,  still  acknowledged  the  superior 
renown  and  authority  of  the  Gothic  tribe,  and  claimed  the 
fancied  honor  of  a  Scandinavian  origin.  At  the  same  time, 
the  lucky  though  accidental  resemblance  of  the  name  of 
Getse,*  infused  among  the  credulous  Goths  a  vain  persuasion, 
that  in  a  remote  age,  their  own  ancestors,  already  seated  in 
the  Dacian  provinces,  had  received  the  instructions  of  Za- 
molxis,  and  checked  the  victorious  arms  of  Sesostris  and 
Darius.''^ 

While  the  vigorous  and  moderate  conduct  of  Aurehan 
restored   the   Illyrian  frontier,  the  nation  of  the  Alemanni*' 

"^  The  "Walachians  still  preserve  many  traces  of  the  Latin  language, 
and  have  boasted,  in  every  age,  of  theu-  Roman  descent.  They  are 
surrounded  by,  but  not  mixed  with,  the  barbarians.  See  a  Memoir  of 
M.  d'Anville  on  ancient  Dacia,  in  the  -Academy  of  Inscriptions, 
torn.  XXX. 

^*  See  the  first  chapter  of  Jornandes.  The  Vandals,  however,  (c. 
22,)  maintained  a  short  independence  between  the  Rivers  Mariaia  and 
Crissia,  (Maros  and  Keres,)  which  fell  into  the  Teiss. 

''^  Dexippus,  p.  1 — 12.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  43.  Vopiscus  in  Aiirelian. 
Id  Hint.  August.     However  these  historians  differ  in  names,)  Alcmanni 

•  The  conuection  between  the  Ge'tse  and  the  Gotlis  is  stil'i    n  my  opiAV 
laoorrectl}  iiaintained  by  some  learned  writers. — M. 


A.  D.  270.]       OF  TH£  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  343 

violated  the  conditions  of  peace,  whicli  either  GallienuA  had 
purchased,  or  Claudius  had  imposed,  and,  inflamed  hy  their 
impatient  youth,  suddenly  flew  to  arms.  Forty  thcasand 
horse  appeared  in  the  field,^"  and  the  numbers  of  the  infantry 
doubled  those  of  the  cavalry.'"  The  first  objects  of  their 
avarice  were  a  few  cities  of  the  Rhaetian  frontier;  but  their 
hopes  soon  rising  with  success,  the  rapid  march  of  the  Ale- 
manni  traced  a  line  of  devastation  from  the  Danube  to  the 
Po." 

The  emperor  was  almost  at  the  same  time  informed  of  the 
irruption,  and  of  the  retreat,  of  the  barbarians.  Collecting 
an  active  body  of  troops,  he  marched  with  silence  and  celerity 
along  the  skirts  of  the  Hercynian  forest ;  and  the  Alemanni, 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  Italy,  arrived  at  the  Danube,  without 
suspecting,  that  on  the  opposite  bank,  and  in  an  advantageous 
post,  a  Roman  army  lay  concealed  and  prepared  to  intercept 
their  return.  Aurelian  indulged  the  fetal  security  of  the  bar- 
barians, and  permitted  about  half  their  forces  to  pass  the  river 
without  disturbance  and  without  precaution.  Their  situation 
and  astonishment  gave  him  an  easy  victory ;  his  skilful  con- 
duct improved  the  advantage.  Disposing  the  legions  in  a 
semicircular  form,  he  advanced  the  two  horns  of  the  crescent 
across  the  Danube,  and  wheeling  them  on  a  sudden  towards 
the  centre,  enclosed  the  rear  of  the  German  host.  The  dis- 
mayed barbarians,  on  whatsoever  side  they  cast  their  eyes, 
beheld,  with  despair,  a  wasted  country,  a  deep  and  rapid 
stream,  a  victorious  and  implacable  enemy. 

Reduced  to  this  distressed  condition,  the  Alemanni  no 
longer  disdained  to  sue  for  peace.  Aurelian  received  thei' 
ambassadors  at  the  head  of  his  camp,  and  with  every  circum- 
stance of  martial  pomp  that  could  display  the  greatness  and 
discipline  of  Rome.  The  legions  stood  to  their  arms  in  well- 
ordered  ranks  and  awful  silence.     The  principal  commanders, 

Juthungi,  and  Marcomanni,)  it  is  evident  that  they  mean  the  sama 
people,  and  the  same  war ;  but  it  requires  some  care  to  conciliate  and 
explain  them. 

^°  Cantoclarus,  with  his  usual  accuracy,  chooses  to  translate  thro* 
hundred  thousand :  his  version  is  equally  repugnant  to  sense  and  to 
grammar. 

"''  "We  may  remark,  as  an  instance  of  bad  taste,  that  Dexippua 
ippliea  to  the  light  infantry  of  the  Alemanni  the  technical  terms  proper 
only  to  the  Grecian  phalanx. 

**  In  Dexippus,  wo  at  present  read  Rhodanus:  M.  de  Valois  T«rj 
j<&diciocsly  alters  the  word  to  Eridanus. 


3A4  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  27ft 

distinguished  by  the  ensigns  of  their  rank,  appeared  on  horse- 
back on  either  side  of  the  Imperial  throne.  Behind  the  throne 
the  consecrated  images  of  the  emperor,  and  his  predeces- 
sors,"* the  golden  eagles,  and  the  various  titles  of  the  legions, 
engraved  in  letters  of  gold,  were  exalted  in  the  air  on  lofty 
pikes  covered  with  silver.  When  Aurelian  assumed  his  seat, 
his  manly  grace  and  majestic  figure^"  taught  the  barbarians 
to  revere  the  pereon  as  Avell  as  the  purple  of  their  conqueror. 
The  ambassadors  fell  prostrate  on  the  ground  in  silence. 
They  were  commanded  to  rise,  and  permitted  to  speak.  By 
the  assistance  of  interpreters  they  extenuated  their  perfidy, 
magnified  their  exploits,  expatiated  on  the  vicissitudes  of  for- 
tune and  the  advantages  of  peace,  and,  with  an  ill-timed 
confidence,  demanded  a  large  subsidy,  as  the  price  of  the 
alliance  which  they  offered  to  the  Romans.  The  answer  of 
the  emperor  was  stern  and  imperious.  He  treated  their  oflfer 
with  contempt,  and  their  demand  with  indignation,  reproached 
the  barbarians,  that  they  were  as  ignorant  of  the  arts  of  war 
as  of  the  laws  of  peace,  and  finally  dismissed  them  with  the 
choice  only  of  submitting  to  his  unconditional  mercy,  or 
awaiting  the  utmost  severity  of  his  resentment.^'  Aurelian 
had  resigned  a  distant  province  to  the  Goths ;  but  it  was 
dangerous  to  trust  or  to  pardon  these  perfidious  barbarians, 
whose  formidable  power  kept  Italy  itself  in  perpetual  alarms. 

Immediately  after  this  conference,  it  should  seem  that  some 
unexpected  emergency  required  the  emperor's  presence  in 
Pannonia.  He  devolved  on  his  lieutenants  the  care  of  finishing 
the  destruction  of  the  Alemanni,  either  by  the  sword,  or  by 
the  surer  operation  of  famine.  But  an  active  despair  has  often 
triumphed  over  the  indolent  assurance  of  success.  The 
barbarians,  finding  it  impossible  to  traverse  the  Danube  and 
the  Roman  camp,  broke  through  the  posts  in  their  rear,  which 
were  more  feebly  or  less  carefully  guarded ;  and  with  incred- 
ible diligence,  but  by  a  different  road,  returned  towards  the 
mountains   of  Italy.^"     Aurelian,  who  considered   the  war  as 


••  The  emperor  Claudius  was  certainly  cf  the  number ;  but  we  are 

ignorant  how  far  this  mark  of  respect  was  extended  ;  if  to  Csesar  and 
Auijustas,  it  must  have  produced  a  very  awful  spectacle;  a  long  line 
of  the  masters  of  the  world. 

"  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  210. 

*'  Dexip))ns  gives  them  a  subtle  and  prolix  oration,  worthy  of  9 
firerian  sophist. 

•*  Hist.  August,  p,  215. 


A.  D.  2*70.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  34S 

totally  extinguished,  received  the  mortifying  intelligence  ©f 
the  escape  of  the  Alemanni,  and  of  the  ravage  which  thej 
already  committed  in  the  territory  of  Milan.  The  legiong 
were  commanded  to  follow,  Avith  as  much  expedition  as  those 
heavy  bodies  were  capable  of  exerting,  the  rapid  flight  of  an 
enemy  whose  infantry  and  cavalry  moved  with  almost  equal 
swiftness.  A  few  days  afterwards,  the  emperor  himself 
marched  to  the  relief  of  Italy,  at  the  head  of  a  chosen  body  of 
Mxiliaries,  (among  whom  were  the  hostages  and  cavalry  of 
the  Vandals,)  and  of  all  the  Praetorian  guards  who  had  served 
iu  the  wars  on  the  Danube.*' 

As  the  light  troops  of  the  Alemanni  had  spread  themselves 
from  the  Alps  to  the  Apennine,  the  incessant  vigilance  of 
Aurelian  and  his  officers  was  exercised  in  the  discovery,  the 
attack,  and  the  pursuit  of  the  numerous  detachments.  Not- 
withstanding this  desultory  war,  three  considerable  battles  are 
mentioned,  in  which  the  principal  force  of  both  armies  was 
obstinately  engaged.'*  The  success  was  various.  In  the  first, 
fought  near  Placentia,  the  Romans  received  so  severe  a  blow, 
that,  according  to  the  expression  of  a  writer  extremely  partial 
to  Aurelian,  the  immediate  dissolution  of  the  empire  was 
apprehended.'*  The  crafty  barbarians,  who  had  lined  the 
woods,  suddenly  attacked  the  legions  in  the  dusk  of  the  even- 
ing, and,  it  is  most  probable,  after  the  fatigue  and  disorder  of 
a  long  march.  The  fury  of  their  charge  was  irresistible ;  but, 
at  length,  after  a  dreadful  slaughter,  the  patient  firmness  of 
the  emperor  rallied  his  troops,  and  restored,  in  some  degree, 
the  honor  of  his  arms.  The  second  battle  was  fought  near 
Fano  in  Umbria ;  on  the  spot  which,  five  hundred  years  before, 
had  been  fr^tal  to  the  brother  of  Hannibal."  Thus  far  the 
successful  Germans  had  advanced  along  the  ^milian  and 
Flaminian  way,  with  a  design  of  sacking  the  defenceless 
mistress  of  the  world.  But  Aurelian,  who,  watchful  for  the 
safety  of  Rome,  still  hung  on  their  rear,  found  in  this  place 
the  decisive  moment  of  giving  them  a  total  and  irretrievable 
defeat."     The  flying  remnant  of  their  host  was  exterminated 

•*  Dexij)pus,  p.  1 2. 

'*  Victor  Junior  in  Aurelian. 

"  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  216. 

*•  The  little  river,  or  rather  torrent,  of  Metaurus,  near  Fano,  luu 
been  immortaUzed,  by  finding  such  an  historian  as  Livy,  and  such  a 
poet  as  Horace. 

"  It  is  recorded  by  an  inscription  .found  at  Pesaro.  See  Grutet 
Qebnvi  8. 


346  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  1).  271 

iu  a  tliird  and  last  battle  near  Pavia ;  and  Italy  was  delivere<3 
from  the  inroads  of  the  Alemanni. 

Fear  has  been  the  original  parent  of  superstition,  and  every 
new  calamity  urges  trembling  mortals  to  deprecate  the  wratb 
of  their  invisible  enemies.  Though  the  best  hope  of  the  repub- 
lic was  in  the  valor  and  conduct  of  Aurelian,  yet  such  was  the 
public  consternation,  when  the  barbarians  were  hourly  ex 
pected  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  that,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate, 
the  Sibylline  books  were  consulted.  Even  the  emperor  himselt 
from  a  motive  either  of  religion  or  of  policy,  recommended 
this  salutary  measure,  chided  the  tardiness  of  the  senate,"  and 
offered  to  supply  whatever  expense,  whatever  animals,  what- 
ever captives  of  any  nation,  the  gods  should  require.  Notwith- 
standing this  liberal  offer,  it  does  not  appear,  that  any  human 
victims  expiated  with  their  blood  the  sins  of  the  Roman  people. 
The  Sibylline  books  enjoined  ceremonies  of  a  more  harmless 
nature,  processions  of  priests  in  white  robes,  attended  by  a 
chorus  of  youths  and  virgins ;  lustrations  of  the  city  and  adja- 
cent country  ;  and  sacrifices,  whose  powerful  influence  disabled 
the  barbarians  from  passing  the  mystic  ground  on  which  they 
had  been  celebrated.  However  puerile  in  themselves,  these 
superstitious  arts  were  subservient  to  the  success  of  the  war ; 
and  if,  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Fano,  the  Alemanni  fancied 
they  saw  an  army  of  spectres  combating  on  the  side  of  Aure- 
lian, he  received  a  real  and  effectual  aid  from  this  imaginary 
reinforcement.^* 

But  whatever  conCdence  might  be  placed  in  ideal  ramparts, 
the  experience  of  the  past,  and  the  dread  of  the  future,  induced 
the  Romans  to  construct  fortifications  of  a  grosser  and  more 
substantial  kind.  The  seven  hills  of  Rome  had  been  sur- 
rounded, by  the  successors  of  Romulus,  with  an  ancient  ■wall 
cf  more  than  thirteen  miles.*^     The  vast  enclosure  may  seem 

**  One  should  imagine,  he  said,  that  you  were  assembled  in  a  Chris- 
lan  church,  not  in  the  temple  of  all  the  gods. 

^^  Vopiscus,  in  Hist.  August,  p.  215,  216,  gives  a  long  account  of 
these  ceremonies  from  the  Registers  of  the  senate. 

'"'  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  iii.  5.  To  confirm  our  idea,  we  mav  observe, 
that  for  a  long  time  Mount  Cselius  -was  a  grove  of  oaks,  a..J  Mount 
Viminal  was  overrmi  with  osiers ;  that,  in  the  fourth  century,  th« 
Aventine  was  a  vacant  and  solitary  retirement ;  tliat,  tiU  the  time  of 
Augustus,  the  Esquiline  was  an  unwholesome  burying-ground ;  and 
that  the  numerous  inequalities,  remarked  by  the  ancients  in  the  Qui- 
rinal,  sufiSciently  prove  that  it  was  not  covered  with  buildings.  Of 
the  Bevec  ^lills,  the  Capitoline  and  Palatine  only,  with  the  adjaceot 


/LD.  271.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  9i^^ 

disproportioned  to  the  strength  and  numbers  of  the  infant 
state.  But  it  was  necessary  to  secure  an  ample  extent  of 
pasture  and  arable  land,  against  the  frequent  and  sudden 
incursions  of  the  tribes  of  Latium,  the  perpetual  enemies  of 
the  republic.  With  the  progress  of  Roman  greatness,  the  city 
and  its  inhabitants  gradually  increased,  filled  up  the  vacant 
space,  pierced  through  the  useless  walls,  covered  the  field  of 
Mars,  and,  on  every  side,  followed  the  public  highways  in 
long  and  beautiful  suburbs.'"  The  extent  of  the  new  walls, 
erected  by  Aurelian,  and  finished  in  the  reign  of  Probus,  was 
magnified  by  popular  estimation  to  near  fifty,"  but  is  reduced 
by  accurate  measurement  to  about  twenty -one  miles."  It  was 
a  great  but  a  melancholy  labor,  since  the  defence  of  the  capi- 
tal betrayed  the  decline  of  the  monarchy.  The  Romans  of  a 
more  prosperous  age,  who  trusted  to  the  arms  of  the  legions 
the  safety  of  the  frontier  camps,^*  were  very  far  from  enter- 
taining a  suspicion,  that  it  would  ever  become  necessary  to 
fortify  the  seat  of  empire  against  the  inroads  of  the  barba- 
jians." 

The  victory  of  Claudius  over  the  Goths,  and  the  success  of 
Aurelian  against  the  Alemanni,  had  already  restored  to  the 
arms  of  Rome  their  ancient  superiority  over  the  barbarous 
nations  of  the  North.  To  chastise  domestic  tyrants,  and  to 
reunite  flie  dismembered  parts  of  the  empire,  was  a  task 
reserved  for  the  second  of  those  warlike  emperors.  Though 
he  was  acknowledged  by  the  senate  and  people,  the  frontiers 
of  Italy,  Africa,  Illyricum,  and  Thrace,  confined  the  limits  of 
his  reign.  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain,  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Asia 
Minor,  were  still  possessed  by  two  rebels,  who  alone,  out  of 
so  numerous  a  list,  had  hitherto  escaped  the  dangers  of  their 


valleys,  were  the  primitive  habitations  of  tlie  Roman  people.  But  this 
subject  would  require  a  dissertation. 

*^  Exspatiantia  tecta  multas  addidere  urbes,  is  the  expression  of 
Pliny. 

*^  Hist.  Angust.  p.  222.  Both  Lipsius  and  Isaac  Vossius  havo 
eagerly  embraced  this  measure. 

^'  See  Nardini,  Roma  Antica,  1.  i.  c.  8.* 

**  Tacit.  Hist.  iv.  23. 

**  For  Aurelian's  walls,  see  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  216,  222. 
Z«aimus,  L  i.  p.  43.  Eutropius,  ix.  15.  Aurel.  Victor  in  Aureliaa 
Victor  Juiior  in  Aurelian.     Euseb.  Hieronym.  et  Idatius  in  Cbrcoic 


•  But  compare  Gibbon,  cb.  xli.  note  77. — U. 


848  THE    DECIINK    AND    FALL  [A    D.  ?7l, 

Bituatioti ;  and  to  complete  the  ignominy  of  Rome,  these  rirjl 
thrones  had  bein  usurped  by  women, 

A  rapid  succession  of  monarchs  liad  arisen  and  fallen  In 
the  provinces  of  Gaul.  The  rigid  virtues  of  Posthumus  served 
only  to  hasten  his  destruction.  After  suppressing  a  compel 
itor,  who  had  assumed  the  purple  at  Mentz,  he  refused  to 
gratify  bis  troops  with  the  plunder  of  the  rebellious  city  ;  and 
in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign,  became  the  victim  of  theii 
disappointed  avarice/*  The  death  of  Victorinus,  his  friend 
and  associate,  was  occasioned  by  a  less  worthy  cause.  The 
shining  accomplishments "  of  that  prince  were  stamed  by  a 
licentious  passion,  which  he  indulged  in  acts  of  violence,  with 
too  little  regard  to  the  laws  of  society,  or  even  to  those  of 
lOve,''*  He  was  slain  at  Cologne,  by  a  conspiracy  of  jealous 
husbands,  whose  revenge  would  have  appeared  more  justifiable, 
had  they  spared  the  innocence  of  his  son.  After  the  murder 
of  so  many  valiant  princes,  it  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that 
a  female  for  a  long  time  controlled  the  fierce  legions  of  Gaul, 
and  still  more  singular,  that  she  was  the  mother  of  the  unfor- 
tunate Victorinus.  The  arts  and  treasures  of  Victoria  enabled' 
her  successively  to  place  Marius  and  Tetricus  on  the  throne, 
and  to  reign  with  a  manly  vigor  under  the  name  of  those 
dependent  emperors.  Money  of  copper,  of  silver,  and  of  gold, 
was  coined  in  her  name ;  she  assumed  the  titles  of  Augusta 
and  Mother  of  the  Camps :  her  power  ended  only  with  her 
life;  but  her  life  was  perhaps  shortened  by  the  ingratitude 
of  Tetricus.** 


*^  His  competitor  was  LoUianus,*  or  ^lianus,  if,  indeed,  these 
names  mean  the  same  person.     See  Tillemont,  torn.  iii.  p.  1177. 

*'  The  character  of  this  prince  by  Juhus  Aterianus  (ap.  Hist.  Au- 
gust, p.  187)  is  worth  transcribing,  as  it  seems  fair  and  impartial. 
Victorino  qui  Post  Junium  Posthumium  Gallias  rexit  neminem  exis- 
timo  pra3ferendum ;  non  in  virtute  Trajanum ;  non  Antoninum  in  de- 
mentia ;  non  in  gravitatr;  Nervam ;  non  in  gubernando  asrario  Vespa- 
sianum ;  non  in  Censura  totius  vitje  ac  severitate  militari  Pertinacem 
vel  Severum.  Sed  omnia  h.-ec  libido  et  cupiditas  voluptatis  muliera- 
rise  sic  pordidit,  ut  nemo  audeat  virtutes  ejus  in  literas  mittere  quem 
constat  omnium  judicio  meruisse  punu'i. 

*®  He  ravished  the  wife  of  Attitianus,  an  actuary,  or  army  agent. 
Hist.  August,  p.  186.     Aurel.  Victor  in  Aurelian. 

*'  Pollio  assigns  hr,r  an  article  among  the  thvrty  tyrants.  Hist 
At  gust.  p.  200. 

•  The  medals  vshicli  oear  the  name  of  Lollianus  are  considered  forperiea, 
•Kcept  one  in  the  museum  of  the  Prince  of  Waldeck  •   tlcre  are  many 


A.  D.  271.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  811 

When,  at  the  instigation  of  his  ambitious  patraness,  Totricua 
assumed  the  ensigns  of  royalty,  he  \v;is  governor  of  the  peace- 
ful province  of  Aquitaine,  an  employment  suited  to  his  char- 
acter and  education.  He  reigned  four  or  five  years  over  Gaul, 
Spain,  and  Britain,  the  slave  and  sovereign  of  a  licentious 
army,  whom  he  dreaded,  and  by  whom  he  was  despised.  The 
falor  and  fortune  of  Aurelian  at  length  opened  the  prospect  of 
a  deliverance.  He  ventured  to  disclose  his  melancholy  situa- 
tion, and  conjured  the  emperor  to  hasten  to  the  relief  of  hia 
unhappy  rival.  Had  this  secret  correspondence  reached  the 
ears  of  the  soldiers,  it  would  most  probably  have  cost  Tetricus 
his  life ;  nor  could  he  resign  the  sceptre  of  the  West  without 
committing  an  act  of  treason  against  himself.  He  afiected  the 
appearances  of  a  civil  war,  led  his  forces  into  the  field,  against 
Aurelian,  posted  them  in  the  most  disadvantageous  manner, 
betrayed  his  own  counsels  to  his  enemy,  and  with  a  few  chosen 
friends  deserted  in  the  beginning  of  the  action.  The  rebel 
legions,  though  disordered  and  dismayed  by  the  unexpected 
treachery  of  their  chief,  defended  themselves  with  desperate 
valor,  till  they  were  cut  in  pieces  almost  to  a  man,  in  this 
bloody  and  ineraorable  battle,  which  was  fought  near  Chalons 
in  Champagne.'"''  The  retreat  of  the  irregular  auxiliaries, 
Franks  and  Batavians,"  whom  the  conqueror  soon  compelled 
or  persuaded  to  repass  the  Rhine,  restored  the  general  tranquil- 
lity, and  the  power  of  Aurelian  was  acknowledged  from  the 
wall  of  Antoninus  to  the  columns  of  Hercules. 

As  early  as  the  reign  of  Claudius,  the  city  of  Autun,  aloao 
and  unassisted,  had  ventured  to  declare  against  the  legions  of 
Gaul.  After  a  siege  of  seven  months,  they  stormed  and  plun- 
dered that  unfortunate  city,  already  wasted  by  famine."    Lyons, 

*"  Pollio  in  Hist.  August,  p.  196.  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p. 
220.  The  two  Victors,  in  the  lives  of  Gallienus  and  Aurelian.  Eu- 
trop.  ix.  13.  Euseb.  in  Chron.  Of  all  these  writers,  only  the  two 
last  (but  with  strong  probability)  place  the  fall  of  Tetricus  before  that 
of  Zenobia.  M.  de  Boze  (in  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions,  torn,  xxx.) 
does  not  wish,  and  Tiliemont  (torn.  iii.  p.  1189)  docs  not  dare  to  fol- 
low them.  I  have  been  fairer  than  the  one,  and  bolder  than  th« 
other. 

^'  Victor  Junior  in  Aurelian.  Euineni us  mentions  batavicce  ;  some 
critics,  Tritliout  any  reason,  would  fain  alter  the  word  to  Bagct^dicce. 

"  Eumen.  in  Vet.  Panegyr.  iv.  8. 


•xtant  bearing  the  name  of  Lajlianus,  which  appears  V  ■  bave  been  \haf  vt 
ibe  oompetitor  of  Poslhumus.    E«khel.  Doot.  Num.  t  vi    449—0. 


850  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  I*.  272i 

on  the  contrary,  bad  resisted  with  obstinate  disafFectioa  the 
arms  of  AureUan.  We  read  of  the  punishment  of  Lyons," 
but  there  is  not  any  mention  of  the  rewards  of  Autun.  Such, 
indeed,  is  the  policy  of  civil  war;  severely  to  remember  in- 
juries, and  to  forget  the  most  important  services.  Revenge  ia 
profitable,  gratitude  is  expensive. 

Aurelian  had  no  sooner  secured  the  pei-son  and  provincef 
of  Tetricus,  than  he  turned  his  arms  against  Zenobia,  the 
celebrated  queen  of  Palmyra  and  the  East.  Modern  Europe 
has  jiroduced  several  illustrious  women  who  have  sustained 
with  glory  the  weight  of  empire ;  nor  is  our  own  age  destitute 
of  such  distinguished  characters.  But  if  we  except  the  doubt- 
ful achievements  of  Semiramis,  Zenobia  is  perhaps  the  only 
female  whose  superior  genius  broke  through  the  servile  indo- 
lence imposed  on  her  sex  by  the  climate  and  manners  of 
Asia."  She  claimed  her  descent  from  the  Macedonian  kings 
of  Egypt,*  equalled  in  beauty  her  ancestor  Cleopatra,  and  far 
surpassed  that  princess  in  chastity"  and  valor.  Zenobia  was 
esteemed  the  most  lovely  as  well  as  the  most  heroic  of  her 
sex.  She  was  of  a  dark  complexion,  (for  in  speaking  of  a  lady 
these  trifles  become  important.)  Her  teeth  were  of  a  pearly 
whiteness,  and  her  large  black  eyes  sparkled  with  uncomm'>ji 
fire,  tempered  by  the  most  attractive  sweetness.  Her  voice 
was  strong  and  harmonious.  Her  manly  understanding  was 
strengthened  and  adorned  by  study.  She  was  not  ignorant  of 
the  Latin  tongue,  but  possessed  in  equal  perfection  the  Greek, 
the  Syriac,  and  the  Egyptian  languages.  She  had  drawn  up 
for  her  own  use  an  epitome  of  oriental  history,  and  familiarly 
compared  the  beauties  of  Homer  and  Plato  under  the  tuitif  n 
of  the  sublime  Longinus. 

This  accomplished  woman  gave  her  hand  to  Odenathus,f 

*'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  246.  Autun  was  not  restored  till 
the  reigu  of  Diocletian.     See  Eumenius  de  restaurandis  scholis. 

'*  Almost  everytliing  that  is  said  of  the  manners  of  Odenathus  and 
Zenobia  is  takfen  from  their  lives  in  the  Augustan  History,  by  Trebel- 
lius  PoUio;  see  p.  192,  198. 

^^  She  never  admitted  her  husband's  embraces  but  for  the  sake  of 
posterity.  If  her  hopes  were  baffled,  in  the  ensuing  jnonth  she  rcit 
erated  the  expermient. 

•  According  to  some  Christian  writers,  Zenobia  was  a  Jewess.  (Jo«t 
Seschichte  der  Israel,  iv.  166.     Hist,  of  Jews,  iii.  175.) — M. 

t  According  to  Zosimus,  Odenathus  was  of  a  noble  family  in  Palmyra 
.;d,  according  to  Procopius,  he  was  prince  of  the  Saracens,  who  inhabit  tb) 
•nks  of  the  Euphi-ates.    Eclhel.  Doct  Num.  vii.  489.— G. 


A.  D.  272.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  351 

who,  from  a  private  station,  raised  himself  to  the  dominion  of 
the  East.  She  soon  became  the  friend  and  com])anion  of  a 
hero.  In  the  intervals  of  war,  Odenathus  passionately  de- 
lighted in  tlie  exercise  of  hunting ;  he  pursued  with  ardor  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  desert,  lions,  panthers,  and  bears  ;  and  the 
ardor  of  Zenobia  in  that  dangerous  amusement  wiis  not  inferior 
to  his  own.  She  had  inured  her  constitution  to  fatigue,  dis- 
dained the  use  of  a  covered  carriage,  generally  appeared  on 
horseback  in  a  military  habit,  and  sometimes  marched  several 
miles  on  foot  at  the  head  of  the  troops.  The  success  of  Ode- 
nathus was  in  a  great  measure  ascribed  to  her  incomparable 
prudence  and  fortitude.  Their  splendid  victories  over  the 
Groat  King,  whom  they  twice  pursued  as  fixr  as  the  gates  of 
Ctesiphou,  laid  the  foundations  of  their  united  fame  and  power. 
The  armies  which  they  commanded,  and  the  provinces  which 
they  had  saved,  acknowledged  not  any  other  sovereigns  than 
their  invincible  chiefs.  The  senate  and  people  of  Rome 
revered  a  stranger  who  had  avenged  their  captive  emperor,  and 
even  the  insensible  son  of  Valerian  accepted  Odenathus  for  his 
legitimate  colleague. 

After  a  successful  expedition  against  the  Gothic  plunderers 
of  Asia,  the  Palmyrenian  prince  returned  to  the  city  of 
Emesa  in  Syria.  Invincible  in  war,  he  was  there  cut  off 
by  domestic  treason,  and  his  favorite  amusement  of  hunting 
R'as  the  cause,  or  at  least  the  occasion,  of  his  death.'*  His 
aephew  Mseonius  presumed  to  dart  his  javelin  before  that  of 
his  uncle ;  and  though  admonished  of  his  error,  repeated  the 
same  insolence.  As  a  monarch,  and  as  a  sportsman,  Odena- 
thus was  provoked,  took  away  his  horse,  a  mark  of  ignominy 
among  the  barbarians,  and  chastised  the  rash  youth  by  a  short 
confinement.  The  offence  was  soon  forgot,  but  the  punish- 
ment was  remembered ;  and  Mseonius,  with  a  few  daring 
associates,  assassinated  his  uncle  in  the  midst  of  a  great  enter- 
tainment. Herod,  the  son  of  Odenathus,  though  not  of  Zeno 
bia,  a  young  man  of  a  soft  and  effeminate  temper,"  was  killed 
with  his  father.  But  Maeonius  obtained  only  the  pleasure  of 
revenge  by  this  bloody  deed.    Ho  had  scarcely  time  to  assume 

*'  Hist.  August,  p.  192,  193.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  36.  Zonara.=,  L  xii 
p.  633.  The  last  is  clear  and  probable,  the  others  confused  and  incon 
Bistent.     The  text  of  Syncellus,  if  not  corrupt,  is  absolute  nonse?j.se. 

"  Odenathus  and  Zenobia  often  sent  hirj,  frora  the  spoils  of  tha 
enemy,  presents  of  gems  and  toys,  which  he  rejfivcd  with   inSnitJ 


852  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A,D.  272 

the  title  of  Augustus,  before  he  was  sacrificed  by  Zenobia  ta 
the  ineinory  of  her  husband.^* 

With  the  assistance  of  his  most  faithful  friends,  she  imme- 
diately filled  the  vacant  throne,  and  governed  with  manly 
counsels  Palmyra,  Syria,  and  the  East,  above  five  years.  By 
the  death  of  Odenathus,  that  authority  was  at  an  end  which 
the  senate  had  granted  him  only  as  a  personal  distinction  ;  but 
his  martial  widow,  disdaining  both  the  senate  and  Gallienus, 
bliged  one  of  the  Roman  generals,  who  was  sent  against  her, 
to  retreat  into  Europe,  with  the  loss  of  his  army  and  his  repu- 
tation.^' Instead  of  the  httle  passions  which  so  frequently 
perplex  a  female  reign,  the  steady  administration  of  Zenobia 
was  guided  by  the  most  judicious  maxims  of  policy.  If  it  was 
expedient  to  pardon,  she  could  calm  her  resentment ;  if  it  was 
necessary  to  punish,  she  could  impose  silence  on  the  voice  of 
pity.  Her  strict  economy  was  accused  of  avarice ;  yet  on 
every  proper  occasion  she  appeared  magnificent  and  liberal. 
The  neighboring  states  of  Arabia,  Armenia,  and  Persia,  dread- 
ed her  enmity,  and  solicited  her  alliance.  To  the  dominions 
of  Odenathus,  which  extended  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  fron- 
tiers of  Bithynia,  his  widow  added  the  inheritance  of  her 
ancestors,  the  populous  and  fertile  kingdom  of  Egypt.**"* 
The  emperor  Claudius  acknowledged  her  merit,  and  was 
content,  that,  while  he  pursued  the  Gothic  war,  she  should 
assert  the  dignity  of  the  empire  in  the  East.*"  The  conduct^ 
however,  of  Zenobia,  was  attended  with  some  ambiguity  ;  nor 
is  it  unlikely  that  she  had  conceived  the  design  of  erecting  an 
Independent  and  hostile  monarchy.  She  blended  with  ihe 
popular  manners  of  Roman  princes  the  stately  pomp  of  the 
courts  of  Asia,  and  exacted  from  her  subjects  the  same  adora- 
tion that  was  paid  to  the  successor  of  Cyrus.  She  bestowed 
on  her  three  sons  *'  a  Latin  education,  and  often  showed  them 

^*  Some  very  unjust  suspicions  have  been  cast  01  Zenobia,  as  if  she 
was  accessory  to  her  husband's  deatli. 

''  Hist.  August,  p.  180,  181. 

**  See,  in  Hist.  August,  p.  198,  Aurelian's  testimony  to  her  merit; 
and  for  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  39,  40. 

°'  Timolaus,  Herennianus,  and  Vaballathus.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  two  former  were  aheady  dead  before  the  war.  On  the  last,  Aure- 
lian  bestowed  a  small  province  of  Armenia,  with  the  title  of  Kirig ; 
eeveral  of  his  medals  are  still  extant.     See  TiUemont,  torn.  3,  p.  1190 

*  This  seems  very  doubtftil.  Claudius,  during  all  his  reign,  is  lepra 
rented  a*  emperor  on  the  medals  of  Alexandria,  -vwhich  are  very  ntimeitxv 


Al.  D.  272.]       OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  368 

to  the  troops  adorned  with  tbe  Imperial  jnirplo  For  herself 
•he  reserved  tbe  diadem,  with  the  splendid  but  di^aiblt'ul  title 
of  Queen  of  the  East. 

When  Aurelian  passed  over  into  Asia,  against  an  adversary 
whose  sex  alone  could  render  her  an  object  of  contempt,  hia 
presence  restored  obedience  to  the  province  of  IJithynia,  al- 
ready shaken  by  the  arms  and  intrigues  of  Zenobia."  Advan- 
cing at  the  head  of  his  legions,  he  accepted  the  submission  of 
Ancyra,  and  was  admitted  into  Tyana,  after  an  obstinate  siege, 
by  the  help  of  a  perfidious  citizen.  The  generous  though 
fierce  temper  of  Aurelian  abandoned  the  traitor  to  the  rage  of 
the  soldiers ;  a  superstitious  reverence  induced  him  to  treat 
with  lenity  the  countrymen  of  Apoilonius  the  philosopher.** 
Antioch  was  deserted  on  his  approach,  till  the  emperor,  by  his 
salutary  edicts,  recalled,  the  fugitives,  and  granted  a  general 
pardon  to  all,  who,  from  necessity  rather  than  choice,  had 
been  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Palmyrenian  Queen.  The 
unexpected  mildness  of  such  a  conduct  reconciled  the  minds 
of  the  Syi'ians,  and  as  far  as  the  gates  of  Emesa,  the  wishes  of 
the  people  seconded  the  terror  of  his  arms.** 

Zenobia  would  have  ill  deserved  her  reputation,  had  she 
indolently  permitted  the  emperor  of  the  West  to  approach 
within  a  hundred  miles  of  her  capital.  The  fate  of  the  East 
was  decided  in  two  great  battles ;  so  similar  in  almost  every 
circumstance,  that  we  can  scarcely  distinguish  them  from 
each  other,  except  by  observing  that  the  first  was  fought  near 
Antioch,*^  and  the  second  near  Emesa."*  In  both  the  queen 
of  Palmyra  animated  the  armies  by  her  presence,  and  devolved 
the  execution  of  her   orders  on   Zabdas,   who   had  already 


*'  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  44. 

*'  Vopiscus  (in  Hist.  August,  p.  211)  gives  us  an  authentic  letter 
and  a  doubtful  vision,  of  Aurelian.  Apoilonius  of  Tyana  was  born 
about  the  same  time  as  Jesus  Christ.  His  life  (that  of  the  former)  ia 
related  in  so  fabulous  a  manner  by  his  disciples,  that  we  are  at  a  loss 
to  discover  whether  he  was  a  sage,  an  impostor,  or  a  fanatic. 

"  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  46. 

*'  At  a  place  called  Immse.  Eutropius,  Sextrs  Rufus,  and  Jerome, 
mention  only  this  first  battle. 

*'  Vopiscus  (in  Hist.  August,  p.  217)  mentions  only  the  second. 


If  Zenobia  possessed  any  power  in  Ef,'3pt,  it  could  only  have  been  at  tfae 
bejfianint;  of  the  reii,'n  of  Aurelian.  Tbe  same  circumstance  throws  great 
boprobability  on  her  conquests  in  Galatia.  Perhaps  Zenobia  administered 
E^ypt  in  tha  nanie  of  Claudius,  and  emboldened  by  the  death  of  thai 
prmce,  sabjected  it  to  her  own  power — (j. 


^64  IHE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A  D.  2T  Z 

signalized  his  military  talents  by  the  conquest  of  E^ypt.  The 
numerous  forces  of  Zenobia  consisted  for  the  most  part  of 
hght  archers,  and  of  heavy  cavahy  clothed  in  complete  steel 
The  Moorisli  and  Illyrian  horse  of  Aurelian  were  unable  to 
sustain  the  ponderous  charge  of  their  antagonists.  They  fled 
in  real  or  affected  disorder,  engaged  the  Palmyrenians  in  a 
laborious  pursuit,  harassed  them  by  a  desultory  combat,  anc?. 
at  length  discomfited  this  impenetrable  but  unwieldy  body  of 
cavalry.  The  light  infantry,  in  the  mean  time,  when  they 
bad  exhausted  their  quivers,  remaining  without  protection 
against  a  closer  onset,  exposed  their  naked  sides  to  the  swords 
of  the  legions.  Aurelian  had  chosen  these  veteran  troops, 
who  were  usually  stationed  on  the  Upper  Danube,  and  whose 
valor  had  been  severely  tried  in  the  Alemannic  war."  After 
the  defeat  of  Emesa,  Zenobia  found  it  impossible  to  collect  a 
third  army.  As  far  as  the  frontier  of  Egypt,  the  nations  sub- 
ject to  her  empire  had  joined  the  standard  of  the  conqueror, 
who  detached  Probus,  the  bravest  of  his  generals,  to  possess 
himself  of  the  Egyptian  provinces.  Palmyra  was  the  last 
resource  of  the  widow  of  Odenathus.  She  retired  within  the 
walls  of  her  capital,  made  every  preparation  for  a  vigorous 
resistance,  and  declared,  with  the  intrepidity  of  a  heroine,  that 
the  last  moment  of  her  reign  and  of  her  life  should  be  the 
same. 

Amid  the  barren  deserts  of  Arabia,  a  few  cultivated  spots 
rise  like  islands  out  of  the  sandy  ocean.  Even  the  name  of 
Tadmor,  or  Palmyra,  by  its  signification  in  the  Syriac  as  well 
as  in  the  Latin  language,  denoted  the  multitude  of  palm-trees 
which  afforded  shade  and  verdure  to  that  temperate  region. 
The  air  was  pure,  and  the  soil,  watered  by  some  invaluable 
springs,  was  capable  of  producing  fruits  as  well  as  corn.  A 
place  possessed  of  such  singular  advantages,  and  situated  at 
a  convenient  distance  *'  between  the   Gulf  of  Persia  and  the 

°'  Zosinms,  1.  i.  p.  44 — 48.  His  account  of  the  two  battles  is  clear 
and  circumstantial. 

'®  It  was  five  hundred  and  thirty -seven  miles  from  Seleucia,  and  two 
hundred  and  three  from  the  nearest  coast  of  Syria,  according  to  the 
reckoning  of  Phny,  who,  in  a  few  words,  (Hist.  Natur.  v.  21,)  gives  an 
excellent  description  of  Palmyra.* 

*  Taimor,  or  Palmyra,  was  probably  at  a  very  early  period  the  connectina 
link  bciween  the  commerce  of  Tyre  and  Babylon.  Heeren,  Ideen,  v.  i.  p.  u 
ft.  m.  Tadrnor  was  probably  built  by  Solomon  as  a  commercial  statien 
Hi*t.  of  Jews,  V.  '.  p.  271  —  M. 


A.  D.  2721  OF      Hfi    ROMAN    BMl'lRE,  361 

Mediterranean,  was  soon  frequented  by  the  caravar.s  which 
conveyed  to  the  nations  of  Europe  a  considerable  part  of  the 
rich  commodities  of  India.  Pahnyra  insensibly  increased  into 
an  opulent  and  independent  city,  and  connecting  the  Roman 
and  the  Parthian  monarchies  by  the  mutual  benefits  of  com- 
merce, was  suffered  to  observe  an  humble  neutrality,  till  at 
length,  after  the  victories  of  Trajan,  the  little  republic  sunk  into 
the  bosom  of  Rome,  and  flourished  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  in  the  subordinate  though  honorable  rank  of  a 
colony.  It  wa?  during  that  peaceful  period,  if  we  may  judge 
from  a  few  remaining  inscriptions,  that  the  wealthy  Palmyren- 
ians  constructed  those  temples,  palaces,  and  porticos  of  Grecian 
architecture,  whose  ruins,  scattered  over  an  extent  of  several 
miles,  have  deserved  the  curiosity  of  our  travellers.  The  eleva- 
tion of  Odenathus  and  Zenobia  appeared  to  reflect  new  sj^lendor 
on  their  country,  and  Palmyra,  for  a  while,  stood  forth  the  rival 
of  Rome  :  but  the  competition  was  fatal,  and  ages  of  prosperity 
were  sacrificed  to  a  moment  of  glory .*^ 

In  his  march  over  the  sandy  desert  between  Emesa  and 
Palmyra,  the  emperor  Aureliau  was  perpetually  harassed  by 
the  Arabs ;  nor  could  he  always  defend  his  army,  and  espe- 
cially his  baggage,  from  those  flying  troops  of  active  and 
daring  robbers,  who  watched  the  moment  of  surprise,  and 
eluded  the  slow  pursuit  of  the  legions.  The  siege  of  Palmyra 
was  an  object  far  more  difficult  and  important,  and  the  em- 
peror, who,  with  incessant  vigor,  pressed  the  attacks  in  person, 
was  himself  wounded  with  a  dart.  "The  Roman  people," 
says  Aurelian,  in  an  original  letter,  "  speak  with  contempt  of 
the  war  which  I  am  waging  against  a  woman.  They  are 
ignorant  both  of  the  character  and  of  the  power  of  Zenobia» 
It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  her  warlike  preparations,  of 
stones,  of  arrows,  and  of  every  species  of  missile  weapons. 
Every  part  of  the  walls  is  provided  with  two  or  three  balistot 
and  artificial  fires  are  thrown  from  her  military  engines. 
Tht>  fear  of  punishment  has  armed  her  with  a  desperate  cour- 
age.    Yet  still  I  trust  in  the  protecting  deities  of  Rome,  who 


*'  Some  English  travellers  from  Aleppo  discovered  the  ruins  of  Pal 
■oyra  .about  the  end  of  the  hist  century.  Our  curiosity  has  since  beea 
gratified  in  a  more  splendid  maimer  by  Messieurs  Wood  and  Dawkins 
For  the  history  of  Palmyra,  we  may  consult  the  masterly  dissertation 
of  Dr.  Halley  in  the  Phjlosophical  Transactions:  Lowthorp's  Abridg 
men^,  vol.  iij.  p.  518. 


158  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.U.  278 

have  hitherto  been  favorable  to  all  my  undoi takings.""" 
Doubtful,  however,  of  the  protection  of  the  gods,  and  of  the 
event  of  the  siege,  Aurelian  judged  it  more  prudenl  to  offel 
terms  of  an  advantageous  capitulation  ;  to  the  queen,  a  -'plendic 
retreat ;  to  the  citizens,  their  ancient  privileges.  His  )/roposal6 
were  obstinately  rejected,  aud  the  refusal  was  accompanied  with 
insult. 

The  firmness  of  Zenobia  was  supported  by  the  hope,  that 
in  a  very  short  time  famine  would  compel  the  Ronjan  army 
to  repass  the  desert ;  and  by  the  reasonable  expectation  that 
the  kings  of  the  East,  and  particularly  the  Persian  monarch, 
would  arm  in  the  defence  of  their  most  natural  ally.  But  for- 
tune, and  the  perseverance  of  Aurelian,  overcame  ever^  obsta- 
cle. The  death  of  Sapor,  which  happened  about  t^is  time,^* 
distracted  the  councils  of  Persia,  and  the  inconsidernole  succors 
that  attempted  to  relieve  Palmyra,  were  easily  intercepted 
cither  by  the  arms  or  the  liberality  of  the  emperor.  From 
every  part  of  Syria,  a  regular  succession  of  convoys  safely 
aiTived  in  the  camp,  which  was  increased  by  the  return  of 
Probus  with  his  victorious  troops  from  the  conquest  of  Egypt. 
Tt  was  then  that  Zenobia  resolved  to  fly.  She  mounted  the 
fleetest  of  her  dromedaries,"  and  had  already  reached  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,  about  sixty  miles  from  Palmyra,  whec 
she  was  overtaken  by  the  pursuit  of  Aurelian's  light  horse, 
seized,  and  brought  back  a  captive  to  the  feet  of  the  emperor. 
Her  capital  soon  afterwards  surrendered,  and  was  treated  with 
unexpected  lenity.  The  arms,  horses,  and  camels,  with  an  im- 
mense treasure  of  gold,  silver,  silk,  and  precious  stones,  were 
all  delivered  to  the  conqueror,  who,  leaving  only  a  garrison  of 
six  hundred  archers,  returned  to  Emesa,  and  employed  some 
time  in  the  distribution  of  rewards  and  punishments  at  the  end 
of  so  memorable  a  war,  which  restored  to  the  obedience  of 
Rome  those  provinces  that  had  renounced  their  allegiance  since 
the  captivity  of  Valerian. 

""^  Vopiscus  ill  Hist.  August,  p.  218. 

^'  From  a  very  doubtful  ch  •onology  I  have  endeavored  to  extract 
the  most  probable  date. 

'^  Hist.  August,  p.  218.  Zosiraus,  1.  i.  p.  50.  Though  the  camel  ia 
a  heavy  beast  of  burden,  the  dromedary,  which  is  either  of  the  same 
or  of  a  kind/ed  species,  is  used  by  the  natives  of  Asia  and  Africa  on  all 
occasions  which  require  celerity.  The  Arabs  affirm,  thnt  he  will  run 
over  as  much  ground  in  one  day  as  their  fleetest  horses  can  perform  in 
eight  or  ieo.  See  Buifon,  Hist.  Naturelle,  torn.  xi.  p.  222,  and  Shaw'l 
rraveV,  p.  let 


A.  D.  273.J  OF    TH5    ROMAN    EMMRE.  351 

When  the  Sjrian  queen  was  brought  into  the  presence  of 
Aurelian,  be  sternly  asked  her,  How  she  had  presumed  to  rise 
in  arms  against  the  emperors  of  Rome !  The  answer  of 
Zenobia  was  a  prudent  mixture  of  respect  and  firmness. 
"Because  I  disdained  to  consider  as  Roman  emperors  an 
Aureohis  or  a  GalHenus.  You  alone  I  acknowledge  as  my 
conqueror  and  my  sovereign." "  But  as  female  fortitude  is 
commonly  artificial,  so  it  is  seldom  steady  or  consistent.  Tho 
courage  of  Zenobia  deserted  her  in  the  hour  of  trial ;  she 
trembled  at  the  angry  clamors  of  the  soldiers,  who  called  aloud 
for  her  immediate  execution,  forgot  the  generous  despair  of 
Cleoj)atra,  which  she  had  proposed  as  her  model,  and  ignomin 
iously  purchased  life  by  the  sacrifice  of  lier  fame  and  her 
friends.  It  was  to  their  counsels,  which  governed  the  weak- 
ness of  her  sex,  that  she  imputed  the  guilt  of  lier  obstinate 
resistance ;  it  was  on  their  heads  that  she  directed  the  ven- 
geance of  the  cruel  Aurelian.  The  fame  of  Longinus,  who 
was  included  among  the  numerous  and  perhaps  innocent 
victims  of  her  fear,  will  survive  that  of  the  queen  who  betrayed, 
or  the  tyrant  who  condemned  him.  Genius  and  learning  were 
incapable  of  moving  a  fierce  unlettered  soldier,  but  they  had 
served  to  elevate  and  harmonize  the  soul  of  Longinus.  With- 
out uttering  a  complaint,  he  calmly  followed  the  executioner, 
pitying  his  unhappy  mistress,  and  bestowing  comfort  on  his 
afflicted  friends." 

Returning  from  the  conquest  of  the  East,  Aurelian  had 
already  crossed  the  Straits  which  divided  Europe  from  Asia, 
when  he  was  provoked  by  the  intelligence  that  the  Palmy- 
renians  had  massacred  the  governor  and  garrison  which  he 
had  left  among  them,  and  again  erected  the  standard  of  revolt. 
Without  a  moment's  deliberation,  he  once  more  turned  his 
face  towards  Syria.  Antioch  was  alarmed  by  his  rapid  ap- 
proach, and  the  helpless  city  of  Palmyra  felt  the  irresistible 
weight  of  his  resentment.  We  have  a  letter  of  Aurelian  him- 
self, in  which  he  acknowledges,"  that  old  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, and  peasants,  had  been  involved  in  that  dreadful  execu- 
tion, which  should  have  been  confined  to  armed  rebellion ;  and 
although  his  principal  concern  seems  directed  to  the  reestab- 
Hehment  of  a  temple  of  the  Sun,  he  discovers  some  pity  foi 

'*  Pollio  in  Hist.  August,  p.  199. 

•*  Voplaus  in  Hist.  August  p.  21 9.     Zosirius,  1.  L  p.  tl 

'•  Hist  August,  p.  219. 


S58  THE    DECLINE    AUD    FALb  [A.D.  274 

the  remnant  of  the  Palmyrenians,  to  whom  he  grants  the  per 
mission  of  rebuilding  and  inhabiting  their  citj.  But  it  is  easiei 
to  destroy  than  to  restore.  The  se^t  of  commerce,  of  arts, 
and  of  Zenobia,  gradually  sunk  into  an  obscure  town,  a  tri 
fling  fortress,  and  at  length  a  miserable  village.  The  present 
citizens  of  Palmyra,  consisting  of  thirty  or  forty  families,  h»vo 
erected  their  mud  cottages  within  the  spacious  court  of  a  mu- 
nificent temple. 

Another  and  a  last  labor  still  awaitefl  the  indefatig.<<bl<». 
Aurelian  ;  to  suppress  a  d;mgerous  though  ohscMre  rebel,  who, 
during  the  revolt  of  Palmyra,  had  arisen  on  the  b,snks  of  the 
Nile.  Firmus,  the  friend  and  ally,  as  he  prou.-liy  styled  him- 
self, of  Odenathus  and  Zenobia,  was  no  more  thfvn  n  wealthy 
merchant  of  Egypt.  In  the  course  uf  his  trade  to  india,  he 
had  formed  very  intimate  connections  with  the  Sarneens  an(J 
the  Blemmyes,  whose  situation  on  either  coast  of  ths  Red  Sea 
gave  them  an  easy  introduction  into  the  Upper  Egypt.  Th« 
Egyptians  he  inflamed  with  the  hope  of  freedom,  and,  at  the 
head  of  their  furious  multitude,  broke  into  the  city  of  Alexan- 
dria, where  he  assumed  the  Imperial  purple,  coined  money, 
published  edicts,  and  raised  an  armj^,  which,  as  he  vainly 
boasted,  he  was  capable  of  maintaining  from  the  sole  profits 
of  his  paper  trade.  Such  troops  were  a  feeble  defence  against 
the  approach  of  Aurelian ;  and  it  seems  ahnost  unnecessary 
to  relate,  that  Firmus  was  routed,  taken,  tortured,  and  put  to 
death."  Aurelian  might  now  congratulate  the  senate,  th? 
people,  and  himself,  that  in  little  more  than  three  years,  he  had 
restored  universal  peace  and  order  to  the  Roman  world. 

Since  the  foundation  of  Rome,  no  general  had  more  nobly 
deserved  a  triumph  than  Aurelian ;  nor  was  a  triumph  ever 
celebrated  with  superior  pride  and  magnificence.'^  The  pomp 
was  opened  by  twenty  elephants,  four  royal  tigers,  and  above 
two  hundred  of  the  most  curious  animals  from  every  climate 
of  the  North,  the  East,  and  the  South.  They  were  followed 
by  sixteen  hundred  gladiators,  devoted  to  the  cruel  amusement 

""  Sse  Yopiscua  in  Hist.  August,  p.  220,  242.  As  an  instance  of 
luxury,  it  is  observed,  that  he  had  glass  windows.  He  was  remarka 
ble  for  his  strength  and  appetite,  his  courage  and  dexterity.  From 
tlie  letter  of  Aurelian,  we  m.ay  justly  infer,  that  Firmus  was  tbe  last 
of  the  rebels,  and  consequently  that  Tetricus  was  already  suppressed 

"  See  tlie  trimnph  of  Aurelian,  described  by  Vopiscus.  He  relatei 
iho  particulars  with  liis  usual  minuteness ;  and,  on  this  occasion,  they 
kappen  to  be  interesting.     Hist.  August,  p  220. 


A.  £>.  274.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  35S 

of  the  aiupbitlieatre.  The  wealth  of  Asia,  tlie  arms  and  en- 
«igns  of  so  many  conquered  nations,  and  the  uiagnificent  pUita 
and  wardrobe  of  the  Syrian  queen,  were  disposed  in  exact  sym- 
metry or  artful  disorder.  The  -imbiussadors  of  the  most  re- 
mote parts  of  the  earth,  of  Ethiopia,  Arabia,  Persia,  Bactri- 
ana,  India,  and  China,  all  remarkable  by  their  rich  or  singular 
dresses,  displayed  the  tame  and  power  of  the  Roman  emperor, 
who  exposed  likewise  to  the  public  view  the  presents  that  he 
bad  received,  and  particularly  a  great  number  of  crowns  of 
gold,  the  offerings  of  grateful  cities.  The  victories  of'Aure- 
lian  were  attested  by  the  long  train  of  captives  who  reluc- 
tantly attended  his  triumph,  Goths,  Vandals,  Sarmatians, 
Alemanni,  Franks,  Gauls,  Syrians,  and  Egyptians.  Each 
people  was  distinguished  by  its  peculiar  inscription,  and  the 
title  of  Amazons  was  bestowed  on  ten  martial  heroines  of  tho 
Gothic  nation  who  had  been  taken  in  arms."*  But  every  eye, 
disregarding  the  crowd  of  captives,  was  fixed  on  the  emperor 
Tetricus  and  the  queen  of  the  East.  The  former,  as  well 
as  his  son,  whom  he  had  created  Augustus,  was  dressed  in 
Gallic  trousers,"  a  saffron  tunic,  and  a  robe  of  purple.  The 
beauteous  figure  of  Zenobia  was  confined  by  fetters  of  gold ; 
a  slave  supported  the  gold  chain  which  encircled  her  neck, 
and  she  almost  fainted  under  the  intolerable  weight  of  jewels 
She  preceded  on  foot  the  magnificent  chariot,  in  which  she 
once  hoped  to  enter  the  gates  of  Rome.  It  was  followed  by 
two  other  chariots,  still  more  sumptuous,  of  Odenathus  and 
of  the  Persian  monarch.     The  triumphal  car  of  Aurelian  (it 

'*  i\mong  barbarous  nations,  women  have  often  combated  by  the 
(side  of  their  husbands.  But  it  is  almost  impossible  that  a  society  of 
Amazons  should  ever  have  existed  either  in  the  old  or  new  world.* 

'■'  The  use  of  braccce,  breeches,  or  trousers,  was  still  considered  in 
Italy  as  a  Gallic  and  barbarian  fashion.  The  Romans,  however,  had 
made  great  advances  towards  it..  To  encircle  the  legs  and  thighs  with 
faxciai,  or  bands,  was  understood,  in  the  time  of  Pompey  and  Horace, 
to  be  a  proof  of  ill  health  or  effeminacy.  In  the  age  of  Trajan,  the 
custom  was  confined  to  the  rich  and  luxurious.  It  gradually  was 
adopted  by  the  meanest  of  the  people.  See  a  very  curious  note  of 
Casaubon,  ad  Sueton.  in  August  c.  82. 


*  Klaproth's  theory  on  the  origin  of  such  traditions  is  at  least  rccom 
attended  by  its  uigenuity.  The  males  of  a  tribe  having  gone  out  ou  a 
marauding  expedition,  and  having  been  cut  off  to  a  man,  tta  females  may 
have  endeavored,  for  a  time,  to  maintain  tlieir  independence  in  their  camp 
•r  village,  liU  their  children  grew  up.     Travels,  ch.  xxx.      Eiig.  Traat 


990  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  274 

had  foimeriy  been  used  by  a  Gothic  king)  was  drawn,  on  this 
memorable  occasion,  either  by  four  stags  or  by  four  elephants." 
The  most  illustrious  of  the  senate,  the  people,  and  the  army 
closed  the  solemn  procession.  Unfeigned  joy,  wonder,  and 
gratitude,  swelled  the  acclamations  of  the  multitude  ;  but  the 
satisfaction  of  the  senate  was  clouded  by  the  appearance  of 
Tetricus ;  nor  could  they  suppress  a  rising  murmur,  that  the 
haughty  emperor  should  thus  expose  to  public  ignominy  the 
person  of  a  Roman  and  a  magistrate.*' 

But  however,  in  the  treatment  of  his  unfortunate  rivaiss, 
Aurelian  might  indulge  his  pride,  he  behaved  towards  thom 
with  a  generous  clemency,  which  was  seldom  exercised  by  the 
ancient  conquerors.  Princes  who,  without  success,  had  de- 
fended their  throne  or  freedom,  were  frequently  strangled  in 
prison,  as  soon  as  the  triumphal  pomp  ascended  the  Capitol. 
These  usurpers,  whom  their  defeat  had  convicted  of  the  crime 
of  treason,  were  permitted  to  spend  their  lives  in  affluence  and 
honorable  repose.  The  emperor  presented  Zenobia  with  an 
elegant  villa  at  Tibur,  or  Tivoli,  about  twenty  miles  from  the 
capital ;  the  Syrian  queen  insensibly  sunk  into  a  Roman 
matron,  her  daughters  married  into  noble  families,  and  her 
race  was  not  yet  extinct  in  the  fifth  century.*'  Tetricus  and 
his  son  were  reinstated  in  their  rank  and  fortunes.  They 
erected  on  the  Ceelian  hill  a  magnificent  palace,  and  as  soon 
as  it  was  finished,  invited  Aurelian  to  supper.  On  his  en- 
trance, he  was  agreeably  surprised  with  a  picture  which  repre- 
sented their  singular  history.  They  were  delineated  offering 
to  the  emperor  a  civic  crown  and  the  sceptre  of  Gaul,  and 
again  receiving  at  his  hands  the  ornaments  of  the  senatorial 
dignity.  The  father  was  afterwards  invested  with  the  govern- 
ment of  Lucania,*'  and  Aurelian,  who  soon  admitted  the  abdi- 
cated monarch  to  his  friendship  and  conversation,  familiarly 

*°  Most  probably  the  former ;  tlie  latter  seen  on  the  medals  of 
Aurelian,  only  denote  (according  to  the  learned  Cardinal  Norris)  an 
oriental  victory. 

*'  The  expression  of  Calpliurnius,  (Eclog.  L  50,)  NuUos  decet  captiva 
triumphos,  as  applied  to  Rome,  contains  a  very  manifest  allusion  and 
censure. 

*-  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  199.  Hieronym.  in  Cliron.  Prosper 
in  Chron.  Baronius  supposes  that  Zenobius,  bishop  of  Florence  in 
the  time  of  St.  Ambrose,  was  of  her  family. 

*'  Vopisc.  in  Hist.  August,  p.  222.  Eutropius,  ix.  13.  Yictoi 
Junior.  But  PoUio,  in  Hist.  August,  p.  19t>,  says,  that  Tetricus  wu 
Bade  corrector  ©f  all  Italy. 


A-D.  274.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    iCMPIRE.  361 

asked  lilra,  Whether  it  were  not  more  desirable  to  adininisLer 
a  province  of  Italy,  than  to  reign  beyond  the  Alps.  The  son 
long  continued  a  respectable  member  of  the  senate  ;  nor  w;ia 
there  any  one  of  the  Roman  nobility  more  esteemed  by 
A.urelian,  as  well  as  by  his  successors." 

So  long  and  so  various  was  the  pomp  of  Aurelian's  triumph, 
that  although  it  opened  with  the  dawn  of  day,  the  slow  majesty 
jf  the  procession  ascended  not  the  Capitol  before  the  ninth 
-lour;  and  it  was  already  dark  Avhen  the  emperor  returned  to 
Jie  palace.  The  f  jstival  w;vs  protracted  by  theatrical  repro 
mentations,  the  games  of  the  circus,  the  hunting  of  wild  beiists, 
combats  of  gladiators,  and  naval  engagements.  Liberal  dona- 
tives were  distributed  to  the  army  and  people,  and  several 
institutions,  agreeable  or  beneficial  to  the  city,  contributed  to 
perpetuate  the  glory  of  Aurelian.  A  considerable  portion  of 
his  oriental  spoils  was  consecrated  to  the  gods  of  Home  ;  the 
Capitol,  and  every  other  temple,  glittered  with  the  oflerings 
of  his  ostentatious  piety ;  and  the  temple  of  the  Sun  alone 
received  above  fifteen  thousand  pounds  of  gold.*^  This  last 
was  a  magnificent  structure,  erected  by  the  emperor  on  the 
side  of  the  Quirinal  hill,  and  dedicated,  soon  after  the  triumph, 
to  that  deity  whom  Aurelian  adored  as  the  parent  of  his  life 
and  fortunes.  His  mother  had  been  an  inferior  priestess  in  a 
chapel  of  the  Sun ;  a  peculiar  devotion  to  the  god  of  Light 
was  a  sentiijient  which  the  fortunate  peasant  imbibed  in  his 
hifancy ;  and  every  step  of  his  elevation,  every  victory  of  his 
reign,  fortified  superstition  by  gratitude." 

The  arms  of  Aurelian  had  vanquished  the  foreign  and 
domestic  foes  of  the  republic.  We  are  assured,  that,  by  his 
salutary  rigor,  crimes  and  factions,  mischievous  arts  and  per- 
nicious connivance,  the  luxurious  growth  of  a  feeble  and 
oppressive  government,  were  eradicated  throughout  the  Roman 
world.*'  But  if  we  attentively  reflect  how  much  swifter  is  tho 
progress  of  corruption  than  its  cure,  and  if  we  remember  that 

•*  Hist.  August,  p.  197. 

''■  Vopiscus  in  HLst.  August.  222.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  5G.  Ho  placcil 
in  it  the  images  of  Belus  and  of  the  Sun,  whicli  he  liad  brouglit  from 
Palmyra.  It  was  dedicated  in  tlie  fourtli  year  of  liis  reign,  (Euscb 
111  Oliron.,)  but  was  most  assuredly  begun  immediately  on  his  accession 

*°  See,  in  tlie  Augustan  History,  p.  210,  the  omens  of  his  fortune 
His  devotion  to  the  Sun  appears  in  his  letters,  on  his  medals,  and  ia 
tnoniioned  in  the  Ctesars  of  Julian.  Commentaire  de  Spanhoici,  p 
109. 

'^  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  221, 

VOL.    T. Q 


882  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  1).  27*. 

the  years  nbar.doned  to  piiblic  disorders  exceeded  the  m®ntb.a 
allotted  to  the  martial  reign  of  Aurelian,  we  miist  confess  thai 
a  few  short  intervals  of  peace  were  insufficient  for  the  arduous 
work  of  reformation.  Even  his  attempt  to  restore  the  integ- 
rity of  the  coin  was  opposed  by  a  formidable  insurrection. 
The  emperor's  vexation  breaks  out  in  one  of  his  private  let- 
ters. "  Surely,"  says  he,  "  the  gods  have  decreed  that  my  Ufa 
should  be  a  perpetual  warfare.  A  sedition  within  the  walla 
has  just  now  given  birth  to  a  very  serious  civil  war.  The 
workmen  of  the  mint,  at  the  instigation  of  Felicissimus,  a  slave 
to  whom  I  had  intrusted  an  employment  in  the  finances,  have 
risen  in  rebellion.  They  are  at  length  suppressed  ;  but  seven 
thousand  of  my  soldiers  have  been  slain  in  the  contest,  of  those 
troops  whose  ordinary  station  is  in  Dacia,  and  the  camps  along 
the  Danube."**  Other  writers,  who  confirm  the  same  fact, 
add  likewise,  that  it  happened  soon  after  Aurelian's  triumph ; 
that  the  decisive  engagement  was  fought  on  the  Caelian  hill ; 
that  the  workmen  of  the  mint  had  adulterated  the  coin  ;  and 
that  the  emperor  restored  the  public  credit,  by  delivering  out 
good  money  in  exchange  for  the  bad,  which  the  people  wjus 
:;ommanded  to  bring  into  the  treasury.** 

We  might  content  ourselves  with  relating  this  extraordinary 
transaction,  but  we  cannot  dissemble  how  much  in  its  present 
form  it  appears  to  us  inconsistent  and  incredible.  The  debase- 
ment of  the  coin  is  indeed  well  suited  to  the  administration  of 
Gallienus ;  nor  is  it  unlikely  that  the  instruments  of  the  cor- 
ruption might  dread  the  inflexible  justice  of  Aurelian.  But 
the  guilt,  as  well  as  the  profit,  tdust  have  been  confined  to  a 
v'ery  few ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  conceive  by  what  arts  they  could 
arm  a  people  whom  they  had  injured,  against  a  monarch  whom 
they  had  betrayed.  We  might  naturally  expect  that  such 
miscreants  should  have  shared  the  public  detestation  with  the 
informers  and  the  other  ministers  of  oppression ;  and  that  the 
reformation  of  the  coin  should  have  been  ^n  action  equally 
popular  with  the  destruction  of  those  obsolete  accounts,  which 
by  the  emperor's  order  were  burnt  in  the  forum  of  Trajan." 
In  an  age  when  the  principles  of  commerce  were  so  imper- 
fectly understood,  the  most  desirable  end  might  perhaps  b€ 


"  Hist.  August,  p.  222.     Aurelian  calls  these  soldiers  Hiheri  htp» 
fiences  C'astriani,  and  Dacisci. 

•*  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  56.     Eutropius,  rx.  14.     Aurel.  Victor 
•*  Hist.  August,  p.  222.     Aurel.  Victor. 


A.  D.  247.J     OF  THE  roman  EMriRB.  363 

effected  by  hai-sh  and  injudicious  means;  but  a  temporary 
grievance  of  such  a  nature  can  scarcely  excite  and  support  a 
serious  civil  war.  The  repetition  of  intolerable  taxes,  imposed 
cither  on  the  land  or  on  the  necessaries  of  life,  may  at  last 
provoke  those  who  will  not,  or  who  cannot,  relinquish  theii 
country.  But  the  case  is  iar  otherwise  in  eN'ery  operation 
which,  by  whatsoever  expedients,  restores  the  just  value  of 
money.  The  transient  evil  is  soon  obliterated  by  the  perma- 
nent benefit,  the  loss  is  divided  among  multitudes ;  and  if  » 
few  Avealthy  individuals  experience  a  sensible  diminution  of 
treasure,  with  their  riclies,  they  at  the  same  time  lose  the 
degree  of  weight  and  importance  which  they  derived  from  the 
possession  of  them.  However  Aurelian  might  choose  to 
disguise  the  real  cause  of  the  insurrection,  his  reformation  of 
the  coin  could  furnish  only  a  faint  pretence  to  a  party  already 
powerful  and  discontented.  Rome,  though  deprived  of  free- 
dom, was  distracted  by  faction.  The  people,  towards  whom 
the  emperor,  himself  a  plebeian,  always  expressed  a  peculiai 
fondness,  lived  in  perpetual  dissension  with  the  senate,  the 
equestrian  order,  and  the  Praetorian  guards.*'  Nothing  less 
than  the  firm  though  secret  conspiracy  of  those  orders,  of  the 
authority  of  the  first,  the  wealth  of  the  second,  and  the  arms  of 
the  third,  could  have  displayed  a  strength  capable  of  contending 
in  battle  with  the  veteran  legions  of  the  Danube,  which,  undei 
the  conduct  of  a  martial  sovereign,  had  achieved  the  conquest 
of  the  West  and  of  the  East. 

Whatever  was  the  cause  or  the  object  of  this  rebellion, 
imputed  with  so  little  probability  to  the  workmen  of  the  mint, 
Aurelian  used  his  victory  with  unrelenting  rigor.**  He  was 
naturally  of  a  severe  disposition.  A  peasant  and  a  soldier,  his 
nerves  yielded  not  easily  to  the  impressions  of  sympathy,  and 
he  could  sustain  without  emotion  the  sight  of  tortures  and  death. 
Trained  from  his  earliest  youth  in  the  exercise  of  arms,  he  sel 
too  small  a  value  on  the  life  of  a  citizen,  chastised  by  militarj/ 
execution  the  slightest  offences,  and  transferred  the  stern  dis- 
cipline of  the  camp  into  the  civil  administration  of  the  laws 
His  love  of  justice  often  became  a  bhnd  and  fmious  passion . 


"  It  already  raged  before  A'jreliaris  return  from  Egypt  See  V» 
piscus,  who  quotcp  an  origin:il  letter.     Hist  August,  p.  244. 

'*  Vopiscu.s  in  Hist.  August,  p.  222.  The  two  Victors.  EutropiiT* 
ix.  14.  Zosimus  (1.  i.  p.  43)  mentions  only  three  senators,  an-J  plaro* 
thoir  death  before  the  eastern  w;ir. 


SG4  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  D.  275 

and  whenever  be  deemed  liis  own  or  the  pubUc  safety  endaiv 
gered,  he  disregarded  the  rules  of  evidence,  and  the  proportion 
of  punishments.  The  unprovoked  rebelHon  with  which  the 
Romans  rewarded  his  services,  exasperated  his  haughty  spirit. 
The  noblest  families  of  the  capital  were  involved  in  the  guilt  or 
suspicion  of  tliis  dark  conspiracy,  A  hasty  spirit  of  revenge 
urged  the  bloody  prosecution,  and  it  proved  fatal  to  one  of  the 
nephews  of  the  emperor.  The  executioners  (if  we  may  use  th« 
expression  of  a  contemporary  poet)  were  fatigued,  the  prisons 
were  crowded,  and  the  unhappy  senate  lamented  the  death  or 
absence  of  its  most  illustrious  members."  Nor  was  the  pride 
of  Aurelian  less  offensive  to  that  assembly  than  his  cruelty. 
Ignorant  or  impatient  of  the  restraints  of  civil  institutions,  he 
disdained  to  hold  his  power  by  any  other  title  than  that  of  the 
sword,  and  governed  by  right  of  conquest  an  empire  which  he 
had  saved  and  subdued.** 

It  was  observed  by  one  of  the  most  sagacious  of  the  Roman 
princes,  that  the  talents  of  his  predecessor  Aurelian  were 
better  suited  to  the  command  of  an  array,  than  to  the  govern- 
ment of  an  empire.'*  Conscious  of  the  character  in  which 
nature  and  experience  had  enabled  him  to  excel,  he  again  took 
the  field  a  few  months  after  his  triumph.  It  was  expedient  to 
exercise  the  restless  temper  of  the  legions  in  some  foreign  war, 
and  the  Persian  monarch,  exulting  in  the  shame  of  Valerian, 
still  braved  with  impunity  the  otfended  majesty  of  Rome.  At 
the  head  of  an  army,  less  formidable  by  its  numbers  than  by 
its  discipline  and  valor,  the  emperor  advanced  as  far  as  the 
Straits  which  divide  Europe  from  Asia.  He  there  experienced 
that  the  most  absolute  power  'S  a  weak  defence  against  the 
effects  of  despair.  He  had  threatened  one  of  his  secretaries  who 
was  accused  of  extortion ;  and  it  was  known  that  he  seldom 
threatened  in  vain.  The  last  hope  which  remained  for  the 
criminal,  was  to  involve  some  of  the  principal  officers  of  the 
army  in  his  danger,  or  at  least  in  his  fears.  Artfully  counter- 
feiting his  master's  hand,   he  showed  them,  in    a  long  and 

'•  Nulla  catenati  feralis  pompi  senatus 

Carnificum  lassabit  opus ;  nee  carcere  pleno 
Infelix  raros  numerabit  curia  Patres. 

Calphurn.  Eclog.  i.  60. 
•*  According  to  the  younger  Victor,  he  sometimes  wore  the  diadem, 
DeiiS  and  Dominus  appear  on  his  medals. 

•*  It  was  the  observation  of  Diocletian.     See    Vopi^cus   in   Ilist 
August,  p.  224. 


A.  D.  275.1  OF   THE    ROMAN    KMFIRE.  365 

bloody  list,  their  own  names  devoted  to  death.  Without  sus- 
pecting or  examining  the  fraud,  tliey  resolved  to  secure  their 
lives  by  the  murder  of  the  emperor.  On  his  march,  between 
Byzanthium  and  Heraclea,  Aurelian  was  suddenly  attacked  by 
the  conspirators,  whose  stations  gave  them  a  right  to  surround 
his  person,  and  after  a  short  resistance,  fell  by  the  hand  of 
Mucapor,  a  general  whom  he  had  always  loved  and  trusted 
He  died  regretted  by  the  army,  detested  by  the  senate,  but 
universally  acknowledged  as  a  warlike  and  fortunate  prince, 
tlie  useful,  though  severe  reformer  of  a  degenerate  state." 

••  Vcpiscus  in  Hist.  August  p.  221.     Zosimus,  L  L  p  67     Eutrop 
ix.  18.    The  two  Victors. 

31* 


866  THE    DECLINE    ANl/    FALL  f  A.  D.  275 


CHAPTER   XII. 

COtTDUCT     OF     THE    ARMY    AND    SENATE    AFTER   THE    DEArn    Ot 

AURELIAN. REIGNS    OF    TACITUS,    PROBUS,    CAUUS,    AND    HIS 

SONS. 

Such  was  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  Roman  emperors, 
that,  whatever  might  be  their  conduct,  their  fate  was  com- 
monly the  same.  A  life  of  pleasure  or  virtue,  of  severity  or 
mildness,  of  indolence  or  glory,  alike  led  to  an  untimely  grave  ; 
and  almost  every  reign  is  closed  by  the  same  disgusting  repe- 
tition of  treason  and  murder.  The  death  of  Aurelian,  however, 
is  remarkable  by  its  extraordinary  consequences.  The  legions 
admired,  lamented,  and  revenged  their  victorious  chief  The 
artifice  of  his  perfidious  secretary  was  discovered  and  punished 
The  deluded  conspirators  attended  the  funeral  of  their  injured 
sovereign,  with  sincere  or  well-feigned  contrition,  and  submit- 
ted to  the  unanimous  resolution  of  the  military  order,  which 
was  signified  by  the  following  epistle :  "  The  brave  and  fortu- 
nate armies  to  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome. — The  crime 
of  one  man,  and  the  error  of  many,  have  deprived  us  of  the 
late  emperor  Aurelian.  May  it  please  you,  venerable  lords 
and  fathers!  to  place  him  in  the  number  of  the  gods,  and  to 
appoint  a  successor  whom  your  judgment  shall  declare  worthy 
of  the  Imperial  purple  !  None  of  those  whose  guilt  or  misfor- 
tune have  contributed  to  our  loss,  shall  ever  reign  over  us." ' 
The  Roman  senators  heard,  without  surprise,  that  another 
emperor  had  been  assassinated  in  his  camp ;  they  secretly 
rejoiced  in  the  fall  of  Aurelian ;  but  the  modest  and  dutiful 
address  of  the  legions,  when  it  was  communicated  in  full 
assembly  by  the  consul,  diffused  the  most  pleasing  astonish- 
ment. Such  honors  as  fear  and  perhaps  esteem  could 
extort,  they  liberally  poured  forth  on  the  memory  of  their 
deceased  sovereign.  Such  acknowledgments  as  gratitude 
could  inspire,  they  returned  to  the  faithful  armies  of  the 
republic,  who  entertained  so  just  a  sense  of  the  legal  authority 

*  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  222.    Aurelius  Vio'tor  mentions  a  for 
■utl  deputation  from  the  troops  to  the  serate 


A.D.  275.]        OF  THE  nOMAN  EMPIRE.  36? 

of  the  senate  in  the  choice  of  an  emperor.  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this  flattering  appeal,  the  most  prudent  of  the  assembly 
declined  exposing  their  safety  and  dignity  to  the  caprice  of  an 
armed  multitude.  The  strength  of  the  legions  was,  indeed, 
a  pledge  of  their  sincerity,  since  those  who  may  command 
are  seldom  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  dissembling  ;  but  could 
it  naturally  be  expected,  that  a  hasty  repentance  would  correct 
the  inveterate  habits  of  fourscore  years  ?  Should  the  soldiers 
relapse  into  their  accustomed  seditions,  their  insolence  might 
disgrace  the  majesty  of  the  senate,  and  prove  fatiil  to  the  object 
of  its  choice.  Motives  like  these  dictated  a  decree,  by  which 
the  election  of  a  new  emperor  was  referred  to  the  suffrage  of 
the  military  order. 

The  contention  that  ensued  is  one  of  the  best  attested,  but 
most  improbable  events  in  the  history  of  mankind."  The 
troops,  as  if  satiated  with  the  exercise  of  power,  again  con- 
'ured  the  senate  to  invest  one  of  its  own  body  with  the  Impe- 
rial purple.  The  senate  still  persisted  in  its  refusal ;  the  army 
in  its  request.  The  reciprocal  offer  was  pressed  and  I'ejected 
at  least  three  times,  and,  whilst  the  obstinate  modesty  of  either 
party  was  resolved  to  receive  a  master  from  the  hands  of  the 
other,  eight  months  insensibly  elapsed ;  an  amazing  period  of 
tranquil  anarchy,  during  which  the  Roman  world  remained 
without  a  sovereign,  without  a  usurper,  and  without  a  sedi- 
tion.* The  generals  and  magistrates  appointed  by  Aurelian 
continued  to  execute  their  ordinary  functions  ;  and  it  is  ob- 
served, that  a  proconsul  of  Asia  ■^s'as  the  only  considerable 
person  removed  from  his  office  in  the  whole  course  of  tho 
interregnum. 

An  event  somewhat  similar,  but  much  less  authentic,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  happened  after  the  death  of  Romulus,  who,  in 
his  life  and  character,  bore  some  affinity  with  Aurelian.  The 
throne  was  vacant  during  twelve  months,  till  the  election  of  a 


*  Vopiscus,  our  principal  authority,  -wrote  at  Rome,  sixteen  years 
only  after  the  death  of  Aurelian ;  and,  besides  the  recent  notoriety  of 
the  facts,  constantly  draws  his  materials  from  the  Journals  of  the 
Senate,  and  the  original  papers  of  the  Ulpian  library.  Zosiinua  and 
Zonaras  appear  as  ignorant  of  this  transaction  as  they  were  in  general 
of  the  Roman  constitution. 


*  The  interregnum  could  not  be  more  than  seven  months  ;  Aurelian  waa 
assassinated  in  llic  miJdIc  of  March,  the  year  of  Rome  1028.  Tacitas  wa« 
elected  the  25tli  September  in  the  same  year. — G. 


SG8  THE   DECLINE   AND    FAIX  [A.  D.  275 

Sabine  p]iiloKoi)lit'r,  and  tlie  public  peace  was  guarded  in  the 
Bame  manner,  by  the  union  of  the  several  orders  of  th((  state. 
But,  in  the  time  of  Numa  and  Romulus,  the  arms  of  the  peo- 
ple were  coutrolbd  by  the  authority  of  the  Patricians  ;  and 
the  balance  of  freedom  was  easily  pt-eserved  in  a  small  and 
virtuous  community.'  The  decline  of  the  Roman  state,  fat 
different  from  its  infancy,  was  attended  with  every  circum- 
etance  that  could  banish  from  an  interregnum  the  prospect  of 
oliedience  and  harmony  :  an  immense  and  tumultuous  capital, 
a  wide  extent  of  empire,  the  servile  equality  of  despotism,  an 
army  of  four  hundred  thousand  mercenaries,  and  the  experi- 
ence of  frequent  revolutions.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  these 
temptations,  the  discipline  and  memory  of  Aurelian  still 
restrained  the  seditious  temper  of  the  troops,  as  well  as  the 
fatal  ambition  of  their  leaders.  The  flower  of  the  legions 
maintained  their  stations  on  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus,  and 
the  Imperial  standard  awed  the  less  powerful  camps  of  Rome 
and  of  the  provinces.  A  generous  though  transient  enthu 
siasm  seemed  to  animate  the  military  order  ;  and  we  may  hope 
that  a  few  real  patriots  cultivated  the  returning  friendship  of 
the  army  and  the  senate,  as  the  only  expedient  capable  of 
restoring  the  republic  to  its  ancient  beauty  and  vigor. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  near  eight  months  after 
the  murder  of  Aurelian,  the  consul  convoked  an  assembly  of 
the  senate,  and  reported  the  doubtful  and  dangerous  situation 
of  the  empire.  He  slightl}^  insinuated,  that  the  precarious 
loyalty  of  the  soldiers  depended  on  the  chance  of  every  hour, 
and  of  every  accident ;  but  he  represented,  with  the  most  con- 
vincing eloquence,  the  various  dangei's  that  might  attend  any 
fiirther  delay  in  the  choice  of  an  emperor.  Intelligence,  he 
said,  was  already  received,  that  the  Germans  had  passed  the 
Rhine,  and  (>ecupied  some  of  the  strongest  and  most  opulent 
cities  of  Gaul.  The  ambition  of  the  Persian  king  kept  the 
East  m  perpetual  alarms  ;  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Illyricum,  were 
exposed  to  foreign  and  domestic  arms,  and  the  levity  of 
Syria  would  prefer  even  a  female  sceptre  to  the  sanctity  of 
the  Roman  laws.  The  consul,  then  addressing  himself  to 
Tacitus,  the   first   of  the   senators,*  required    his  opinion   on 

*  Liv.  i  17  Dionys.  Halicarn.  1.  ii.  p.  115.  Phitarch  in  Nirnia 
p.  60.  The  first  of  these  writers  relates  the  story  like  an  orator,  the 
second  like  a  lawyer,  and  the  third  like  a  moralist,  and  none  of  them 
probably  without  some  intermixture  of  fable. 

*  Vopiscus  (in  Hist.  August,  p.  227)  calls  hira  "  primw   septenti* 


A.  D.  275.]     OF  THE  roman  empire.  3B9 

the  important  subject  of  a  proper  candidate  for  tht  vacant 
throne. 

If  we  can  prefer  personal  merit  to  accidental  greattirss,  w« 
shall  esteem  the  birth  of  Tacitus  more  truly  noble  than  that 
of  kings.  He  claimed  his  descent  from  the  philosophic  his 
torian,  whose  writings  will  instruct  the  last  generations  of 
mankind.*  The  senator  Tacitus  was  then  seventy-five  years 
of  age."  The  long  period  of  his  innocent  life  was  adorne.i 
with  wealth  and  honors.  He  had  twice  been  mvested  with 
the  consular  dignity,'  and  enjoyed  with  elegance  and  sobriety 
his  ample  patrimony  of  between  two  and  three  millions  ster- 
hng."  The  experience  of  so  many  princes,  whom  he  had 
esteemed  or  endured,  from  the  vain  foUies  of  Elagabalus  to 
the  useful  rigor  of  Aurelian,  taught  him  to  form  a  just  estimate 
of  the  duties,  the  dangers,  and  the  temptations  of  their  sublime 
station.  From  the  assiduous  study  of  his  immortal  ancestor, 
he  derived  the  knowledge  of  the  Roman  constitution,  and  of 
human  nature.'  The  voice  of  the  people  had  already  named 
Tacitus  as  the  citizen  the  most  worthy  of  empire.  The  un- 
grateful rumor  reached  his  ears,  and  induced  him  to  seek  the 
retirement  of  one  of  his  villas  in  Campania.  He  had  passed 
two  months  in  the  delightful  privacy  of  Baiae,  when  he  re 
luctantly  obeyed  the  summons  of  the  consul  to  resume  his 
honorable  place  in  the  senate,  and  to  assist  the  republic  with 
his  counsels  on  this  important  occasion. 

consularis ;"  and  soon  afterwards  Priiiceps  senatus.  It  is  natural  to 
suppose,  that  the  monarchs  of  Rome,  disdaining  that  humble  title, 
resigned  it  to  the  most  ancient  of  tlie  senators. 

'  The  only  objection  to  this  genealogy  is,  that  the  historian  was 
named  Cornelius,  the  emperor,  Claudius.  But  under  the  lower  empire, 
surnames  were  extremely  various  and  uncertain. 

*  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  637.  The  Alexandrian  Chronicle,  by  an  obvious 
mistake,  transfers  that  age  to  Aurelian. 

'  In  the  year  273,  he  was  ordinary  consul.  But  he  must  have  bevn 
SufFectus  many  years  before,  and  most  probably  under  Valerian. 

*  Bis  iiiillies  octingenties.  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  229.  This 
sum,  according  to  the  old  standard,  was  equivalent  to  eight  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  Roman  pounds  of  silver,  each  of  the  value  of  three 
pounds  sterling.  But  in  tiie  age  of  Tacitus,  the  coin  had  lost  much  of 
its  weight  and  purity. 

'  After  his  accession,  he  gave  orders  that  ten  copies  of  the  liisto 
rian  should  be  annually  transcribed  and  placed  in  the  public  libraries 
The  Roman  libraries  have  long  since  perished,  and  the  most  valuable 
part  of  Tacitus  was  preserved  in  a  single  MS.,  and  discovered  io  a 
monastery  of  Westphalia.  See  Bayle,  Dictionnaire,  Art.  Tacitt,  ud4 
Lipaiua  ad  Anual.  ii.  9. 


870  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALI  [A.  D.  275. 

He  arose  to  speak,  when  from  every  quarter  of  the  house, 
he  vra3  saluted  with  the  names  of  Augustus  and  emperor. 
"  Tacitus  Augustus,  the  gods  preserve  thee !  we  choose  thoe 
for  our  sovereign  ;  to  thy  care  we  intrust  the  republic  and  the 
world.  Accept  the  empire  from  the  authority  of  the  senate. 
It  is  due  to  thy  rank,  to  thy  conduct,  to  thy  manners."  Aa 
Boon  as  the  tumult  of  acclamations  subsided,  Tacitus  attempted 
to  decline  the  dangerous  honor,  and  to  express  his  wonder, 
that  they  should  elect  his  age  and  infirmities  to  succeed  the 
martial  vigor  of  Aurelian.  "Are  these  limbs,  conscript 
fathers  !  fitted  to  sustain  the  weight  of  armor,  or  to  practise 
the  exercises  of  the  camp  ?  The  variety  of  climates,  and  the 
hardships  of  a  military  life,  would  soon  oppress  a  feeble  con- 
jtitution,  which  subsists  only  by  the  most  tender  management. 
My  exhausted  strength  scarcely  enables  me  to  discharge  the 
duty  of  a  senator ;  how  insuflicient  would  it  prove  to  the 
arduous  labors  of  war  and  government !  Can  you  hope,  thai 
the  legions  will  respect  a  weak  old  man,  whose  days  have  been 
spent  in  the  shade  of  peace  and  retirement  ?  Can  you  desire 
that  I  should  ever  find  reason  to  regret  the  favorable  opinion 
of  the  senate  ?"  " 

The  reluctance  of  Tacitus  (and  it  might  possibly  be  sincere) 
was  encountered  by  the  affectionate  obstinacy  of  the  senate. 
Five  hundred  voices  repeated  at  once,  in  eloquent  confusion, 
that  the  greatest  of  the  Roman  princes,  Numa,  Trajan, 
Hadrian,  and  the  Antonines,  had  ascended  the  throne  in  a 
very  advanced  season  of  life  ;  that  the  mind,  not  the  body,  a 
sovereign,  not  a  soldier,  was  the  object  of  their  choice ;  and 
that  they  expected  from  him  no  more  than  to  guide  by  his 
wisdom  the  valor  of  the  legions.  These  pressing  though 
tumultuary  instances  were  seconded  by  a  more  regular  oration 
of  Melius  Falconius,  the  next  on  the  consular  bench  to  Tacitus 
himself.  He  reminded  the  assembly  of  the  evils  which  Rome 
had  endured  from  the  vices  of  headstrong  and  capricious 
youths,  congratulated  them  on  the  election  of  a  virtuous  and 
experienced  senator,  and,  with  a  manly,  though  perhaps  a 
selfish,  freedom,  exhorted  Tacitus  to  remember  the  reasons 
of  his  elevation,  and  to  seek  a  successor,  not  in  his  own 
family,  but  in  the  republic.  The  speech  of  Falconius  was 
enforced  by  a  general  acclamation.  The  emperor  elect  sub' 
milted  to  the  authority  of  his  country,  ind  received  the  volun- 

""  Vopiscus  iu  Hist.  August,  p.  227. 


A.  D.  275.J       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  37l 

tary  homage  of  iiis  equals.  The  judgment  of  the  senate  was 
confirmed  by  the  consent  of  the  Roman  people,  and  of  the 
Praetoiian  guards." 

The  administration  of  Tacitus  was  not  unwortliy  of  his  life 
and  principles.  A  grateful  servant  of  the  senate,  he  consid- 
ered tliat  national  council  as  the  author,  and  himself  as  the 
subject,  of  the  laws."  He  studied  to  heal  the  wounds  which 
Imperial  pride,  civil  discord,  and  military  violence,  had  in- 
flicted on  the  constitution,  and  to  restore,  at  least,  the  imag* 
of  the  ancient  republic,  as  it  had  been  preserved  by  the  policy 
of  Augustus,  and  the  virtues  of  Trajan  and  the  Antoninea. 
It  may  not  be  useless  to  recapitulate  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant prerogatives  which  the  senate  appeared  to  have  re- 
gained by  the  election  of  Tacitus."  1.  To  invest  one  of 
their  body,  under  the  title  of  emperor,  with  the  general  com- 
mand of  the  armies,  and  the  government  of  the  frontier 
provinces.  2.  To  determine  the  list,  or,  as  it  was  then  styled, 
the  College  of  Consuls.  They  were  twelve  in  number,  who, 
in  successive  pairs,  each,  during  the  space  of  two  months, 
filled  the  year,  and  represented  the  dignity  of  that  ancient 
office.  The  authority  of  the  senate,  in  the  nomination  of  the 
consuls,  was  exercised  with  such  independent  freedom,  that  nc 
regard  was  paid  to  an  irregular  i-equest  of  the  emperor  ir. 
favor  of  his  brother  Florianus.  "  The  senate,"  exclaimed 
Tacitus,  with  the  honest  transport  of  a  patriot,  "  understand 
the  character  of  a  prince  whom  they  have  chosen."  3.  To 
appoint  the  proconsuls  and  presidents  of  the  provinces,  and 
to  confer  on  all  the  magistrates  their  civil  jurisdiction.  4.  To 
"•eceive  appeals  through  the  intermediate  office  of  the  prjefect 
of  the  city  from  all  the  tribunals  of  the  empire.  5.  To  give 
force  and  validity,  by  their  decrees,  to  such  as  they  should 
approve  of  the  emperor's  edicts.  6.  To  these  several  branches 
of  authority  we  may  add  some  inspection  over  the  finance^, 


"  Hist.  August,  p.  228.  Tacitus  addressed  tlie  Praitorians  by  the 
appellation  of  sanctissimi  milites,  and  the  people  by  tliat  of  merati»»im. 
Quirites. 

"  In  his  manumissions  he  never  exceeded  the  number  of  a  hun- 
dred, as  Umited  by  the  Caninian  law,  which  was  enacted  under  Au 
gustus,  and  at  length  repealed  by  Justinian.  Sec  Casaubon  ad  locum 
VopisCL 

'*  See  the  lives  of  Tacitus,  Florianug,  and  Probus,  in  the  Augusta. 
History;  we  may  be  well  assured, that  whatever  the  soldier  gave  th« 
•eiutor  bad  aheady  given. 


872  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  27 G. 

since,  even  in   the  stern  reign  of  Auvelian,  it  was  iu   theii 
power  to  divert  a  part  of  the  revenue  from  the  pubhc  service." 

Circular  epistles  were  sent,  without  delay,  to  all  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  empire,  Treves,  Milan,  Aquileia,  Thessalo 
iiica,  Corinth,  Athens,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and  Carthage,  to 
claim  their  obedience,  and  to  inform  them  of  the  happy  revo- 
lution, which  had  restored  the  Roman  senate  to  its  ancient 
dignity.  Two  of  these  epistles  are  still  extant.  We  likewise 
possess  two  very  singular  fragments  of  the  private  correspond- 
ence of  the  senators  on  this  occasion.  They  discover  the  mosi 
excessive  joy,  and  the  most  unbounded  hopes.  "  Cast  away 
your  indolence,"  it  is  thus  that  one  of  the  senators  addresses 
his  friend,  "  emerge  from  your  retirements  of  Baise  and 
Puteoli.  Give  yourself  to  the  city,  to  the  senate.  Rome 
flourishes,  the  whole  republic  flourishes.  Thanks  to  the  Roman 
army,  to  an  army  truly  Roman ;  at  length  we  have  recovered 
our  just  authority,  the  end  of  all  our  desires.  We  hear  ap- 
peals, we  appoint  proconsuls,  we  create  emperors ;  perhaps 
too  we  may  restrain  them — to  the  wise  a  word  is  sufficient."  " 
These  lofty  expectations  were,  however,  soon  disappointed ; 
nor,  indeed,  was  it  possible  that  the  armies  and  the  provinces 
should  long  obey  the  luxurious  and  unwarlike  nobles  of  Rome. 
On  the  slightest  touch,  the  unsupported  fabric  of  their  pride 
and  power  fell  to  the  ground.  The  expiring  senate  displayed 
a  sudden  lustre,  blazed  for  a  moment,  and  was  extinguished 
forever. 

All  that  had  yet  passed  at  Rome  was  no  inore  than  a  theat- 
rical representation,  unless  it  was  ratified  by  the  more  sub- 
stantial power  of  the  legions.  Leaving  the  senators  to  enjoy 
their  dream  of  freedom  and  ambition,  Tacitus  proceeded  to 
the  Thracian  camp,  and  was  there,  by  the  Praetorian  praefect, 
presented  to  the  assembled  troops,  as  the  prince  whom  they 
themselves  had  demanded,  and  whom  the  senate  had  bestowed. 
As  soon  as  the  praefect  was  silent,  the  emperor  addressed  him- 
self to  the  soldiers  with  eloquence  and  propriety.  He  gratified 
their  avarice  by  a  liberal  distribution  of  treasure,  under  the 
James  of  pay  and  donative.  He  engaged  their  esteem  by  a 
spirited  declaration,  that  although  his  age  might  disable  him 


"  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  216.  Tlie  passage  is  perfectly  cleai 
|<t  l>oth  Casaubon  and  Salmasius  wish  to  correct  it. 

"  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  230,  232,  233.  TJxfl  penators  cel» 
hi  »U.d  the  happy  restoration  with  hecatomb?  and  pubhc  rejoicings. 


A.  D.  276.^  or  the  roman  empirh^  873 

from  tlie  performance  of  military  exploits,  his  couiisda  should 
never  be  unwortliy  of  a  Koinan  general,  the  successor  of  the 
brave  Aurelian." 

Whilst  the  deceased  eiuporor  was  making  pr€;urations  for 
a  second  expedition  into  the  East,  he  had  negotiated  with  Iha 
Alani,*  a  Scythian  people,  who  pitched  their  tents  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Lc'ike  Moeotis.  Those  barbarians,  allurud  bj 
presents  and  subsidies,  had  promised  to  invade  Persia  with  a 
Qumerous  body  of  light  cavalry.  They  were  faithful  to  theii 
engagements;  but  when  they  arrived  on  the  Roman  frciiiier, 
Aurelian  was  already  dead,  the  design  of  the  Persian  war  was 
at  least  suspended,  and  the  generals,  who,  during  the  interreg- 
num, exercised  a  doubtful  authority,  were  unprepared  either  to 
receive  or  to  oppose  them.  Provoked  by  such  treatment,  which 
they  considered  as  trifling  and  perfidious,  the  Alani  had  recourse 
to  their  own  valor  for  their  payment  and  revenge ;  and  as  they 
moved  with  the  usual  swiftness  of  Tartars,  they  had  soon  spread 
themselves  over  the  provinces  of  Pontus,  Cappadocia,  Cilicia, 
and  Galatia.  The  legions,  who  from  the  opposite  shores  of  the 
Bosphorus  could  almost  distinguish  the  flames  of  the  cities  and 
villages,  impatiently  urged  their  general  to  lead  them  against 
the  invaders.  The  conduct  of  Tacitus  was  suitable  to  his  ago 
and  station.  He  convinced  the  barbarians  of  the  faith,  as  well 
as  the  power,  of  the  empire.  Great  numbers  of  the  Alani, 
appeased  by  the  punctual  discharge  of  the  engagements  which 
Aurelian  had  contracted  with  them,  relinquished  their  booty 
and  captives,  and  quietly  retreated  to  their  own  deserts,  beyond 
the  Phasis.  Against  the  remainder,  who  refused  peace,  the 
Roman  emperor  waged,  in  person,  a  successful  war.  Seconded 
by  an  army  of  brave  and  experienced  veterans,  in  a  few  weeks 
he  delivered  the  provinces  of  Asia  from  the  terror  of  the  Scyth- 
ian invasion." 

But  the  glory  and  life  of  Tacitu;?  were  of  short  duration. 
Transported,  in  the  de])th  of  winter,  from  the  soft  retirement 

••  Hist  August,  p.  228. 

^'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  230.  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  57.  Zonaras, 
I.  xii.  p.  C.37.  Two  passages  in  the  life  of  Probus  (p.  236,  238)  coii- 
rince  me,  that  tliese  Scythian  invaders  of  Pontus  were  Alani.  If  we 
oiay  believe  Zosimus,  (1.  i.  p.  58,)  Florianus  pursued  tiiem  as  far  as  th€ 
Ciixmcrian  Bosphorus.  But  he  luid  scarcely  time  I'ur  so  loEg  and  diffil 
wit  VI  expedition. 

"  Ou  the  Alani,  see  eh.  xxvi.  note  55. — M. 


874  THE    DECLINE    AND    jTALL  [A.  D.  276. 

of  Campania  to  the  foot  of  Mount  Caucasus,  ne  sunk  uuder 
the  unaccustomed  hardships  of  a  military  life.  The  fatigues 
of  tlie  body  were  aggravated  by  the  cares  of  the  mind.  Far 
a  while,  the  angry  and  selfish  passions  of  the  soldiers  had  beeft 
suspended  by  the  enthusiasm  of  public  virtue.  They  soon 
broke  out  with  redoubled  violence,  and  raged  in  the  camp,  and 
even  m  the  tent  of  the  aged  emperor.  His  mild  and  amiable 
character  served  only  to  inspire  contempt,  and  he  was  inces- 
santly tormented  with  factions  which  he  could  not  assuage,  and 
by  demands  which  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy.  Whatever 
flattering  expectations  he  had  conceived  of  reconciling  the 
publis  disorders,  Tacitus  soon  was  convinced  that  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  army  disdained  the  feeble  restraint  of  laws, 
and  his  last  hour  was  hastened  by  anguish  and  disappoint- 
ment. It  may  be  doubtful  whether  the  soldiers  imbrued  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  this  innocent  prince.'*  It  is  certain  that 
their  insolences  was  the  cause  of  his  death.  He  expired  at 
Tyana  in  Cappadocia,  after  a  reign  of  only  six  months  and 
about  twenty  days." 

The  eyes  of  Tacitus  were  scarcely  closed,  before  his 
brother  Florianus  showed  himself  unworthy  to  reign,  by  the 
hasty  usurpation  of  the  purple,  without  expecting  the  appro- 
bation of  the  senate.  The  reverence  for  the  Roman  constitu- 
tion, which  yet  influenced  the  camp  and  the  provinces,  was 
sufficiently  strong  to  dispose  them  to  censure,  but  not  to  pro- 
voke them  to  oppose,  the  precipitate  ambition  of  Florianus. 
The  discontent  would  have  evaporated  in  idle  murmurs,  had 
not  the  general  of  the  East,  the  heroic  Probus,  boldly  declared 
himself  the  avenger  of  the  senate.  The  contest,  however, 
was  still  unequal ;  nor  could  the  most  able  leader,  at  the  head 
of  the  eft'eminate  troops  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  encounter,  with 
any  hopes  of  victory,  the  legions  of  Europe,  whose  irresist- 
ible strength  appeared  to  support  the  brother  of  Tacitus.  But 
the  fortune  and  activity  of  Probus  triumphed  over  every  ob- 
stacle. The  hardy  veterans  of  his  rival,  accustomed  to  cold 
climates,  sickened  and  consumed  away  in  the  sultry  heats  of 

'°  Eutropius  and  Aurelius  Victor  only  say  that  he  died;  Victoi 
Junior  adds,  that  it  was  of  a  fever.  Zosimus  and  Zonaras  affirm,  that 
he  was  killed  by  the  soldiers.  Vopiscus  mentions  both  accoun  ts,  and 
seems  to  hesitate.  Yet  surely  these  jarring  opinions  are  easily  recon- 
eiled. 

**  According  to  the  two  Victors,  he  reigned  exactly  two  hundred 
days. 


A.D.  276.]  OF    THE    KOMAN    EMPIKIS.  376 

Cilicia,  where  the  summer  proved  remarkabi}-  unwholesome. 
Their  numbers  were  diminished  by  frequent  desertion ;  the 
passes  of  the  mountains  were  feebly  defended ;  Tarsus  opened 
)t«  gates ;  and  the  soldiers  of  Florianus,  when  they  had  per- 
iiiitted  him  to  enjoy  the  Imperial  title  about  three  months, 
delivered  the  empire  from  civil  war  by  the  easy  sacrifice  of  a 
prince  whom  they  despised.^" 

The  perpetual  revolutions  of  the  throne  had  so  perfectly 
erased  every  notion  of  hereditary  title,  tliat  the  family  of  an 
unfortunate  emperor  was  incapable  of  exciting  the  jealousy 
of  his  successoi's.  The  children  of  Tacitus  and  Florianus 
were  permitted  to  descend  into  a  private  station,  and  to  min- 
gle with  the  general  mass  of  the  people.  Their  poverty 
indeed  became  an  additional  safeguard  to  their  innocence. 
When  Tacitus  was  elected  by  the  senate,  he  resigned  his 
ample  patrimony  to  the  public  service;^'  an  act  of  generosity 
pecious  in  appearance,  but  which  evidently  disclosed  his  in- 
cention  of  transmitting  the  empire  to  his  descendants.  The 
only  consolation  of  their  fellen  state  was  the  remembrance  of 
transient  greatness,  and  a  distant  hope,  the  child  of  a  flatter- 
ing prophecy,  that  at  the  end  of  a  thousand  years,  a  monarch 
of  the  race  of  Tacitus  should  arise,  the  protector  of  the  sen- 
ate, the  restorer  of  Rome,  and  the  conqueror  of  the  whole 
earth.'' 

The  peasants  of  Illyricum,  who  had  already  given  Claudius 
and  Aurelian  to  the  sinking  empire,  had  an  equal  right  to 
glory  in  the  elevation  of  Probus."  Above  twenty  years 
before,  the  emperor  Valerian,  with  his  usual  penetration,  had 
discovered  the  rising  merit  of  the  young  soldier,  on  whom  he 
conferred  the  rank  of  tribune,  long  before  the  age  prescribed 
by  the  military  regulations.  The  tribune  soon  justiiied  his 
choice,    by   a  victory  over   a  great   body  of  Sarmatians,  in 

'"  Hist.  August,  p.  231.  Zosimus,  L  i.  p.  58,  59.  Zonaras,  1.  xiL 
p.  637.  Aurelius  Victor  says,  that  Probus  assumed  the  empire  in 
Illyricum  ;  an  opinion  wliich  (though  adoptfid  by  a  very  learned  man) 
would  throw  that  period  of  history  into  inextricable  confusion. 

"'  Hist.  August,  p.  229 

"^  He  was  to  send  judges  to  the  Parthians,  Persians,  and  Sarmatians, 
a  president  to  Taprobani,  and  a  proconsul  to  the  Roman  island,  (sup- 
posed by  Casaubon  and  Salmasius  to  mean  Br  tain.)  Such  a  liistory  as 
mine  (says  Vopiscus  -with  proper  modesty)  will  not  subsist  a  thousand 
years,  to  expose  or  justify  the  prediction. 

**  For  the  private  hfe  of  ProV  us,  see  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August  p 
234—237 


376  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  I>.276i, 

which  he  saved  the  hfe  of  a  near  relation  of  Valerian ;  and 
deserved  to  receive  from  the  emperor's  hand  the  collars, 
bracelets,  spears,  and  banner.?,  the  mural  and  the  civic  crown, 
and  all  tlie  honorable  rewards  reserved  by  ancient  Rome  for 
succ(;ssful  valor.  The  third,  and  afterwards  the  tenth,  legion 
were  intrusted  to  the  command  of  Probus,  who,  in  every 
step  of  his  promotion,  showed  himself  superior  to  the  station 
which  he  filled.  Africa  and  Pontus,  the  Rhine,  the  Danube, 
he  Euphrates,  and  the  Nile,  by  turns  afforded  him  the  most 
splendid  occasions  of  displaying  his  personal  prowess  and  hia 
conduct  in  war.  Aurelian  wiis  indebted  to  him  for  the  con- 
quest of  Egypt,  and  still  more  indebted  for  the  honest  courage 
with  which  he  often  checked  the  cruelty  of  his  master.  Taci- 
tus, who  desired  by  the  abilities  of  his  generals  to  supply 
his  own  deficiency  of  military  talents,  named  him  command- 
er-in-chief of  all  the  eastern  provinces,  with  five  times  the 
usual  salary,  the  promise  of  the  consulship,  and  the  hope  of 
a  triumph.  When  Probus  ascended  the  Imperial  throne,  he 
was  about  forty-four  years  of  age ;  *■*  in  the  full  possession  of 
his  f;ime,  of  the  love  of  the  army,  and  of  a  mature  vigor  of 
mind  and  body. 

His  acknowledged  merit,  and  the  success  of  his  arms 
against  Florianus,  left  him  without  an  enemy  or  a  competitor. 
Yet,  if  we  may  credit  his  own  professions,  very  far  from 
being  desirous  of  the  empire,  he  had  accepted  it  with  the 
most  sincere  reluctance.  "  But  it  is  no  longer  in  my  power," 
says  Probus,  in  a  private  letter,  "  to  lay  down  a  title  so  full 
of  envy  and  of  danger.  I  must  continue  to  personate  the 
character  which  the  soldiers  have  imposed  upon  me."  *'  His 
dutiful  address  to  the  senate  displayed  the  sentiments,  or  at 
least  the  language,  of  a  Roman  patriot :  "  When  you  elected 
one  of  your  order,  conscript  fathers !  to  succeed  the  emperor 
Aurelian,  you  acted  in  a  manner  suitable  to  your  justice  and 
wisdom.  For  you  are  the  legal  sovereigns  of  the  world,  and 
the  power  which  you  derive  from  your  ancestors  will  descend 
to  your  posterity.  Happy  would  it  have  been,  if  Florianus, 
instead  of  usurping  the  purple  of  his  brother,  like  a  private 


**  According  to  the  Alexandrian  chronicle,  he  was  fifty  at  the  time 
of  his  death. 

'^  This  letter  was  addressed  to  tlie  Praatorian  praefect,  whom  (on 
eondition  of  his  good  behavior)  he  promised  to  continue  m  liij 
(jroat  office.     See  Hist.  August,  p.  237. 


L 


A.D.  276.]  OF  THE  roman  empu.e.  877 

inheritance,  had  expected  what  your  majesty  iniglit  detcriuine, 
either  in  his  favor,  or  in  that  of  any  other  person.  The  pru- 
dent sokhei*s  have  punished  his  raslmess  To  me  they  liave 
offered  the  title  of  Augustus.  But  I  submit  to  your  clemency 
my  pretensioa-  and  my  merits.'""  When  this  respectful 
epistle  was  read  by  the  consul,  the  senators  were  unable  to 
disguise  their  satisfaction,  that  Probus  should  condescend  thus 
numbly  t;  solicit  a  sceptre  which  he  already  possessed.  They 
celebrated  with  the  warmest  gratitude  his  virtues,  his  exploits, 
and  above  all  his  moderation.  A  decree  immediately  passed, 
without  a  dissenting  voice,  to  ratify  the  election  of  the  eastern 
armies,  and  to  confer  on  their  chief  all  the  several  branches 
of  the  Imperial  dignity :  the  names  of  C;esar  and  Augustus, 
the  title  of  Father  of  his  country,  the  right  of  making  in  the 
same  day  three  motions  in  the  senate,'"  the  office  of  Pontifex. 
Maximus,  the  tribunitian  power,  and  the  proconsular  com- 
mand ;  a  mode  of  investiture,  which,  though  it  seemed  to 
multiply  the  authority  of  the  emperor,  expressed  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  ancient  republic.  The  reign  of  Probus  correspond- 
ed with  this  fair  beginning.  The  senate  was  permitted  to 
direct  the  civil  administration  of  the  empire.  Their  faithful 
general  asserted  the  honor  of  the  Roman  arms,  and  often  laid 
at  their  feet  crowns  of  gold  and  barbaric  trophies,  the  fi-uits 
of  his  numerous  victories.**  Yet,  whilst  he  gratified  their 
vanity,  he  must  secretly  have  despised  their  indolence  and 
weakness.  Though  it  was  every  moment  in  their  power  to 
repeal  the  disgraceful  edict  of  Gallienus,  the  proud  successors 
of  the  Scipios  patiently  acquiesced  in  their  exclusion  from  all 
military  employments.  They  soon  experienced,  that  those 
who  refuse  the  sword  must  renounce  the  sceptre. 

The  strength  of  Aurelian  had  crushed  on  every  side  the 
enemies  of  Rome.  After  his  death  they  seemed  to  revive 
with  an  increase  of  fury  and  of  numbers.  They  were  again 
vanquished  by  the  active  vigor  of  Probus,  who,  in   a  chort 


*"  VopiscLs  in  Hist.  August,  p.  237.  Tlie  date  of  (he  letter  b 
assuredly  faulty.  Instead  of  Ntn.  Februar.  we  may  read  Non 
August. 

*'  Hist.  August,  p.  238.  It  is  odd  tliat  the  senate  should  treat 
Frobus  less  favorably  than  Marcus  Antoninus.  Tiiat  jirince  Lad 
received,  even  before  the  death  of  Pius,  ^us  quintx  relationis.  See 
Ckpitoliiu  in  Hist.  August,  p.  24. 

"  See  t}ie  dutiful  letter  of  Probus  to  the  senate,  after  his  Qeimaa 
victories.     Hist.  August,  p.  239. 


878  THE    DECLINE  AND    FALL  [A.  D.  277, 

reign  i,f  about  six  years,"'  c<^ualled  the  fame  of  ancient 
heroes,  and  restored  peace  and  order  to  every  province  of  the 
Roman  world.  The  dangerous  frontier  of  Rhsetia  he  so 
firmly  se<iured,  that  he  left  it  without  the  suspicion  of  an 
enemy.  He  broke  the  wandering  power  of  the  Sarmatian 
tribes,  and  by  the  terror  of  his  arms  compelled  those  barbari- 
ans to  relinquish  their  spoil.  The  Gothic  nation  courted  tho 
alliance  of  so  warlike  an  emperor."  He  attacked  the  Isauri 
ans  in  their  mountains,  besieged  and  took  several  of  their 
strongest  castles,"  and  flattered  himself  that  he  had  forever 
suppressed  a  domestic  foe,  whose  independence  so  deeply 
wounded  the  majesty  of  the  empire.  The  troubles  excited 
by  the  usurper  Firmus  in  the  Upper  Egypt  had  never  been 
perfectly  appeased,  and  the  cities  of  Ptolemais  and  Coptos, 
fortified  by  the  alliance  of  the  Blemmyes,  still  maintained  an 
obscure  rebellion.  The  chastisement  of  those  cities,  and  of 
their  auxiliaries  the  savages  of  the  South,  is  said  to  have 
alarmed  the  court  of  Persia,^"  and  the  Great  King  sued  in 
vain  for  the  friendship  of  Probus.  Most  of  the  exploits  which 
distinguished  his  reign  were  achieved  by  the  personal  valor 
and  conduct  of  the  emperor,  insomuch  that  the  writer  of  his 
life  expresses  some  amazement  how,  in  so  short  a  time,  a 
single  man  could  be  present  in  so  many  distant  wars.  The 
remaining  actions  he  intrusted  to  the  care  of  his  lieutenants, 
the  judicious  choice  of  whom  forms  no  inconsiderable  part 
of  his  glory.  Cams,  Diocletian,  Maximian,  Constantius,  Gale- 
rius,  Asclepiodatus,  Annibalianus,  and  a  crowd  of  other  chiefs, 
who  afterwards  ascended  or  supported  the  throne,  were  trained 
to  arms  in  the  severe  school  of  Aurelian  and  Probus.^^ 

But  the  most  important  service  which  Probus  rendered  to 
the  repubhc  was  the  deliverance  of  Gaul,  and  the  recovery  of 

^'  The  date  and  duration  of  the  reign  of  Probus  are  very  correctly 
ascertained  by  Cardinal  Noris  in  his  learned  work,  De  Epochis  Syro- 
Macedonum'  p.  96 — 105.  A  passage  of  Eusebius  connects  the  second 
fear  of  Probus  with  the  seras  oi  several  of  the  Syrian  cities. 

^°  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  239. 

''  ZosLnius  (1.  i.  p.  62—  65)  tells  us  a  very  long  and  trifling  story 
jf  Lycius,  the  Isaurian  robber. 

=^  Zosim.  1.  i.  p.  65.  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  239,  240.  But 
it  ses^ms  incredible  that  the  defeat  of  the  savages  of  .Ethiopia  could 
affect  the  Persian  monarch. 

''  Besides  these  wcll-kiiowu  chief;,  several  others  are  named  by 
VopLscus,  (Hist.  August,  p.  241,)  whose  actions  Lave  n  »t  reached  ouj 
taiow  ledge. 


k.D.2l1.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  3^0 

seventy  flourishing  cities  oppressed  by  tlie  barbarians  of  Ger 
many,  who,  since  tlie  death  of  Auroliun,  liad  ravaged  that  great 
province  with  impnnity.'*  Among  the  varions  multitude  of  tlioso 
fierce  invaders  we  may  distinguish,  with  some  degree  of  clear- 
ness, three  great  armies,  or  rather  nations,  successively  van- 
quished by  the  valor  of  Probus.  He  drove  back  the  Franks 
into  their  morasses ;  a  descriptive  circumstance  from  whence 
we  may  infer,  that  the  confederacy  known  by  the  manly 
appellation  of  J'Vee,  already  occupied  the  flat  maritime 
country,  intersected  and  almost  overflown  by  the  stagnating 
waters  of  the  Rhine,,  and  that  several  tribes  of  the  Frisians 
and  Batavians  had  acceded  to  their  alliance.  lie  vanquished 
the  Burgundians,  a  considerable  people  of  the  Vandalic  race.* 
They  had  wandered  in  quest  of  booty  from  the  banks  of  the 
Oder  to  those  of  the  Seine.  They  esteemed  tliemselves  suf- 
ficiently fortunate  to  purchase,  by  the  restitution  of  all  their 
booty,  the  permission  of  an  undisturbed  retreat.  They  at- 
tempted to  elude  that  ai'ticle  of  the  treaty.  Their  punishment 
was  immediate  and  terrible.^^  But  of  all  the  invaders  of  Gaul, 
the  most  formidable  were  the  Lygians,  a  distant  people,  who 
reigned  over  a  wide  domain  on  the  frontiers  of  Poland  and 
Silesia.^"     In  the  Lygian  nation,  the  Arii  held  the  first  rank 

-*  See  the  Cajsars  of  Julian,  and  Hist.  Augiist.  p.  238,  240,  241. 

^^  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  62.  Hist.  August,  p.  240.  But  the  latter  sup 
poses  the  punishment  inflicted  with  the  consent  of  their  kings:  if  so, 
it  was  partial,  like  the  oftence. 

^^  See  Cluver.  Germania  Antiqua,  1.  iii.  Ptolemy  places  in  their 
country  the  city  of  Calisia,  probably  Calish  in  Silesia.f 

*  It  was  only  under  the  emperor.s  Diocletian  and  Maximian,  tliat  tiro 
Burgundians,  in  concert  with  the  Alemanni,  invaded  the  intei'ior  of  Gaul* 
under  the  reign  of  Probus,  they  did  no  more  tlian  pas.s  the  river  which 
separated  them  from  the  Roman  Empire:  tliey  were  repelled.  Gatterer 
presumes  that  this  river  was  the  Danube ;  a  passage  in  Zosimus  appears 
to  mc  rather  to  indicate  the  llhiue.  Zos.  1.  i.  p.  37,  edit  H.  Etieune,  3  581. 
— G. 

On  the  origin  of  the  Burgundians  may  be  consulted  Malte  Brun,  Geogr 
vi.  p.  396.  (edit.  1831,)  who  obsei-ves  that  all  the  remains  of  the  Burgv'^dian 
language  indicate  that  they  spoke  a  Gothic  dialect. — M. 

t  Luden  (vol  ii.  .'iOl)  supposes  that  these  Aoyiojvai  have  been  erroneously 
identified  ^vith  the  Lygii  of  Tacitu.^.  Pcrhap.s  one  fertile  source  of  mi.stake* 
has  been,  that  the  Romans  have  turned  appellations  into  national  names 
Malte  Bnin  obsei"vcs  of  tlie  Lygii.  "that  their  name  appears  Sclavoniau,  end 
BiguiKos  '  inhabitants  of  plains;'  they  arc  probably  the  Licclies  of  ihe  middla 
ages,  and  the  ancestors  of  the  Poles.  Wo  tind  among  the  Arii  t'le  worshis 
of  the  two  twin  gods  known  in  the  Sclavian  mythology."  Malte  Brun,  vol 
i.  p.  278,  (edit.  1831.)— M. 

But  compare  Schafarik,  Slawi-sche  Alterthiimer,  1,  p.  406.  They  were  of 
German  or  Keltish  descent,  occupyiiifj  the  Wcndish  (or  Slaviau)  dietziat 
Luhy.— M.  IS-la. 


180  THE  DKCLtNE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  2TV 

by  tlieir  numbers  and  fierceness.  "  The  Arii"  (it  is  thu« 
that  they  are  described  by  the  energy  of  Tacitus)  "study  to 
improve  by  art  and  circumstances  the  innate  terrors  of  their 
barbarism.  Their  shields  are  black,  their  bodies  are  painted 
black.  They  choose  for  the  combat  the  darkest  hour  of  the 
night.  Their  host  advances,  covered  as  it  were  with  a  funeral 
shade  ;"  nor  do  they  often  find  an  enemy  capable  of  sustain- 
ing so  strange  and  infernal  an  aspect.  Of  all  our  senses,  tho 
eyes  are  the  first  vanquished  in  battle."  ^*  Yet  the  arms  and 
discipline  of  the  Romans  easily  discomfited  these  horrid  phan- 
toms. The  Lygii  were  defeated  in  a  general  engagement, 
and  Semno,  the  most  renowned  of  their  chiefs,  fell  alive  into 
the  hands  of  Probus.  That  prudent  emperor,  unwilling  to 
reduce  a  brave  people  to  despair,  granted  them  an  honorable 
capitulation,  and  permitted  them  to  return  in  safety  to  their 
native  country.  But  the  losses  which  they  suffered  in  the 
march,  the  battle,  and  the  retreat,  broke  the  power  of  the 
nation :  nor  is  the  Lygian  name  ever  repeated  in  the  history 
either  of  Germany  or  of  the  empire.  The  deliverance  of 
Gaul  is  reported  to  have  cost  the  lives  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  invaders ;  a  work  of  labor  to  the  Romans,  and  of 
expense  to  the  emperor,  who  gave  a  piece  of  gold  for  the  head 
of  every  barbarian."  But  as  the  fame  of  warriors  is  built  on 
the  aestruction  of  human  kind,  we  may  naturally  suspect,  that 
the  sanguinary  account  was  multi])lied  by  the  avarice  of  the 
soldiers,  and  accepted  without  any  very  severe  examination  by 
the  liberal  vanity  of  Probus. 

Since  the  expedition  of  Maximin,  the  Roman  generals  hao 
confined  their  ambition  to  a  defensive  war  against  the  nations 
of  Germany,  who  perpetually  pressed  on  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire.  The  more  daring  Probus  pursued  his  Gallic  victories, 
passed  the  Rhine,  and  displayed  his  invincible  eagles  on  the 
banks  of  the  Elbe  and  the  Necker.  He  was  fully  convinced 
that  nothing  could  reconcile  the  minds  of  the  barbarians  to 
peace,  unless  they  experienced,  in  their  own  country,  tho 
calamities  of  war.  Germany,  exhausted  by  the  ill  succosa  of 
the  last  emigration,  was  astonished  by  his  presence.  !NJn6 
of  the  most  considerable  princes  repaired  to  his  camp,  and  foil 

*'  Feralis  umbra,  is  the  expression  of  Tacitus :  it  is  surety  a  Ttrv 
bold  one. 

**  Tacit.  Gormania,  (c.  43.) 

**  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  288 


A.D.  277.]       OF  TUB  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  381 

prostrate  at  his  feet.  Siicb  a  treaty  was  liumblj  received  by 
the  Germans,  as  it  pleased  the  conqueror  to  dictate,  lie  ex- 
acted a  strict  restitution  of  the  effects  and  captives  which  they 
Jjad  carried  away  from  the  provinces;  and  oljliged  their  own 
magistrates  to  jiunish  the  more  obstinate  robbers  who  pre- 
sumed to  detain  any  part  of  the  spoil.  A  considerable  tribute 
of  corn,  cattle,  and  horses,  the  only  wealth  of  barbarians,  was 
reserved  for  the  use  of  the  garrisons  which  I'robus  establislied 
on  the  limits  of  their  territory.  He  even  entertained  some 
tlioughts  of  compelling  the  Germans  to  relinquish  the  exercise 
of  arms,  and  to  trust  their  differences  to  the  justice,  their  safe- 
ty to  the  power,  of  Rome.  To  accomplish  these  salutary 
ends,  the  constant  residence  of  an  Imperial  governor,  sup- 
ported by  a  numerous  army,  was  indis])ensably  requisite. 
Probus  therefore  judged  it  more  expedient  to  defer  the  exe- 
cution of  so  great  a  design ;  which  was  indeed  rather  of 
specious  than  solid  utility."  Had  Germany  been  reduced 
into  the  state  of  a  province,  the  Romans,  with  immense  labor 
and  expense,  would  have  acquired  only  a  more  extensive 
boundary  to  defend  against  the  fiercer  and  more  active  barba- 
rians of  Scythia. 

Instead  of  reducing  the  warlike  natives  of  Germany  to  tlie 
condition  of  subjects,  Probus  contented  himself  with  the  hum- 
ble expedient  of  raising  a  bulwark  against  their  inroads.  The 
country  which  now  forms  the  circle  of  Swabiu  had  been  left 
desert  in  the  age  of  Augustus  by  the  emigration  of  its  ancient 
inhabitants.*'  The  fertility  of  the  soil  soon  attracted  a  new- 
colony  from  the  adjacent  pi'ovinces  of  Gaul.  Crowds  of  ad- 
venturers, of  a  roving  temper  and  of  desperate  fortunes, 
occupied  the  doubtful  possession,  and  acknowledged,  by  the 
payment  of  tithes  the  majesty  of  the  emj)ire."  To  j)rotect 
these  new  subjects,  a  line  of  frontier  garrisons  was  gradually 
extended  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube.  About  the  reign  of 
Hadrian,  when  that  mode  of  defence  began  to  be  practised, 
tliese  garrisons   were   connected   and    covered    by    a   strong 


*"  Hist.  August,  p.  238,  239.  Vopiscus  quotes  a  letter  from  the 
smperor  to  the  ser  ate,  in  wliich  he  mentions  his  design  of  reducing 
Germany  into  a  pre  vince. 

*'  Strabo,  1.  vii.  According  to  Valleius  Paterculus,  (ii.  108,)  Mar- 
oboduus  led  his  Marcomaniii  into  Boliemia;  Cluverius  (German.  Antiq 
iii  8)  proves  that  it  was  from  Swabia. 

*'■'  These  settlers,  from  the  payment  of  tithes,  were  denominated 
DecMtnatrs.     Tacit.  Germania,  c.  29 


382  THE  DKCLINK  AND  FALL        [A.D.  271 

inlrenchment  of  treos  and  palisades.  In  the  place  of  so  rudo 
a  bulwark,  the  emperor  Probus  constructed  a  stone  wall  of  a 
considerable  height,  and  strengthened  it  by  towers  at  conve- 
nient distances.  From  the  neighborhood  of  Newstadt  and 
iiatisbon  on  the  Danube,  it  stretched  across  hills,  valleys, 
rivers,  and  morasses,  as  far  as  Wimpfen  on  the  Necker,  and 
at  length  terminated  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  after  a  wind- 
ing course  of  near  two  hundred  miles."  This  important  bar- 
rier, uniting  the  two  mighty  streams  that  protected  the  prov- 
inces of  Europe,  seemed  to  fill  up  the  vacant  space  through 
which  the  barbarians,  and  particularly  the  A'emanni,  could 
penetrate  with  the  greatest  facility  into  the  heart  of  the  empire. 
But  the  experience  of  the  world,  from  China  to  Britain,  has 
exposed  the  vain  attempt  of  fortifying  any  extensive  tract  of 
country.*'  An  active  enemy,  who  can  select  a"d  vary  \m 
points  of  attack,  must,  in  the  end,  discover  some  feeble  spot,  oi 
some  unguarded  moment.  The  strength,  as  well  as  the  atten- 
tion, of  the  defenders  is  divided  ;  and  such  are  the  blind  effects 
of  terror  on  the  firmest  troops,  that  a  line  broken  in  a  single 
place  is  almost  instantly  deserted.  The  fate  of  the  wall  whict 
Probus  erected  may  confirm  the  general  observation.  Withip 
a  few  years  after  his  death,  it  was  overthrown  by  the  Alemanni. 
Its  scattered  ruins,  universally  ascribed  to  the  power  of  the 
Daemon,  now  serve  only  to  excite  the  wonder  of  the  Sw^bian 
peasant. 

*'  See  notes  de  I'Abbc  de  la  Bleterie  a  la  Germanie  de  Tacite,  p. 
183.  His  account  of  the  wall  is  chiefly  borrowed  (as  he  says  himself) 
from  the  Alsatia  Illustrata  of  SchcEpflin. 

^*  See  Recherches  sur  les  Chinois  et  les  Egyptiens,  torn.  ii.  p.  81 
— 102.  The  anonymous  author  is  well  acquainted  with  the  gVibe  in 
general,  and  with  Germany  in  particular :  with  regard  to  the  latter, 
he  quotes  a  work  of  M.  Hanselmau ;  but  he  seems  to  confou',d  the 
wall  of  Probus,  designed  against  the  Alemanni,  with  the  fortiJ»cation 
of  the  Mattiaci,  constructed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Frankfort  rtgainst 
the  Catti.* 

*  De  Pauw  is  well  know^n  to  have  been  the  author  of  this  work,  aa  of  the 
Recherches  sur  les  Americains  before  quoted.  The  judgment  of  M.  Remusat 
on  this  writer  is  in  a  very  different,  I  fear  a  juster  tone.  Quand  an  lieu  do 
rechcrcher,  d'examiner,  d'etudier,  on  se  borne,  comme  cet  eci-ivain,  a  juger 
H.  prononcer,  a  decider,  sans  connoitre  ni  I'liistoire.  ni  les  langues,  sans  ro 
rourir  aux  sources,  sans  nicme  se  doutcr  de  leur  existence,  on  pent  on  im- 

f)oser  pendant  Ljuelque  temps  a  des  lecteurs  prevenus  ou  peu  iustruita  ;  mais 
e  mepris  qui  ne  manque  guere  de  succedcr  a  cet  engouement  fait  iiicntoi 
justice  de  ces  assertions  hazard^es,  et  elles  retorabent  dans  I'oubli  ('I'awtant 
plus  promptement,  qu'elles  ont  ete  posees  avec  pi' is  de  confianct  oe  <1* 
«iierite.    Sm*  les  I  angues  Tfirtarcs,  p.  231. — M. 


A.D.  277.]  OP    THE    ROMAU    KMl'IRE.  383 

Among  the  Uieful  conditions  of  peace  imposed  by  Probus 
on  the  vanquished  nations  of  Germany,  w;is  the  obligation  of 
supplying  the  Roman  army  with  sixteen  thousand  recruits,  ino 
bravest  and  most  robust  of  their  youth.  The  emperor  dis- 
persed them  through  all  the  provinces,  and  distributed  this 
dangerous  reenforcement,  in  small  bands  of  fifty  or  sixty  each, 
among  the  national  troops ;  judiciously  observing,  that  the  aid 
which  the  republic  derived  from  the  barbarians  should  be  felt 
but  rot  seen.''^  Their  aid  was  now  become  necessary.  The 
feeble  elegance  of  Italy  and  the  internal  provinces  could  no 
longer  support  the  weight  of  arras.  Tlie  hardy  frontiers  of 
the  Rhine  and  Danube  still  produced  minds  and  bodies  equal 
to  the  labors  of  the  camp ;  but  a  perpetual  series  of  wars 
had  gradually  diminished  tlieir  numbers.  The  infrequency  of 
marriage,  and  the  ruin  of  agriculture,  affected  the  jjrinciples 
of  population,  and  not  only  destroyed  the  strength  of  the 
present,  but  intercepted  the  hope  of  future,  generations.  The 
wisdom  of  Probus  embraced  a  great  and  beneficial  plan  of 
replenishing  the  exhausted  frontiers,  by  new  colonies  of 
captive  or  fugitive  barbarians,  on  whom  he  bestowed  lands, 
cattle,  instruments  of  husbandry,  and  every  encouragement 
that  might  engage  them  to  educate  a  race  of  soldiers  for  the  | 
service  of  the  republic.  Into  Britain,  and  most  probably  into  I 
Cambridgeshire,**  he  transported  a  considerable  body  of  Van- 
dals. The  impossibihty  of  an  escape  reconciled  them  to  their 
situation,  and  in  the  subsequent  troubles  of  that  island,  tliey 
approved  themselves  the  most  faithful  servants  of  the  state." 
Great  numbers  of  Franks  and  Gepidae  were  settled  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine.  A  hundred  thousand 
Bastarnse,  expelled  from  their  own  countiy,  cheerfully  accepted 
an  establishment  in  Thrace,  and  soon  imbibed  the  manners 
and  sentiments  of  Roman  subjects."  But  the  expectations  of 
Probus  were  too  often  disappoiiited.  The  impatience  and  idle 
ness  of  the   barbarians   could    ill    brook    the   slow  laboi-s   of 


*^  He  distributed  about  fifty  or  sixty  barbarians  to  a  Numenis,  as  it 
was  then  called,  a  corps  with  whose  established  number  we  are  vA 
exactly  acquainted. 

^^  Camden's  Britannia,  Introduction,  p.  136 ;  but  lie  speaks  from  a 
very  doubtful  conjecture. 

*'  Zosimus,  1.  i.  p.  62.  iVccording  to  Vopiscus,  anrjther  bocy  of  Van- 
dals was  less  faithful. 

**  Hist.  August,  p.  240.  They  were  pro,)ably  cxpelltd  l>y  tb« 
Soths.     Zosim.  1.  i.  p.  66. 


884  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  279 

Rgriculture.  Their  unconquerable  love  of  freedom,  rising 
against  despotism,  provoked  them  into  liasty  rebelUons,  ahke 
fatal  to  themselves  and  to  the  provinces;"  nor  could  these 
artificial  supplies,  however  repeated  by  succeeding  emperors, 
restore  the  important  limit  of  Gaul  and  Illyricum  to  its  ancient 
and  native  vigor. 

Of  all  the  barbarians  who  abandoned  their  new  settlements, 
and  disturbed  the  public  tranquillity,  a  very  small  number 
returned  to  their  own  country.  For  a  short  season  they  might' 
wander  in  arms  through  the  empire ;  but  in  the  end  they  were 
surely  destroyed  by  the  power  of  a  warlike  emperor.  The 
successful  rashness  of  a  party  of  Franks  Avas  attended,  how- 
ever, with  such  memorable  consequences,  that  it  ought  not  to 
be  paesed  unnoticed.  They  had  been  established  by  Probus, 
on  the  sea-coast  of  Pontus,  with  a  view  of  strengthening  the 
frontier  against  the  inroads  of  the  Alani.  A  fleet  stationed  in 
one  of  the  harbors  of  the  Euxine  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Franks ;  and  they  resolved,  through  unknown  seas,  to  explore 
their  way  from  the  mouth  of  the  Phasis  to  that  of  the  Rhine. 
They  easily  escaped  through  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Helles- 
pont, and  cruising  along  the  Mediterranean,  indulged  their 
appetite  for  re\enge  and  plunder  by  frequent  descents  on  the 
unsuspecting  shores  of  Asia,  Greece,  and  Africa.  The  opulent 
city  of  Syracuse,  in  whose  port  the  natives  of  Athens  and  Car- 
thage had  formerly  been  sunk,  was  sacked  by  a  handful  of 
barbarians,  who  massacred  the  greatest  part  of  the  trembling 
inhabitants.  From  the  Island  of  Sicil}',  the  Franks  proceeded 
to  the  columns  of  Hercules,  trusted  themselves  to  the  ocean, 
coasted  round  Spain  and  Gaul,  and  steering  their  triumphant 
course  through  the  British  Channel,  at  length  finished  their 
surprising  voyage,  by  landing  in  safety  on  the  Batavian  or 
Frisian  shores.^"  The  example  of  their  success,  instructing 
their  countrymen  to  conceive  the  advantages  and  to  despise 
the  dangers  of  the  sea,  pointed  out  to  their  enterprising  spirit 
a  new  road  to  wealth  and  glory. 

Notwithstanding  the  vigilance  and  activity  of  Probus,  it  was 
almost  impossible  that  he  could  at  once  contain  in  obedience 
every  part  of  liis  wide-extended  dominions.  The  barbarians, 
frho  broke  their  chains,  had  seized  the  favorable  opportunity 
of  a  domestic  war.     When  the  emperor  marched  to  the  rs- 

*'  Hist.  August,  p.  240. 

'■'  Paneiryr.  V"et.  v.  18.     Zoeimus,  1  i.  c.  6ft. 


A.D.280.'J  OF  THE  roman  kmi'ire.  335 

lief  of  Gaul,  he  devolved  the  command  of  the  E;ust  on  Satur- 
ninus.  That  general,  a  man  of  merit  and  experience,  wixa 
driven  into  rebellion  by  the  absence  of  his  sovereign,  the 
levity  of  the  Alexandrian  people,  the  pressing  instances  of  hia 
friends,  and  his  own  feai-s ;  but  from  the  moment  of  his  eleva- 
tion, he  never  entertained  a  hope  of  empire,  or  even  of  hfe. 
"  Alas  !"  he  said,  "  the  republic  has  lost  a  useful  servant,  and 
the  rashness  of  an  hour  has  destroyed  the  services  of  raanv 
years.  You  know  not,"  continued  he,  "  the  misery  of  sovereiga 
power ;  a  sword  is  perpetually  suspended  over  our  head.  We 
dread  our  very  guards,  we  distrust  our  companion;..  The 
choice  of  action  or  of  repose  is  no  longer  in  our  disposition, 
nor  is  there  any  age,  or  character,  or  conduct,  that  can  protect 
us  from  the  censure  of  envy.  In  thus  exalting  me  to  the 
throne,  you  have  doomed  me  to  a  life  of  cares,  and  to  an  ut 
timely  fate.  The  only  consolation  which  remains  is,  the  assx 
ranee  that  I  shall  not  flill  alone."  °*  But  as  the  former  part  of 
his  prediction  was  verified  by  the  victory,  so  the  latter  was  dis- 
appointed by  the  clemency  of  Probus.  That  amiable  prince 
attempted  even  to  save  the  unhappy  Saturninus  from  the  fury 
of  the  soldiers.  He  had  more  than  once  solicited  the  usurper 
himself  to  place  some  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  a  sovereign 
who  so  highly  esteemed  his  character,  that  he  had  punished,  as 
a  malicious  informer,  the  first  who  related  the  improbable 
news  of  his  disaffection."  Saturninus  might,  perhaps,  have 
embraced  the  generous  offer,  had  he  not  been  I'estrained  by 
the  obstinate  distrust  of  his  adherents.  Their  guilt  was  deeper, 
and  their  hopes  more  sanguine,  than  those  of  their  experienced 
leader. 

The  revolt  of  Saturninus  was  scarcely  extinguished  in  the 
East,  before  new  troubles  Avere  excited  in  the  West,  by  the 
rebellion  of  Bonosus  and  Proculus,  in  Gaul.  The  most  distin- 
guished merit  of  those  two  officers  was  their  respective 
prowess,  of  the  one  in  the  combats  of  Bacchus,  of  the  other 
in  those  of  Venus,"   yet    neither  of  them  was  destitute    of 


'*  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  245,  246.  Tlie  unfortunate  orator 
h.%d  studied  rhetoric  at  Carthage ;  an<l  -^as  therefore  more  probably  A 
Moor  (Zosim.  1.  i.  p.  60)  than  a  Gaul,  «8  V^opiscus  calls  him. 

"  Zonaras,  1.  xii.  p.  638. 

"  A  very  surprising  instance  is  recov'ed  of  the  prowess  of  Procuhw. 
He  had  taken  one  hundred  Sarmatian  virpJns.  The  rest  of  the  storj 
he.  must  relate  in  hi;  own  langua2;c:  "  fix  his  unii  nccte  decern  inivi ; 

VOL.  I.--  li 


386  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  281 

courage  and  capacity,  and  both  sustained,  with  lionor,  the  august 
character  which  the  fear  of  punishment  had  engaged  them  to 
assume,  till  they  sunk  at  length  beneath  the  superior  genius  of 
Probas.  He  used  the  victory  with  his  accustomed  moderation, 
and  spared  the  fortune,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  their  innocent 
families," 

The  arras  of  Probus  had  now  suppressed  all  the  foreign  and 
domestic  enemies  of  the  state.  His  mild  but  steady  administra- 
tion contirmed  the  re  establishment  of  the  public  tranquillity ; 
Dor  was  there  left  in  the  provinces  a  hostile  barbarian,  a  tyrant, 
or  even  a  robber,  to  revive  the  memory  of  past  disorders.  It 
was  time  that  the  emperor  should  revisit  Rome,  and  celebrate 
his  own  glory  and  the  general  happiness.  The  triumph  due  to 
the  valor  of  Probus  w;is  conducted  with  a  magnificence  suitable 
to  his  fortune,  and  the  people  who  had  so  lately  admired  the 
trophies  of  Aurelian,  gazed  with  equal  pleasure  on  those  of  his 
heroic  successor ,^^  We  cannot,  on  this  occasion,  forget  the  des- 
perate courage  of  about  fourscore  gladiators,  reserved,  with  near 
six  hundred  others,  for  the  inhuman  sports  of  the  amphitheatre. 
Disdaining  to  shed  their  blood  for  the  amusement  of  the 
populace,  they  killed  their  keepers,  broke  from  the  place  of 
their  confinement,  and  filled  the  streets  of  Rome  with  blood 
and  confusion.  After  an  obstinate  resistance,  they  were  over- 
powered and  cut  in  pieces  by  the  regular  forces ;  but  they  ob- 
tained at  least  an  honorable  death,  and  the  satisfaction  of  a  just 
revenge.*^ 

The  military  discipline  which  reigned  in  the  camps  of  Pro 
bus  was  less  cruel  than  that  of  Aurelian,  but  it  ^tvis  equalh 
rigid  and  exact.  The  latter  had  punished  the  irregularities  ol 
the  soldiei-s  with  unrelenting  severity,  the  former  prevented  then 
by  employing  the  legions  in  constant  and  useful  labors,  Whe» 
Probus  commanded  in  Egypt,  he  executed  many  considera 
ble  works  for  the  splendor  and  benefit  of  that  rich  country 
The  navigation  of  the  Nile,  so  important  to  Rome  itself,  wa* 
improved;     and    temples,    buildings,    porticos,    and    palaces 

omnes  tamen,  quod  in  me  erat,  mulieres  intra  dies  quindecim  reddidi.' 
Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  246. 

'*  Proculus,  who  was  a  native  of  Albengue,  on  the  Genoese  coast 
armed  two  thousand  of  his  own  slaves.  His  riches  were  great,  bu 
they  were  acquired  by  robbery.  It  was  afterwards  a  saying  of  hit 
family,  sibi  non  placere  esse  vel  principes  vel  latrones.  YopiscuB  ia 
Hiflt  August,  p.  247. 

*'  Hist.  August,  p.  240. 

••  Zosim.  1.  i.  p.  66. 


A.  D.  282.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  887 

were  constructed  by  the  hands  of  the  soldiers,  who  acted  bj  tumi 
as  architects,  as  engineei-s,  and  as  husbandmen."  It  was  report- 
ed of  Hannibal,  that  in  order  to  ])rcserve  his  iroops  from  th« 
dangerous  temptations  of  idleness,  he  had  obliged  them  to  form 
large  plantations  of  olive-trees  along  the  coast  of  Africa.** 
From  a  similar  principle,  Probus  exercised  his  legions  in  cover- 
ing with  rich  vineyards  the  hills  of  Gaul  and  Pannonia,  and 
two  considerable  spots  are  described,  which  were  entirely  dug 
and  planted  by  military  labor.'*  One  of  these,  known  undei 
the  name  of  Mount  x\.lmo,  was  situated  near  Sirmium,  the 
country  where  Probus  w^as  born,  for  which  he  ever  retained  a 
partial  affection,  and  whose  gratitude  he  endeavored  to 
secure,  by  converting  into  tillage  a  large  and  unhealtliy  tract 
of  marshy  ground.  An  army  thus  employed  constituted  per- 
haps the  most  useful,  as  well  as  the  bravest,  portion  of 
Roman  subjects. 

But  in  the  prosecution  of  a  favorite  scheme,  the  best  of  men, 
satisfied  with  the  rectitude  of  their  intentions,  are  subject  to 
forget  the  bounds  of  moderation ;  nor  did  Probus  himself 
sufficiently  consult  the  patience  and  disposition  of  his  fierce 
legionaries."  The  dangers  of  the  military  profession  ^eem 
only  to  be  compensated  by  a  life  of  pleasure  and  idleness ; 
but  if  the  duties  of  the  soldier  are  incessantly  aggravated 
by  the  labors  of  the  peasant,  he  will  at  last  sink  under  the 
intolerable  burden,  or  shake  it  off  with  indignation.  The 
imprudence  of  Probus  is  said  to  have  inflamed  the  discontent 
of  his  troops.  More  attentive  to  the  interests  of  mankind 
than  to  those  of  the  army,  he  expressed  the  vain  hope,  that, 
by  the  establishment  of  universal  peace,  he  should  soon  abol- 
ish the  necessity  of  a  standing  and  mercenary  force."     The 


*'  Hist.  August,  p.  236. 

**  Aurel.  Victor,  in  Prob.  But  the  policy  of  Hannibal,  unnoticed  by 
any  more  ancient  writer,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  history  of  his  lifft 
He  left  Africa  when  lie  was  nine  years  old,  returned  to  it  when  he  wag 
forty-five,  and  immediately  lost  his  army  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Zama, 
Livius,  XXX.  3Y. 

^"  Hist.  August,  p.  240.  Eutrop.  ix.  17.  Aurel.  Victor,  in  Prch 
Victor  Junior.  He  revoked  the  prohibition  of  Domitian,  and  granted  a 
tceneral  permission  )f  planting  vines  to  the  Gauls,  the  Britons,  and  the 
Panr.onians. 

*"  Julian  bestows  a  severe,  and  indeed  excessive,  censure  on  tha 
figor  of  Probus,  who,  as  he  thinks,  almost  deserved  his  fate. 

*'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  ^-Jll.  He  lavishes  on  this  idle  hop^o 
large  stock  of  very  foolish  eloquence. 


g^B  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  282 

ungual  (led  expression  proved  fatal  to  him.  In  one  of  the 
hottest  days  of  summer,  as  he  severely  urged  the  unwholesome 
labor  of  draining  the  marshes  of  Sinnium,  the  soldiers,  impa- 
tient of  fatigue,  on  a  sudden  threw  down  their  tools,  grasped 
their  arms,  and  broke  out  into  a  furious  mutiny.  The  emperor, 
conscious  of  his  danger,  took  refuge  in  a  lofty  tower,  constructed 
for  the  parpose  of  surveying  the  progress  of  the  work."^  The 
tower  was  instantly  forced,  and  a  thousand  swords  were  plunged 
at  once  into  the  bosom  of  the  unfortunate  Probus.  The  rage 
of  the  troops  subsided  as  soon  as  it  had  been  gratified.  They 
then  lamented  their  fatal  rashness,  forgot  the  severity  of  the 
emperor,  v^hom  they  had  massacred,  and  hastened  to  perpetuate, 
by  an  honorable  monument,  the  memory  of  his  virtues  and 
victories.^' 

When  the  legions  had  indulged  their  grief  and  repentance 
for  the  death  of  Probus,  their  unanimous  consent  declared 
Cams,  his  Praetorian  prasfect,  the  most  deserving  of  the  Impe- 
rial throne.  Every  circumstance  that  relates  to  this  prince 
appears  of  a  mixed  and  doubtful  nature.  He  gloried  in  the 
title  of  Roman  Citizen ;  and  aftected  to  compare  the  purity  of 
hts  blood  with  the  foreign  and  even  barbarous  origin  of  the 
preceding  emperors ;  yet  the  most  inquisitive  of  his  contem- 
poraries, very  far  from  admitting  his  claim,  have  variously 
deduced  his  own  birth,  or  that  of  his  parents,  from  Illyricum, 
from  Gaul,  or  from  Africa.**  Though  a  soldier,  he  had  re- 
ceived a  learned  education ;  though  a  senator,  he  was  invested 
with  the  first  dignity  of  the  army ;  and  in  an  age  when  the 
civil  and  military  professions  began  to  be  irrecoverably  sep- 
arated from  each  other,  they  were  united  in  the  person  cf 
Cams.  Notwithstanding  the  severe  justice  which  he  exer- 
cised against  the  assassins  of  Probus,  to  whose  favor  and 
esteem  he  was  highly  indebted,  he  could  not  escape  the  sus- 
picion of  being  accessory  to  a  deed  from  whence  he  derived 
the  principal  advantage.     He  enjoyed,  at  least,  before  his  ele- 


*''  Turris  ferrala.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  movable  tower,  and  cased 
with  iron. 

"^  Probus,  ct  verc  probus  situs  est ;  Victor  omnium  gentium  Bar- 
oararum ;  victor  etiam  tyrannorum. 

"*  Yet  all  this  may  be  conciliated.  He  was  born  at  Narbonne  in 
Dlyricum,  confounded  by  Eutropius  with  the  more  famous  city  of  that 
name  in  Gaul.  His  father  might  be  an  African,  and  his  mother  a  nobit 
Roman.  Carus  himself  was  educated  in  the  capital.  See  ycalifjer 
Auimad\  ertion.  ad  Euaeb.  Chron.  p.  241. 


A.  D.  282.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  381 

vation,  an  acknowledged  character  of  virtue  and  ubilltins ;  ' 
but  bis  austere  temper  insensibly  degenerated  into  nioroseness 
and  cruelty;  and  the  ini})crfect  writers  of  liis  life  almost  bcsi- 
fcite  whether  they  shall  not  rank  him  in  the  number  of  Roman 
tyrants.**  When  Cams  assumed  the  purple,  he  was  about 
sixty  years  of  age,  and  his  two  sons,  Carinus  and  Numsrian, 
had  already  attained  the  season  of  manhood." 

The  authority  of  the  senate  expired  with  Probus ;  nor  was 
the  repentance  of  the  soldiers  dis})layed  by  the  same  d  itifuJ 
regard  for  the  civil  power,  which  they  had  testified  after  tho 
unfortunate  death  of  Aurelian.  The  election  of  Carus  was  de- 
dded  without  expecting  the  approbation  of  the  senate,  and  the 
aew  emperor  contented  himself  with  announcing,  in  a  cold  and 
stately  epistle,  that  he  had  ascended  the  vacant  tbrone."  A 
behavior  so  very  opposite  to  that  of  his  amiable  predecessor 
aftbrded  no  favorable  presage  of  the  new  reign :  and  the 
Romans,  deprived  of  power  and  freedom,  asserted  their  privi- 
lege of  licentious  murmurs.*"  The  voice  of  congratulatioil  and 
flattery  was  not,  however,  silent;  and  we  may  still  peruse,  with 
pleasure  and  contempt,  an  eclogue,  which  was  composed  on  tho 
accession  of  the  emperor  Carus.  Two  shepherds,  avoiding  the 
noontide  heat,  retire  into  the  cave  of  Faunus.  On  a  spreading 
beech  they  discover  some  recent  characters.  The  rural  deity 
had  described,  in  prophetic  verses,  the  felicity  promised  to  the 
empire  under  the  reign  of  so  great  a  prince.  Faunus  hails  the 
approach  of  that  hero,  who,  receiving  on  his  shoulders  the 
sinkinc:  weio'ht  of  the  Roman  world,  shall  extinguish  war  and 
faction,  and  once  again  restore  the  innocence  and  security  of 
the  golden  age." 

It  is  more  than  probable,  that  these  elegant  trifles  nevei 


•*  Probus  had  requested  of  the  senate  an  equestrian  statue  and  » 
marble  palace,  at  the  public  expense,  as  a  just  recompense  of  the  sin- 
gular merit  of  Carus.     Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  249. 

""  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  242,  249.  Julian  excludes  the  em 
pel  or  Carus  and  both  his  sous  from  the  banquet  of  the  Caesars. 

*'  John  Malala,  torn.  i.  p.  401.  But  the  authority  of  that  igncran< 
Greek  is  very  slight.  He  ridiculously  derives  from  Carus  the  city  of 
Carrhse,  and  the  province  of  Caria,  the  latter  of  which  is  mentioned 
by  Homer. 

''^  Hist.  August,  p.  249.  Carus  congratulatei.'  the  senate,  that  cue  o| 
their  own  order  was  made  emperor. 

«»  Hist.  August,  p.  242. 

'*  See  the  tirst  eclogue  of  Calphurnius.  The  design  of  it  is  prefers* 
tj  FoDtenello  to  tliat  of  Virgil's  I'oUio.     See  torn,  iil  p.  14S. 


190  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A,  D.  288 

e«clied  tLe  eara  of  a  veteran  general,  who,  with  the  consehi 
jf  the  legions,  was  preparing  to  execute  the  long-suspended 
iesign  of  the  Persian  war.  Before  his  departure  for  this  dis- 
^nt  expedition,  Carus  conferred  on  his  two  sons,  Carinus  and 
N"umerian,  the  title  of  Coesar,  and  investing  the  former  with 
>lmost  an  equal  share  of  the  Imperial  power,  directed  the 
foung  ])rince,  first  to  suppicss  some  troubles  which  had  arisen 
b  Gaul,  and  afterwards  to  fix  the  seat  of  his  residence  at 
Rome,  and  to  assume  the  governme^-*'  of  the  Western  prov- 
Jices."  The  safety  of  Illyricum  was  confirmed  by  a  memora- 
ble defeat  of  the  Sarmatians ;  sixteen  thousand  of  those  bar- 
barians remained  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  number  of 
taptives  amounted  to  twent}'  thousand.  The  old  emperor, 
animated  with  the  fame  and  prospect  of  victory,  pursued  his 
march,  in  the  midst  of  winter,  through  the  countries  of  Thrace 
and  Asia  Minor,  and  at  length,  with  his  younger  son,  Nume- 
riau,  arrived  on  the  confines  of  the  Persian  monarchy.  There, 
encamping  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  mountain,  he  pointed  out 
to  his  troops  the  opulence  and  luxury  of  the  enemy  whom 
they  were  about  to  invade. 

The  successor  of  Artaxerxos,*  Varanes,  or  Bahram,  though 
he  had  subdued  the  Segestans,  one  of  the  most  warlike  nations 
of  Upper  Asia,"  was  alarmed  at  the  approach  of  the  Romans, 
and  endeavored  to  retard   their  progress  by  a  negotiation  of 

'^  Hist.  August,  p.  353.     Eiitiopius,  ix.  18.     Pagi.  Annal. 

'^  Agatliias,  1.  iv.  p.  135.  We  find  one  of  his  sayings  in  the  Bib- 
liotheque  Orientale  of  M.  d'Herbelot.  "The  definition  of  humanity 
includes  all  other  virtues." 


•  Three  itjoaarchs  had  intei'vened,  Sapor,  (Shahpour,)  Homiisdas,  (Hor- 
mooz,)  Varanes  o."  Baharam  the  First. — M. 

t  The  manner  in  which  his  life  was  saved  hy  the  Chief  Pontiff  from  a 
conspiracy  of  his  nobles,  is  as  remarkable  as  his  saying.  "  By  the  advice 
(of  the  Pontiff)  all  the  nobles  absented  themselves  from  rourt.  The  king 
wandered  through  his  palace  alone.  He  saw  no  one ;  all  was  silence 
around.  He  became  alarmed  and  distressed.  At  last  the  Chief  Pontiff 
appeared,  and  bowed  his  head  in  apparent  misery,  but  spoke  not  a  word 
The  king  entreated  him  to  decla-e  what  had  happened.  The  virtuous  man 
boldly  related  all  lliat  had  passed,  md  conjui-ed  Bahram,  in  the  name  of  hia 
glorious  ancestors,  to  change  his  conduct  and  save  himself  from  destruction. 
The  king  was  much  moved,  professed  himself  most  penitent,  and  said  he 
was  resolved  his  future  life  should  prove  his  sincerity.  The  overjoyed  High 
Priest,  delighted  at  this  success,  made  a  signal,  at  which  all  the  nobles  and 
attendants  were  in  an  instant,  as  if  by  magic,  in  their  usual  places.  The 
monarch  now  perceived  that  only  one  opinion  [prevailed  on  his  past  conduct. 
Ho  repeated  therefore  to  his  nobles  all  he  had  said  to  the  Chief  Pontiff,  and 
his  future  reign  was  unstained  by  craelty  or  oppression."  Malcolm's  Feraioi 
t73— M 


A.  D.  283.1  ^^  "^^^  HOMAN  empire.  301 

peace.  His  ambassadors  enterod  the  camp  ahout  sunset,  at 
the  time  when  the  troops  were  satisfying  tlieir  hunger  with  a 
frugal  repast.  The  Persians  expressed  their  desire  of  being 
introduced  to  the  presence  of  tlie  Roman  emperor.  They 
were  at  length  conducted  to  a  soldier,  who  was  seated  on  the 
grass.  A  piece  of  stale  bacon  and  a  few  hard  peas  composed 
his  supper.  A  coarse  woollen  garment  of  purple  wjis  the  onlj 
circumstance  that  announced  his  dignity.  The  conference 
was  conducted  with  the  same  disregard  of  courtly  elegance. 
Oarus,  taking  oft'  a  cap  which  he  wore  to  conceal  his  baldness, 
assured  the  ambassadors,  that,  unless  their  master  acknowl- 
edged the  superiority  of  Rome,  ho  would  speedily  render 
Persia  as  naked  of  trees  as  his  own  head  was  destitute  of 
nair.''^  Notwithstanding  some  traces  of  art  and  preparation, 
we  may  discover  in  this  scone  the  manners  of  Carus,  and  the 
severe  simplicity  which  the  martial  princes,  who  succeeded 
txallienus,  had  already  restored  in  the  Roman  camps.  The 
ninisters  of  the  Great  King  trembled  and  retired. 

The  threats  of  Carus  were  not  without  effect.  He  ravaged 
i>Iesopotamia,  cut  in  pieces  whatever  opposed  his  passage, 
made  himself  master  of  the  great  cities  of  Seleucia  and 
dtesiphon,  (which  seemed  to  have  surrendered  without  resist- 
ance,) and  carried  his  victorious  arms  beyond  the  Tigriii.'* 
He  had  seized  the  favorable  moment  for  an  invasion.  The 
Persian  councils  were  distracted  by  domestic  factions,  and  the 
greater  part  of  their  forces  were  detained  on  the  frontiers  of 
India.  Rome  and  the  East  received  with  transports  the  news 
of  such  important  advantages.  Flattery  and  hope  painted,  in 
the  most  lively  colors,  the  fall  of  Persia,  the  conquest  of 
A.rabia,  the  submission  of  Egypt,  and  a  lasting  deliverance 
from  the  inroads  of  the  Scythian  nations."     But  the  reign  of 

''*  Synesius  tells  this  story  of  Carinus ;  and  it  is  much  more  natural 
to  understand  it  of  Carus,  than  (as  Petavius  and  Tillemont  choose  to  do) 
of  Probus. 

'*  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  250.  Eutropius,  ix.  18.  The  two 
Victors. 

'*  To^^e  Persian  victory  of  Carus  I  refer  the  dialogue  of  \he 
Philopatris,  which  has  so  long  been  an  object  of  dispute  among  the 
learned.  But  to  explain  and  justify  my  opinion,  woul  i  require  a 
dissertation.* 


*  Niebuhr,  in  the  new  edition  of  the  Byzantine  Historians,  (vol.  x  ,)  hai 
boldly  assigned  the  Pliilopatris  to  the  tenth  century,  and  to  tho  reie^n  of 
Nioepliorua  Phocas.      An  opinion   so  decisively  pronouiccd   by    N'ebatr 


892  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [  A.  D     288 

Carus  was  destined  to  expose  the  vanity  of  predictions.  They 
were  scarcel)'  uttered  before  they  were  contradicted  by  hia 
death ;  an  event  attended  with  such  ambiguous  circumstances, 
that  it  may  be  related  in  a  letter  from  his  own  secretary  to  the 
prajfect  of  the  city.  "  Carus,"  says  he,  "our  dearest  empe- 
ror, was  confined  by  sickness  to  his  bed,  when  a  furious  tem- 
pest arose  in  the  camp.  The  darkness  which  overspread  the 
fky  was  so  thick,  that  we  could  no  longer  distinguish  each 
oUier;  and  the  incessant  flashes  of  lightning  took  from  us  the 
knowledge  of  all  that  passed  in  the  general  confusion.  Imme- 
diately after  the  most  violent  clap  of  thunder,  we  heard  a 
sudden  cry  that  the  emperor  was  dead  ;  and  it  soon  appeared, 
that  his  chamberlains,  in  a  rage  of  grief,  had  set  fire  to  the 
royal  pavilion ;  a  ciraumstance  which  gave  rise  to  the  report 
that  Carus  was  killed  by  lightning.  But,  as  far  as  we  have 
been  able  to  investigate  the  truth,  his  death  was  the  natural 
effect  of  his  disorder."  " 

The  vacancy  of  the  throne  was  not  productive  of  any  dis- 
turbance. The  ambition  of  the  aspiring  generals  was  checked 
by  their  natural  fears,  and  young  Numerian,  with  his  absent 
brother  Carinus,  were  unanimously  acknowledged  as  Roman 
emperors.  The  public  expected  that  the  successor  of  Carus 
would  pursue  his  father's  footsteps,  and,  without  allowing  the 
Persians  to  recover  from  their  consternation,  would  advance 
sword  in  hand  to  the  palaces  of  Susa  and  Ecbatana."  But 
tlie  legions,  however  strong  in   numbers  and  discipline,  were 

'*  Hist.  August,  p.  250.  Yet  Eutropius,  Festus,  Rufus,  the  two 
Victors,  Jerome,  Sidonius  ApoUinaris,  Syncellus,  and  Zonaras,  all 
ascribe  the  deatli  of  Carus  to  lightning. 

''  See  Nemesian.  Cynegeticon,  v.  'Tl,  <fcc. 


and  favorably  received  by  Hase,  the  learned  editor  of  Leo  Diaconus,  com 
mands  respectful  consideration.  But  the  whole  tone  of  the  work  appeal's 
to  me  altogether  inconsistent  with  any  period  in  which  philosophy  did  not 
stand,  as  it  \vere,  on  some  ground  of  equality  with  Christianity.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  sarcastically  introduced  rather  as  the  strange 
doctrine  of  a  now  religion,  than  the  established  tenet  of  a  faith  universally 
jjrevalent.  The  argument,  adopted  from  Solanus,  concerning  the  formula 
of  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  utterly  worthless,  as  it  is  a  mere 
quotation  in  the  words  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  xv.  26.  The  only  aieu- 
ment  of  any  value  is  the  historic  one,  from  the  allusion  to  the  recent 
violation  of  many  virgins  in  the  Island  of  Crete.  But  neither  is  the  lan- 
guage of  Niebuhr  quite  accurate,  nor  his  reference  to  the  Acroases  of 
Theodosius  satisfactory.  When,  then,  could  this  occun-ence  take  place  'i 
Why  not  in  the  devastation  of  the  i.sland  by  the  Gothic  pirates,  dxis'mg 
tbc  reign  of  Claudius.     Hist.  Aug.  in  Claud,  p.  814.  edit.  Var.  Lugd.  Bat 

\mi.—M. 


I 


A.  D.  284.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  393 

dismayed  by  the  most  abject  suj)crstition.  Notwithstanding 
all  the  arts  that  were  practised  to  disguise  the  manner  of  the 
late  emperor's  death,  it  was  found  impossible  to  remove  the 
opiaiou  of  the  multitude,  and  the  power  of  opinion  is  irresisti- 
ble. Places  or  persons  struck  with  lightning  were  considered 
by  the  ancients  with  pious  horror,  as  singularly  devoted  to  the 
wrath  of  Heaven."  An  oracle  was  remembered,  which  marked 
the  River  Tigris  as  the  fetal  boundary  of  the  Roman  arms. 
The  troops,  terrified  with  the  fate  of  Carus  and  with  their  own 
danger,  called  aloud  on  young  Numerian  to  obey  the  will  of  tlxo 
gods,  and  to  lead  them  away  from  this  inauspicious  scene  of 
war.  The  feeble  emperor  was  unable  to  subdue  their  obstinate 
prejudice,  and  the  Persians  wondered  at  the  unexpected  retreat 
of  a  victorious  enemy." 

The  intelligence  of  the  mysterious  fate  of  the  late  emperor 
was  soon  carried  from  the  frontiers  of  Persia  to  Rome  ;  and 
the  senate,  as  well  as  the  provinces,  congratulated  the  acces- 
sion of  the  sons  of  Carus.  These  fortunate  youths  were 
strangers,  however,  to  that  conscious  superiority,  either  of  birth 
or  of  merit,  which  can  alone  render  the  possession  of  a  throne 
easy,  and  as  it  were  natural.  Born  and  educated  in  a  private 
station,  the  election  of  their  father  raised  them  at  once  to  the 
rank  of  princes ;  ani  his  death,  which  happened  about  six- 
teen months  afterwards,  left  them  the  unexpected  legacy  of  a 
vast  empire.  To  sustain  with  temper  this  rapid  elevation,  an 
uncommon  share  of  virtue  and  prudence  was  requisite  ;  and 
Carinus,  the  elder  of  the  brothers,  was  more  than  commonly 
deficient  in  those  qualities.  In  the  Gallic  war  he  discovered 
some  degree  of  personal  courage  ;"*"  but  from  the  moment  of 
his  arrival  at  Rome,  he  abandoned  himself  to  the  luxury  of  the 
capital,  and  to  the  abuse  of  his  fortune.  lie  was  soft,  yet 
cruel ;  devoted  to  pleasure,  but  destitute  of  taste  ;  and  though 
exquisitely  susceptible  of  vanity,  indifferent  to  the  public 
esteem.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months,  he  successively  married 
and  divorced  nine  wives,  most  of  whom  he  left  pregnant;  ani.1 
notwithstanding  this  legal  inconstancy,  found  time  to  inuulga 

■**  See  Fesfcus  and  his  commentators  on  the  word  Scriboniunum. 
Places  struck  by  lightning  were  surrounded  with  a  wall ;  tkingt  were 
buried  with  mysterious  ceremony. 

"  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  250.  Aurelius  Victor  seems  tr 
beliftve  the  prediction,  and  to  approve  the  retreat. 

•"  Ntmesian.  Cyneg^jticou,  v  C9.  He  was  u  contemporary,  but  • 
poet 


S84  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  28i 

such  a  variety  of  irregular  appetites,  as  brought  dishonor  on 
himself  and  on  the  noblest  houses  of  Rome.  Ho  beheld  with 
inveterate  hatred  all  those  who  might  remember  his  former 
obscurity,  or  censure  his  present  conduct.  He  banished,  or 
put  to  death,  the  friends  and  counsellors  whom  his  father  had 
placed  about  him,  to  guide  his  inexperienced  youth  ;  and  ho 
persecuted  with  the  meanest  revenge  his  scbool-fellows  and 
companions,  who  had  not  sufficiently  respected  the  latent 
majesty  of  tbe  emperor.  With  the  senators,  Carinus  affected 
a  lofty  and  regal  demeanor,  frequently  declaring,  that  he 
designed  to  distribute  their  estates  among  the  populace  of 
Rome.  From  the  dregs  of  that  populace  he  selected  his 
favorites,  and  even  his  ministers.  The  palace,  and  even  the 
Imperial  table,  were  filled  with  singers,  dancers,  prostitutes, 
and  all  the  various  retinue  of  vice  and  folly.  One  of  his  door- 
keepers** he  intrusted  with  the  government  of  the  city.  In 
the  room  of  the  Praetorian  praefect,  whom  he  put  to  death, 
Carinus  substituted  one  of  the  ministei's  of  his  looser  pleasures. 
Another,  who  possessed  tbe  same,  or  even  a  more  infamous, 
title  to  favor,  was  invested  with  the  consulship.  A  confidential 
secretary,  who  had  acquired  uncommon  skill  in  the  art  of  for- 
gery, delivered  the  indolent  emperor,  with  his  own  consent 
from  the  irksome  duty  of  signing  his  name. 

When  the  emperor  Carus  undertook  the  Persian  war,  he 
was  induced,  by  motives  of  affection  as  well  as  policy,  to 
secure  the  fortunes  of  his  family,  by  leaving  in  the  hands  of 
his  eldest  son  the  armies  and  provinces  of  the  West.  The 
intelligence  which  he  soon  received  of  the  conduct  of  Cari- 
nus filled  him  with  shame  and  regret ;  nor  had  he  concealed 
his  resolution  of  satisfying  the  republic  by  a  severe  act  of  jus- 
tice, and  of  adopting,  in  the  place  of  an  unworthy  son,  the 
brave  and  virtuous  Constantius,  who  at  that  time  was  gov- 
ernor of  Dalmatia.  But  the  elevation  of  Constantius  was  for 
a  while  deferred ;  and  as  soon  as  the  Other's  death  had  re- 
leased Carinus  from  the  control  of  fear  or  decency,  he  displayed 
io  the  Romans  the  extravagancies  of  Elagabalus,  aggravated 
by  the  cruelty  of  Domitian.** 


•*  Oancellarius.  Tliis  word,  so  humble  ia  its  origin,  has,  by  a  siu- 
^olar  fortiane,  risen  into  the  title  of  the  first  great  office  of  state  in  the 
9M>narchies  of  Europe.  See  Casaubon  a  id  Salmasius,  ad  Hist.  A'.igust 
p.  idZ. 

•*  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  253,  254.     Eutropiua,  'x.  IS.     Vie 


A..  D.  284.]        OF  THE  HOMAN  EMPIRE.  30£ 

The  only  raerit  of  the  administration  of  Cai-inus  tLat  Listory 
could  record,  or  poetry  celebrate,  was  the  uncommon  splen- 
dor with  which,  in  his  own  and  his  brother's  name,  he  exhib- 
ited the  Roman  games  of  the  theatre,  the  circus,  and  the 
amphitheatre.  More  than  twenty  years  afterwards,  when  the 
courtiers  of  Diocletian  represented  to  their  frugal  sovereign 
the  fame  and  popularity  of  his  munificent  predecessor,  be 
acknowledged  that  the  reign  of  Carinus  had  indeed  been  a 
reign  of  pleasure.*^  But  this  vain  prodigality,  which  the  pru- 
dence of  Diocletian  might  justly  despise,  was  enjoyed  with 
Burprise  and  transport  by  the  Roman  people.  The  oldest  of 
the  citizens,  recollecting  the  spectacles  of  former  days,  the 
triumphal  pomp  of  Probus  or  Aurelian,  and  the  secular  games 
of  the  emperor  Philip,  acknowledged  that  they  were  all  sur- 
passed by  the  superior  magnificence  of  Carinus." 

The  spectacles  of  Carinus  may  therefore  be  best  illustrated 
by  the  observation  of  some  particulars,  which  history  has  con- 
descended to  relate  concerning  those  of  his  predecessors.  If 
we  confine  ourselves  solely  to  the  hunting  of  wild  beasts,  how 
ever  we  may  censure  the  vanity  of  the  flesign  or  the  cruelty 
of  the  execution,  we  are  obliged  to  confess  that  neither  before 
nor  since  the  time  of  the  Romans  so  much  art  and  expense 
have  ever  been  lavished  for  the  amusement  of  the  people.** 
By  the  order  of  Probus,  a  great  quantity  of  large  trees,  torn 
up  by  the  roots,  were  transplanted  into  the  midst  of  the  circus. 
The  spacious  and  shady  forest  was  immediately  filled  with  a 
thousand  ostriches,  a  thousand  stags,  a  thousand  fallow  deer, 
and  a  thousand  wild  boars ;  and  all  this  variety  of  game  was 
abandoned  to  the  riotous  impetuosity  of  the  multitude.  The 
tragedy  of  the  succeeding  day  consisted  in  the  massacre  of 
a  hundred  lions,  an  equal  number  of  lionesses,  two  hundred 
leopards,  and  three  hundred  bears.*"     The  collection  prepared 


to  Junior.  The  reign  of  Diocletian  indeed  was  so  long  and  prosper- 
ous, that  it  must  have  been  very  unfavorable  to  the  reputation  of 
Carinus. 

*'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  254.  He  calls  him  Carus,  but  th« 
sense  is  sufEciently  obvious,  and  the  words  were  often  confounded. 

•*  See  Calphurnius,  Eclog.  vii.  43.  We  may  observe,  that  the  si)eO' 
tacles  of  Probus  were  still  recent,  and  that  the  poet  is  eeconded  by  the 
historian. 

*'  The  philosopher  Montaigne  (Essais,  1.  iii.  6)  gives  a  very  j 
Bfely  view  of  Roman  magnificence  in  these  spectacles. 

•'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  240. 


396  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D.  28i 

by  the  younger  Gordian  for  his  triumph,  and  which  his  suo 
cessor  exhibited  in  the  secular  games,  was  less  remarkable  by 
the  number  than  by  the  singularity  of  the  animals.  Twenty 
zebras  displayed  their  elegant  forms  and  variegated  beauty  to 
the  eyes  of  the  Roman  people.*'  Ten  elks,  and  as  many 
camelopards,  the  loftiest  and  most  harmless  creatures  that 
wander  over  the  plains  of  Sjrmatia  and  Ethiopia,  were  con- 
trasted with  thirty  African  hysenas  and  ten  Indian  tigers,  tho 
most  implacable  savages  of  the  torrid  zone.  The  unottending 
itrength  with  which  IN'auire  has  endowed  the  greater  quadru- 
peds was  admired  in  the  rhinoceros,  the  hippopotamus  of  the 
Nile,**  and  a  majestic  troop  of  thirty-two  elephants.**  While 
the  populace  gazed  with  stupid  wonder  on  the  splendid  show, 
the  naturalist  might  indeed  observe  the  figure  and  properties 
of  so  many  different  species,  transported  from  every  part  of 
the  ancient  world  into  the  amphitheatre  of  Rome.  But  this 
accidental  benefit,  which  science  might  derive  from  folly,  is 
surely  insufficient  to  justify  such  a  wanton  abuse  of  the  pubhc 
riches.  There  occurs,  however,  a  single  instance  in  the  first 
Punic  war,  in  which  the  senate  wisely  connected  this  amuse- 
ment of  the  multitude  with  the  interest  of  the  state.  A  con- 
siderable number  of  elephants,  taken  in  the  defeat  of  the  Car- 
thaginian army,  were  driven  through  the  circus  by  a  few 
slaves,  armed  only  with  blunt  javelins.*"  The  useful  spectacle 
served  to  impress  the  Roman  soldier  with  a  just  contempt  foi 
those  unwieldy  animals;  and  he  no  longer  dreaded  to  encoun- 
ter them  in  the  ranks  of  war. 

The  hunting  or  exhibition  of  wild  beasts  was  conducted  with 
a  magnificence  suitable  to  a  people  who  styled  themselves  the 
masters  of  the  world ;  nor  was  the  edifice  appropriated  to  that 
entertainment  less  expressive   of  Roman  greatness.     Posterity 


*'  They  are  called  Onagri;  but  the  number  is  too  irjconsidcralle 
for  mere  wild  asses.  Cuper  (de  Elephantis  Exercitat.  ii.  7)  has  proved 
from  Ojipian,  Dion,  and  an  anonymous  Greek,  that  zebras  had  been 
seen  at  Rome.  They  were  brought  from  some  island  of  the  ocean, 
pi!>liaps  Madagascar. 

*^  Carinus  gave  a  hippopotamus,  (see  Calphurn.  Eclog.  vi.  66.)  Di 
the  latter  spectacles,  I  do  not  recollect  any  crocodiles,  of  which  Augus 
lus  once  exliibited  thu-ty-six.     Dion  Cassius,  1.  Iv.  p.  781. 

*"  Capitolin.  in  Hist.  August,  p.  164,  165.  We  are  not  acquaintt/J 
irith  the  animals  which  he  calls  archeleonies ;  some  read  arffolfonUM 
others  ar/rioleonies :  both  corrections  are  very  nugatory 

•"  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  viii.  6,  from  the  annals  of  Pisa 


A.  D.   284.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMI'IRK.  3!M 

admires,  and  will  long  admire,  the  awful  remains  of  the 
amphitheatre  of  Titus,  which  so  well  deserved  the  epithet  of 
Colossal."  It  was  a  building  of  an  elliptic  figure,  tivo  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  feet  in  length,  and  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  in  breadth,  founded  on  fourscore  arches,  and  rising,  with 
four  successive  orders  of  architecture,  to  the  height  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet."''  The  outside  of  the  edifice  was 
encrusted  with  marble,  and  decorated  with  statues.  Tha 
elopes  of  the  vast  concave,  which  formed  the  inside,  were  filled 
and  surrounded  with  sixty  or  eighty  rows  of  seats  of  marble 
likewise,  covered  with  cushions,  and  capable  of  receiving  with 
ease  about  fourscore  thousand  spectators.'^  Sixty-four  vomi- 
tories (for  by  that  name  the  doors  were  very  aptly  distin- 
guished) poured  forth  the  immense  multitude ;  and  the 
entrances,  passages,  and  staircases  were  contrived  with  such 
exquisite  skill,  that  each  person,  whether  of  the  senatorial,  the 
equestrian,  or  the  plebeian  order,  arrived  at  his  destined  place 
without  trouble  or  confusion.'*  Nothing  was  omitted,  which, 
in  any  respect,  could  be  subservient  to  the  convenience  and 
pleasure  of  the  sjDectators.  They  were  protected  from  the  sun 
and  rain  by  an  ample  canopy,  occasionally  drawn  over  their 
heads.  The  air  was  continally  refreshed  by  the  playing  of 
fountains,  and  profusely  impregnated  by  the  grateful  scent  of 
aromatics.  In  the  centre  of  the  edifice,  the  arena,  or  stage, 
was  strewed  with  the  finest  sand,  and  successively  assumed  the 
most  ditierent  forms.  At  one  moment  it  seemed  to  rise  out 
of  the  earth,  like  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  and  was 
afterwards  broken  into  the  rocks  and  caverns  of  Thrace.  The 
subterraneous  pipes  conveyed  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
water;  and  what  had  just  before  appeared  a  level  plain,  might 
be  suddenly  converted  into  a  wide  lake,  covered   with  armed 

*'  See  Maffei,  Verona  Illustrata,  p.  iv.  1.  i.  c.  2. 

'^  Maffei,  1.  ii.  c.  2.  The  height  was  very  much  exaggerated  by 
the  ancients.  It  reached  almost  to  the  heavens,  according  to  Cal- 
phurnius,  (Eclog.  vil  23,)  and  surpassed  the  ken  of  huii.an  sight, 
according  to  Annnianus  Marcellinus  (.\vi.  10.)  Yet  how  trifL'rg  to  the 
great  pyramid  of  Egypt,  which  rises  50U  feet  perpendicular 

*^  According  to  different  copies  of  Victor,  we  read  17,000,  or 
87,000  spectators;  but  Maffei  (1.  ii.  c.  12)  finds  room  on  the  open 
seats  for  uo  more  than  34,000.  Tlie  remainder  were  contained  in  tho 
Hpi)cr  covered  galleries. 

**  See  Maffei,  1.  ii.  c.  5 — 12  He  treats  the  very  difficult  subjecl 
with  all  possible  clearness,  and  like  an  arclu*ect,  as  well  a.)  an  anti 
qijiriaa. 


A98  rHE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  284 

ressH)lfi,  and  replenished  with  the  monsters  of  the  de^ep.**  In 
the  decoration  of  these  scenes,  the  Roman  emperors  displayed 
their  wealth  and  liberality ;  and  we  read  on  various  occasions 
that  the  whole  furniture  of  the  amphitheatre  consisted  either 
of  silver,  or  of  gold,  or  of  amber.^"  The  poet  v/ho  describes 
the  games  of  Carinus,  in  the  character  of  a  shepherd,  attracted 
to  the  capital  by  the  fame  of  their  magnificence,  affirms  that 
ihe  nets  designed  as  a  defence  against  the  wild  beasts,  ^ere 
of  gold  wire  ;  that  the  porticos  were  gilded  ;  and  that  the  belt 
or  circle  which  divided  the  several  ranks  of  spectators  from 
each  other  was  studded  with  a  precious  mosaic  of  beautiful 
stones." 

In  the  midst  of  this  glittering  pageantry,  the  emperor  Carinus, 
secure  of  his  fortune,  enjoyed  the  acclamations  of  the  people, 
th'3  flattery  of  his  courtiers,  and  the  songs  of  the  poets,  who, 
foi'  want  of  a  more  essential  merit,  were  reduced  to  celebrate 
th  i  divine  graces  of  his  person.**  In  the  same  hour,  but  at 
tha  distance  of  nine  hundred  miles  from  Rome,  his  brothei 
expired ;  and  a  sudden  revolution  transferred  into  the  hands  of 
a  stranger  the  sceptre  of  the  house  of  Carus.*' 

The  sons  of  Carus  never  saw  each  other  after  their  father's 
death.  The  arrangements  which  their  new  situation  required 
were  probably  deferred  till  the  return  of  the  younger  brother 
to  Rome,  where  a  triumph  was  decreed  to  the  young  emperors 
for  the  glorious  success  of  the  Persian  war.'""  •  It  is  uncertain 
whether  they  intended  to  divide  between  them  the  adminis- 
tration, or  the  provinces,  of  the  empire  ;  but  it  is  very  unlikely 
that   their  union  would   have  proved  of  any  long    duration. 


°'  Calphurn.  Eclog  vii.  64,  73.  These  lines  are  curious,  and  the 
whole  eclogue  has  been  of  infinite  use  to  MafFei.  Calphurnius,  aa 
well  as  Martial,  (see  his  first  book,)  was  a  poet;  but  when  they  de- 
scribed the  amphitlieatre,  they  both  wrote  from  their  own  senses,  ar<i 
to  those  of  the  Romans. 

""  Consult  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  xxxiii.  16,  xxxvii.  11. 

'"  Balteus  en  gemmis,  en  inlita  porticus  auro 

Oertatim  radiant,  <fec.     Calphurn.  vii. 

*'  Et  Martis  vultus  et  Apollinis  esse  putavi,  says  Calphuruiua ;  but 
John  Malala,  who  had  perhaps  seen  pictures  of  Carinus,  describes 
him  as  thick,  short,  and  wliite,  torn.  i.  p.  403. 

"*  With  regard  to  the  time  when  these  Roman  games  ■«  ere  ce  ebrat 
*d,  Scahger,  Sabnasius,  and  Cuper  have  given  themse'ves  £  great 
deal  of  trouble  to  perplex  a  very  clear  subject. 

"°  Nemesianus  (in  the  Cynegeticon)  seems  to  anticipate  in  his  iaDCj 
tliat  auspicious  clay. 


A.  D.  284.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  KMriRE  399 

The  jealousy  of  power  must  have  been  inflamed  by  the  oppo- 
sition of  characters.  In  the  most  corrupt  of  times,  Ciirinus 
was  unworthy  to  hve :  Numerian  deserved  to  reign  in  a 
happier  period.  His  affable  manners  and  gentle  virtues 
secured  him,  as  soon  as  they  became  known,  the  regard  and 
afiectioiis  of  the  public.  He  possessed  the  elegant  acccm- 
ulishments  of  a  poet  and  orator,  which  dignify  as  well  as 
adorn  the  humblest  and  the  most  exalted  station.  His  elo- 
quence, however  it  was  applauded  by  the  senate,  was  formed 
not  so  much  on  the  model  of  Cicero,  as  on  that  of  the  modern 
declaimers ;  but  in  an  age  very  far  from  being  destitute  of 
poetical  merit,  he  contended  for  the  pi'ize  with  the  most  cele- 
brated of  his  contemporaries,  and  still  remained  the  friend  of 
his  rivals ;  a  circumstance  which  evinces  either  the  goodness 
of  his  heart,  or  the  superiority  of  his  genius."*  But  the 
talents  of  Numerian  were  rather  of  the  contemplative  than 
of  the  active  kind.  When  his  father's  elevation  reluctantly 
forced  him  from  the  shade  of  retirement,  neither  his  temper 
nor  his  pursuits  had  qualified  him  for  the  command  of  armies. 
His  constitution  was  destroyed  by  the  hardships  of  the  Persian 
war ;  and  he  had  contracted,  from  the  heat  of  the  climate,'*" 
such  a  weakness  in  his  eyes,  as  obliged  him,  in  the  course  of 
a  long  retreat,  to  confine  himself  to  the  solitude  and  darkness 
of  a  tent  or  htter.  The  administration  of  all  aflairs,  civil  as 
well  as  military,  was  devolved  on  Arrius  Aper,  the  Praetorian 
praefect,  who  to  the  power  of  his  importani  office  added  the 
honor  of  being  father-in-law  to  Numerian.  The  Imperial 
pavilion  was  strictly  guarded  by  his  most  trusty  adherents ; 
and  during  many  days,  Aper  delivered  to  the  army  the  sup- 
posed mandates  of  their  invisible  sovereign.^'''^ 

It  was  not  till  eight  months  after  the  death  of  Cams,  that 
the  Roman  army,  returning  by  slow  marches  from  the  banks 
of  the  Tigiis,  arrived  on  those  of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus. 
The  legions  halted  at  Chalcedon  in  Asia,  while  the  court 
passed  over  to  Heraclea,  on  the  European  side  of  the  Pro- 

'"^  He  won  all  the  crowns  from  Nemesianus,  with  whom  he  vied 
in  didactic  poetry.  The  senate  erected  a  statue  to  the  son  of  Cams, 
with  a  very  ambiguous  inscription,  "  To  the  most  powerful  of  orators," 
See  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  251. 

"'  A  more  natural  cause,  at  least,  than  that  assigned  by  Vrpisc^s^ 
(Hist.  August,  p.  251,)  incessantly  weeping  for  his  father's  death. 

"*  In  the  Persian  war,  Aper  was  suspected  of  a  design  to  betiaf 
Cftrits.     Hist.  August,  p.  250. 


400  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  284 

pontis."'  But  a  report  soon  circulated  through  the  camp,  at 
first  in  secret  whispers,  and  at  length  in  loud  clamors,  of  the 
emperor's  death,  and  of  the  presumption  of  his  ambitious 
minister,  who  still  exercised  the  sovereign  power  in  the  name 
of  a  prhice  who  was  no  more.  The  impatience  of  the  soldiers 
could  not  long  support  a  state  of  susj^ense.  With  rude  curi- 
osity they  broke  into  the  Imperial  tent,  and  discovered  only 
the  corpse  of  Numerian."^  The  gradual  decline  of  his 
health  might  have  induced  them  to  believe  that  his  death  was 
natural ;  but  the  concealment  was  interpreted  as  an  evidence 
of  guilt,  and  the  measures  which  Aper  had  taken  to  secure 
his  election  became  the  immediate  occasion  of  his  ruin 
Yet,  even  in  the  transport  of  their  rage  and  grief,  the  troops 
observed  a  regular  proceeding,  which  proves  how  firmly  disci- 
pline had  been  reestablished  by  the  martial  successors  of 
Gallienus.  A  general  assembly  of  the  army  was  appointed  to 
be  held  at  Chalcedon,  whither  Aper  was  transported  in  chains, 
as  a  prisoner  and  a  criminal.  A  vacant  tribunal  was  erected 
in  the  midst  of  the  camp,  and  the  generals  and  tribunes  formed 
a  great  military  council.  They  soon  announced  to  the  multi- 
tude that  their  choice  had  fallen  on  Diocletian,  commander  of 
the  domestics  or  body-guards,  as  the  person  the  most  capable 
of  revenging  and  succeeding  their  beloved  emperor.  The 
future  fortunes  of  the  candidate  depended  on  the  chance  or 
conduct  of  the  present  hour.  Conscious  that  the  station  which 
he  had  filled  exposed  him  to  some  suspicions,  Diocletian 
ascended  the  tribunal,  and  raising  his  eyes  towards  the  Sun, 
made  a  solemn  profession  of  his  own  innocence,  in  the 
presence  of  that  all-seeing  Deity."'  Then,  assuming  the 
tone  of  a  sovereign  and  a  judge,  he  commanded  that  Aper 
should  be  brought  in  chains  to  the  foot  of  the  tribunal.  "  This 
man,"  said  he,  "  is  the  murderer  of  Numerian ;"  and  without 
giving  him  time  to  enter  on  a  dangerous  justification,  drew  his 
sword,  and  buried  it  in  the  breast  of  the  unfortunate  pr^efect. 
A   charge  supported    by   such   decisive   proof  was   admitted 

"^  Wft  are  obliged  to  the  Alexandrian  Chronicle,  p.  274,  for  the 
knowledge  of  the  time  and  place  where  Diocletian  was  elected 
emperor. 

"^  Hist.  August,  p.  251.  Eutrop.  ix.  88.  Hioronym.  in  Chroo, 
According  to  these  judicious  writers,  the  death  of  Num^rian  was  dis- 
covered by  the  stench  of  his  dead  body.  Could  no  aromatic^  oe  faunJ 
in  the  Imperial  household  ? 

""  Aurel.  Victor     Eutropius,  ix.  20.     Hieronym.  in  Chrott 


A.  D.  285.]     OF  THE  roman  EMPiKn.  401 

without  contradiction,  and  the  legions,  with  lepcated  acclama 
tions,  acknowledged  the  justice  and  authority  of  the  euiperoi 
Diocletian.'" 

Before  we  enter  upon  the  memorable  reign  of  that  prince, 
it  will  be  proper  to  punish  and  dismiss  the  unworthy  brother 
of  Nuraerian.  Carinus  possessed  ai-ms  and  treasures  sufficient 
to  support  his  legal  title  to  the  empire.  But  his  personal  vices 
overbalanced  every  advantage  of  birth  anl  situation.  The 
most  faithful  servants  of  the  father  despised  the  incapacity, 
and  dreaded  the  cruel  arrogance,  of  the  son.  The  hearts  of 
the  people  were  engaged  in  favor  of  his  rival,  and  even  the 
senate  was  inclined  to  prefer  a  usurper  to  a  tyrant.  The  arts 
of  Diocletian  inflamed  the  general  discontent ;  and  the  winter 
was  employed  in  secret  intrigues,  and  open  preparations  for  a 
civil  war.  In  the  spring,  the  forces  of  the  East  and  of  the 
West  encountered  each  other  in  the  plains  of  Margus,  a  small 
city  of  Msesia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Danube."*  The 
troops,  so  lately  returned  from  the  Persian  war,  had  acquired 
their  glory  at  the  expense  of  health  and  numbers ;  nor  were 
they  in  a  condition  to  contend  with  the  unexhausted  strength 
of  the  legions  of  Europe.  Their  ranks  were  broken,  and,  for 
a  moment,  Diocletian  despaired  of  the  purple  and  of  life. 
But  the  advantage  which  Carinus  had  obtained  by  the  valor 
of  his  soldiers,  he  quickly  lost  by  the  infidelity  of  his  ottlcers. 
A  tribune,  whose  wife  he  had  seduced,  seized  the  opportunity 
of  revenge,  and,  by  a  single  blow,  extinguished  civil  discord 
in  the  blood  of  the  adulterer."" 

"'  Vopiscus  in  Hist.  August,  p.  252.  The  reason  why  Diocletian 
killed  Aper,  (a  wild  boar,)  was  founded  on  a  prophecy  and  a  pun,  aa 
foolish  as  they  are  well  known. 

'°^  Eutropius  marks  its  situation  very  accurately ;  it  was  between 
the  Mons  Aureus  and  Viminiacum.  M.  dAnville  (Gcograpliie  An- 
cienne,  torn.  L  p.  30-1)  places  Margus  at  Kastolatz*  in  Servia,  i-  little 
below  Belgrade  and  Semcndria. 

"*  Hist.  August  p.  254.  Eutropius,  ix.  20.  Aur«.'liu8  '<  wtor 
Victor  et  Epitome 

•  Kullicza  —Eton  Atlas  •   U. 


40S  THE    DECLINE    AND    PALL  [A.D.   *>86 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

tSili    REIOS    OF    DIOCLETIAN    AND    HIS  THREE   ASSOCIATES,  MAi- 

IMIAN,      (JAL^:RIUS,      and      CONSTANTIUS. GENERAL      REES- 

TABLISHMENT    OF  ORDER  AND  TRANQUILLITY. THE    PERSIAN 

WAR,  VICTORY,  AND  TRIUMPH. THE  NEW  FORM  OF  AD- 
MINISTRATION.  ABDICATION  AND  RETIREMENT  OF  DIOCLE- 
TIAN   AND    MAXIMIAN. 

As  the  reign  of  Diocletian  was  more  illustrious  than  that 
of  any  of  his  predecessors,  so  was  his  birth  more  abject  and 
obscure.  The  strong  claims  of  merit  and  of  violence  had 
frequently  superseded  the  ideal  prerogatives  of  nobility ;  bu; 
a  distinct  line  of  separation  was  hitherto  preserved  between 
the  free  and  the  servile  part  of  mankind.  The  parents  of 
Diocletian  bad  been  slaves  in  the  house  of  Anuhnus,  a 
Roman  senator ;  nor  was  he  himself  distinguished  by  any 
other  name  than  that  which  he  derived  from  a  small  town  ic 
Dalmatia,  from  whence  his  mother  deduced  her  origin.'  It  is 
however,  probable  that  his  father  obtained  the  freedom  of  the 
family,  and  that  he  soon  acquired  an  office  of  scribe,  which 
was  commonly  exercised  by  jDersons  of  his  condition.*  Fa- 
vorable oracles,  or  rather  the  consciousness  of  superior  merit, 
prompted  his  aspiring  son  to  pursue  the  profession  of  arms  and 
the  hopes  of  fortune ;  and  it  would  be  extremely  curious  to 
observe  the  gradation  of  arts  and  accidents  which  enabled 
him  in  the  end  to  fulfil  those  oracles,  and  to  display  that  merit 
to  the  world.  Diocletian  was  successively  promoted  to  the 
government  of  Msesia,  the  honors  of  the  consulship,  and  the 
important  command  of  the  guards  of  the  palace.     He  distin- 

'  Eutrop.  ix.  19.  Victor  in  Epitome.  The  town  seems  (o  have 
been  properly  called  Doclia,  from  a  small  tribe  of  lUyrians,  (see  Cel 
larius,  Geograph.  /utiqua,  torn.  i.  p.  393  ;)  and  the  original  name  of 
the  fortunate  slave  was  probably  Docles;  he  first  lengtlieued  it  to  tht 
Grecian  harmony  of  Diodes,  and  at  length  to  the  Roman  majesty  o': 
Diocletianus.  He  likewise  assimied  the  Patrician  name  of  Valeriiu 
and  it  is  usually  given  liim  by  Aurelius  Victor. 

^  See  Dacitr  on  the  sixth  satire  of  the  second  book  of  Honci 
Ccrnel.  Nepos,  'n  Vit.  Eumen.  c.  1. 


A.  D.  285.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  403 

guished  bis  abilities  in  tbe  Persian  war;  and  after  tLe  deatli 
of  Numerian,  tbe  sbive,  by  the  confession  and  judgment  of  bin 
rivals,  was  declared  tbe  most  wortby  of  tbe  Imperial  tbrone. 
The  malice  of  religious  zeal,  wbilst  it  arraigns  tbe  savage 
fierceness  of  his  colleague  Maximian,  has  affected  to  cast  sus- 
picions on  tbe  personal  courage  of  tbe  emperor  Diocletian.* 
It  would  not  be  easy  to  persuade  us  of  tbe  cowardice  of  a 
soldier  of  fortune,  who  acquired  and  preserved  the  esteem  of 
tbe  legions  as  well  as  tbe  favor  of  so  many  warlike  princes. 
Yet  even  calumny  is  sagacious  enough  to  discover  and  t<> 
attack  the  most  vulnerable  part.  Tbe  valor  of  Diocletian  was 
never  found  inadequate  to  bis  duty,  or  to  tbe  occasion ;  but  he 
appears  not  to  have  possessed  the  daring  and  generous  spirit  of 
a  hero,  who  courts  danger  and  fame,  disdains  artifice,  and 
boldly  challenges  tbe  allegiance  of  his  equals.  Ilis  abilitieii 
were  useful  rather  than  splendid  ;  a  vigorous  mind,  improved 
by  the  experience  and  study  of  mankind ;  dexterity  and  appli- 
cation in  business  ;  a  judicious  mixture  of  liberality  and  econ- 
omy, of  mildness  and  rigor;  profound  dissimulation,  under  the 
disguise  of  military  frankness ;  steadiness  to  pursue  bis  ends ; 
flexibility  to  vary  his  means ;  and,  above  all,  the  groat  art  of 
submitting  bis  own  passions,  as  well  as  those  of  others,  to  the 
interest  of  bis  ambition,  and  of  coloring  bis  ambition  with  tbe 
most  specious  pretences  of  justice  and  public  utility.  Like 
Augustus,  Diocletian  may  be  considered  as  the  founder  of  a 
new  empire.  Like  the  adopted  son  of  Csesar,  he  was  distin- 
guished as  a  statesman  rather  than  as  a  warrior ;  nor  did  either 
of  those  princes  employ  force,  whenever  their  purpose  could  bo 
effected  by  policy. 

Tbe  victory  of  Diocletian  was  remarkable  for  its  singular 
mildness.  A  people  accustomed  to  applaud  tbe  clemency  of 
the  conqueror,  if  tbe  usual  punishments  of  death,  exile,  and 
confiscation,  were  inflicted  with  any  degree  of  temper  and 
equity,  beheld,  with  tbe  most  pleasing  astonishment,  a  civil 
war,  tbe  flames  of  which  were  extinguished  in  the  field  of 
batde.  Diocletian  received  into  bis  confidence  Aristobulus, 
tbe  principal  minister  of  tbe  house  of  Cams,  respected  the 
Ii\cs,  tbe  fortunes,   and  the  dignit}^,  of  his   adversaries,  and 


*  Lactantiu3  (or  whoever  was  the  autlior  of  the  little  treatise  De 
Mortibiis  Persecutorum)  accuses  Diocletian  of  timidity  in  two  places, 
c.  7.  8.  In  chap.  9  he  sjvya  of  hun,  "erat  in  omni  turaiiltu  meticuloeof 
et  nnimi  disjectus." 


404  THE    DECLINE    AND    PALL  [A.  D.  281' 

e^en  continued  in  their  respective  stations  the  greater  nuinbci 
of  the  servants  of  Cariniis.*  It  is  not  improbable  that  motives 
of  prudence  might  assist  the  humanity  of  the  artful  Dalmatian ; 
of  these  servants,  many  had  purchased  his  favor  by  secret 
treachery ;  in  others,  he  esteemed  their  grateful  fidelity  to  an 
unfortunate  master.  TLe  discerning  judgment  of  Aurelian,  of 
Probus,  and  of  Cams,  had  filled  the  several  departments  of  the 
state  and  army  with  officers  of  approved  merit,  whose  removal 
would  have  injured  the  public  service,  without  promoting  the 
interest  of  his  successor.  Such  a  conduct,  however,  displayed 
to  the  Roman  world  the  feirest  prospect  of  the  new  reign,  and 
the  emperor  affected  to  confirm  this  favorable  prepossession,  by 
declaring,  that,  among  all  the  virtues  of  his  predecessors,  he 
was  the  most  ambitious  of  imitating  the  humane  philosophy 
of  Marcus  Antoninus.^ 

The  first  considerable  action  of  his  reign  seemed  to  evince 
his  sincerity  as  well  as  his  moderation.  After  the  example  of 
Marcus,  he  gave  himself  a  colleague  in  the  person  of  Maxim- 
ian,  on  whom  he  bestowed  at  first  the  title  of  Caesar,  and  after- 
wards that  of  Augustus.*  But  the  motives  of  his  conduct,  as 
well  as  the  object  of  his  choice,  were  of  a  very  different 
nature  from  those  of  his  admired  predecessor.  By  investing 
a  luxurious  youth  with  the  honors  of  the  purple,  Marcus  had 
discharged  a  debt  of  private  gratitude,  at  the  expense,  indeed, 
of  the  happiness  of  the  state.  By  associating  a  friend  and  a 
fellow-soldier  to  the  labors  of  government,  Diocletian,  in  a 
time  of  public  danger,  provided  for  the  defence  both  of  the 
East  and  of  the  West.  Maximian  was  born  a  peasant,  and, 
like  Aurelian,  in  the  territory  of  Sirmium.     Ignorant  of  letters,' 

*  In  this  encomium,  Aurelius  Victor  seems  to  convey  a  just,  though 
indirect,  censure  of  the  cruelty  of  Constantius.  It  appears  from  the 
Fasti,  that  Aristobulus  remained  prtefect  of  the  city,  and  that  he 
ended  with  Diocletian  the  consulship  which  he  had  commenced  wit'i 
Carinus. 

^  Aurelius  Victor  styles  Diocletian,  "Parentum  potius  quam  Dcm 
inum."     See  Hist.  August,  p.  30. 

*  The  question  of  the  time  when  Maximian  received  the  honors  of 
Caesar  and  Augustus  has  divided  modem  critics,  and  given  occasion  to 
a  great  deal  of  learned  wrangling.  I  have  followed  M.  de  Tillemont, 
(Histoirc  des  Empereurs,  torn.  iv.  p.  500 — 505,)  who  has  t\  eighed  tm 
eeveral  reasons  and  difficulties  with  his  scru])ulous  accuracy.* 

'  In  an  oration  delivered  before  him,  (Panegyr.  Vet.  ii.  8,)  Mamer- 
liouB  expresses  a  doubt,  whether  his  hero,  in  imitating  the  conduct  of 


Eckhel  concurs  in  this  view,  viii   p.  15. — M. 


A.  D.  286.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  ^01 

careless  of  laws,  the  rusticity  of  liis  appearance  and  iiiannera 
Btill  betrayed  in  the  most  elevated  fortime  tlie  meanness  of  his 
extraction.  War  was  the  only  art  whicli  he  professed.  In  a 
long  course  of  service,  he  had  distinguished  himself  on  every 
frontier  of  the  emjtire;  and  though  his  military  talents  were 
formed  to  obey  rather  than  to  command,  though,  perliapy,  Lo 
never  attained  the  skill  of  a  consummate  general,  he  was 
capable,  by  his  valor,  constancy,  and  experience,  of  executing 
the  most  arduous  undertakings.  Nor  were  the  vices  of  Max- 
imian  less  useful  to  his  benefactor.  Insensible  to  pity,  and 
fearless  of  consequences,  he  was  the  ready  instrument  of  eveiy 
act  of  cruelty  which  the  policy  of  that  artful  prince  might  at 
once  suggest  and  disclaim.  As  soon  as  a  bloody  sacrifice  had 
been  offered  to  prudence  or  to  revenge,  Diocletian,  by  his 
seasonable  intercession,  saved  the  remaining  few  whom  he  had 
never  designed  to  punish,  gently  censured  the  severity  of  his 
stern  colleague,  and  enjoyed  the  comparison  of  a  golden  and 
an  iron  age,  which  was  universally  apj^lied  to  their  opposite 
maxims  of  government.  Notwithstanding  the  difterence  of 
their  characters,  the  two  emperors  maintained,  on  the  throne, 
that  friendship  which  they  had  contracted  in  a  private  station. 
The  haughty,  turbulent  spirit  of  Maximian,  so  ftital,  afterwards, 
to  himself  and  to  the  public  peace,  was  accustomed  to  respect 
the  genius  of  Diocletian,  and  confessed  the  ascendant  of  rea- 
son over  brutal  violence.*  P'rom  a  motive  either  of  pride  or 
superstition,  the  two  emperors  assumed  the  titles,  the  one  of 
Jovius,  the  other  of  Herculius.  Whilst  the  motion  of  the  world 
(such  was  the  language  of  their  venal  orators)  was  maintained 
by  the  all-seeing  wisdom  of  Jupiter,  the  invincible  arm  of  Her- 
<;ules  purged  the  earth  from  monsters  and  tyrants.* 

Hannibal  and  Scipio,  had  ever  heard  of  their  names.  From  thence 
we  may  faniy  infer,  that  Maximian  was  more  desirous  of  being  con- 
eidcred  as  a  soldier  than  as  a  man  of  letters;  and  it  is  in  this  m in- 
ner iha';  ^^c  can  often  translate  the  language  of  flattery  into  that  of 
truth. 

*  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  8.  Aurelius  Victor.  As  among  the  Par.c- 
^rics,  we  find  orations  pronounced  in  praise  of  Maximian,  and  othcra 
wliich  flatter  his  adversaries  at  his  expense,  we  derive  some  knowledge 
fiom  the  contrast. 

*  See  the  second  and  third  Panegyrics,  particularly  iii.  3,  10,  14' 
but  it  would  be  tedious  to  copy  the  diti'use  and  affected  expressions  of 
their  false  eloquence.  With  regard  to  the  titles,  consult  Aurol.  Victot 
Lactantius  de  ^L  P  c.  fi'2.  Spauheim  de  Usu  Numir-uiatnni,  &c.  Di» 
KTtat.  xii  8. 


406  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  D,  286 

But  even  the  omnipotence  of  Jjvius  and  Herculius  wac 
insufficient  to  sustain  the  weight  of  the  pubhc  administration, 
The  prudence  of  Diocletian  discovered  that  the  empire,  as- 
sailed on  every  side  by  the  barbarians,  required  on  every  side 
the  presence  of  a  groat  army,  and  of  an  emperor.  With  this 
view,  he  resolved  once  more  to  divide  his  unwieldy  power, 
and  with  the  inferior  title  of  Cctsars*  to  confer  on  two  gen- 
erals of  approved  merit  an  unjqual  share  of  the  sovereign  au- 
thority." Galerius,  surnamed  Armentarius,  from  his  original 
profession  of  a  herdsman,  and  Constantius,  who  from  his  palo 
complexion  had  acquired  the  denomination  of  Chlorus,"  were 
the  two  persons  invested  with  the  second  honors  of  the  Impe- 
rial purj.)le.  In  describing  the  country,  extraction,  and  man- 
ners of  Herculius,  we  have  already  delineated  those  of  Gale- 
rius, who  was  often,  and  not  improperly,  styled  the  yoiingei 
Maximian,  though,  in  many  instances  both  of  virtue  and  abil- 
ity, he  apjiears  to  have  possessed  a  manifest  superiority  over 
the  elder.  The  birth  of  Constantius  was  less  obscure  than 
that  of  his  colleagues.  Eutropius,  his  father,  was  one  of  the 
most  considerable  nobles  of  Dardania,  and  his  mother  was  the 
niece  of  the  emperor  Claudius.*'^  Although  the  youth  of 
Constantius  had  been  spent  in  arms,  he  was  endowed  with  a 
mild  and  amiable  disposition,  and  the  popular  voice  had  long 
since  acknowledged  him  worthy  of  the  rank  which  he  at  last 
attained.  To  strengthen  the  bonds  of  political,  by  those  of 
domestic,  union,  each  of  the  emperors  assumed  the  character 
of  a  fixther  to  one  of  the  Caesars,  Diocletian  to  Galerius,  and 
Maximian  to  Constantius ;  and  each,  obliging  them  to  repudi- 
ate their  former  wives,  bestowed  his  daughter  in  marriage  op 
his  adopted  son.''     These  four  princes  distributed  among  them- 

"  Aurelius  Victor.  Victor  in  Epitome.  Eutrop.  ix.  22.  Lactant 
de  M.  P.  c.  8.     Hieronym.  in  Cliron. 

*'  It  is  only  among  the  modern  Greeks  that  Tillemont  can  discover 
his  appellation  of  Chlorus.  Any  remarkable  degree  of  palenc3s  seema 
inconsistent  with  the  rubor  mentioned  in  Panegyric,  v.  19. 

'^  Julian,  the  grandson  of  Constantius,  boasts  that  his  faicily  was 
dori  I'ed  from  the  warlike  Majsians.  Misopogon,  p.  348.  The  Darda- 
nian-3  dwelt  on  the  edge  of  Mossia. 

"  Galerius  married  Valeria,  the  dauc;hter  of  Diocletian;  if  we  epoaS 
with  strictness,  Theodora,  the  wife  of  Constantius,  was  daugliter  jiil^ 
to  the  wife  of  Maximian.     Spanheim,  Disserlat  xi.  2. 


"  Oq  the  relative  power  of  the  Augiisti  and  the  CassarS;  consult  a  (tiaaer 
IMiou  at  the  end  of  Manse's  Leben  Constantius  dee  Grogeen  —M. 


A.  D.  28 V.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMI'IKK.  40'J 

selves  the  wide  extent  of  the  Koinnn  empire.  The  defence  of 
Gaul,  Spain,"  and  Britain,  was  intrusted  to  Constantius  :  Gale- 
rius  was  stationed  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  as  the  safeguard 
of  the  Illyrian  provinces.  Italy  and  Africa  were  considered 
as  the  department  of  Maximian ;  and  for  liis  peculiar  portion, 
Diocletian  reserved  Thrace,  Egypt,  and  the  rich  countries  of 
Asia.  Every  one  was  sovereign  with  his  own  jurisdiction; 
but  their  united  authority  extended  over  the  whole  monarchy, 
and  each  of  them  was  prepared  to  assist  his  colleagues  with 
his  counsels  or  presence.  The  Cajsars,  in  their  exalted  rank, 
revered  the  majesty  of  the  emperors,  and  the  three  younger 
princes  invariably  acknowledged,  by  their  gratitude  and  obe- 
dience, the  common  parent  of  their  fortunes.  The  suspicious 
jealousy  of  power  found  not  any  place  among  them ;  and  the 
singular  happiness  of  their  union  has  been  compared  to  a 
chorus  of  music,  whose  harmony  was  regulated  and  main- 
tained by  the  skilful  hand  of  the  fii-st  artist." 

This  important  measure  was  not  cari'ied  into  execution  till 
about  six  years  after  the  association  of  Maximian,  and  that 
interval  of  time  had  not  been  destitute  of  memorable  incidents. 
But  we  have  preferred,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  first  to 
describe  the  more  perfect  form  of  Diocletian's  government, 
and  afterwards  to  relate  the  actions  of  his  reign,  following 
rather  the  natural  order  of  the  events,  than  the  dates  of  a  very 
doubtful  chronology. 

The  first  exploit  of  Maximian,  though  it  is  mentioned  in  a 
few  words  by  our  imperfect  writers,  deserves,  from  its  singu- 
larity, to  be  recorded  in  a  history  of  human  manners.  He 
suppressed  the  peasants  of  Gaul,  who,  under  the  appellation  of 
Bagaudse,'"  had  risen  in  a  general  insurrection ;  very  similar 
to  those  which  in  the  fourteenth  century  successively  afflicted 

**  Tliis  ilivision  agrees  with  that  of  the  four  praefectiu'cs ;  yet  there 
is  some  reason  to  doubt  whether  ypain  was  not  a  province  of  Max- 
imian.    See  Tillemont,  torn.  iv.  p.  517.* 

"  Juhan  in  Caesarib.  p.  315.  Spaiiheim's  notes  to  the  Fr(,n('I> 
translation,  p.  122. 

'"  Tlie  general  name  of  Bagaudw  (L'l  the  signification  of  rebels)  con- 
tinued till  the  fifth  century  in  Gaul.  Some  critics  derive  it  from  a 
Celtic  word  Bagad,  a  tumultuous  assembly.  Scaliger  ad  Euseb.  Du 
Cacge  Glossar.    [Compare  S.  Turner,  Anglo-Sax.  History,  i.  214. — M.] 


"  According  to  Aurelius  Victor  and  other  aullioriiic.«,  Tliracc  brloDBod 
to  the  division  of  Galerius.  Sec  Tillereiont,  iv.  3U.  Bill  the  laws  of  iJlo 
slAti&n  are  in  general  dated  in  IHyTia  or  Thrace. — M 


408  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  28t 

both  France  and  England."  It  sLou.d  seem  tlirtt  very  many 
of  those  institutions,  referred  by  an  easy  solution  to  the  feudal 
system,  are  derived  from  the  Celtic  barbarians.  Whon  Csesar 
subdued  the  Gauls,  that  great  nation  was  already  divided  intc 
three  orders  of  men ;  the  clergy,  the  nobility,  and  the  common 
people.  The  first  governed  by  superstition,  the  second  br 
arms,  but  the  third  and  last  was  not  of  any  weight  or  account 
in  their  pubHc  councils.  It  was  very  natural  for  the  plebeians, 
oppressed  by  debt,  or  apprehensive  of  injuries,  to  implore  the 
pTDtection  of  some  poweiful  chief,  who  acquired  over  their 
persons  and  property  the  same  absolute  right  as,  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  a  master  exercised  over  his  slaves." 
The  greatest  part  of  the  nation  was  gradually  reduced  into  a 
state  of  servitude ;  compelled  to  perpetual  labor  on  the  estates 
of  the  Gallic  nobles,  and  confined  to  the  soil,  either  by  the 
real  weight  of  fetters,  or  by  the  no  less  cruel  and  forcible 
restraints  of  the  laws.  During  the  long  series  of  troubles 
which  agitated  Gaul,  from  the  reign  of  GaUienus  to  that  of 
Diocletian,  the  condition  of  these  servile  peasants  was  pecu- 
liarly miserable  ;  and  they  experienced  at  once  the  complicated 
tyranny  of  their  masters,  of  the  barbarians,  of  the  soldiers,  and 
of  the  officers  of  the  revenue.'* 

The.r  patience  was  at  last  provoked  into  despair.  On  every 
side  they  rose  in  multitudes,  armed  with  rustic  weapons,  and 
with  irresistible  fury.  The  ploughman  became  a  foot  soldier, 
the  shepherd  mounted  on  horseback,  the  deserted  villages  and 
open  towns  were  abandoned  to  the  flames,  and  the  ravages  of 
the  peasants  equalled  those  of  the  fiercest  barbarians.*"  They 
asserted  the  natural  rights  of  men,  but  they  asserted  those 
rights  with  the  most  savage  cruelty.  The  Gallic  nobles,  justly 
dreading  their  revenge,  either  took  refuge  in  the  fortified  cities, 
or  fled  from  the  wild  scene  of  anarchy.  The  peasants  reigned 
without  control ;  and  two  of  their  most  daring  leaders  had  the 
folly  and  rashness  to  assume  the  Imperial  ornaments."'     Thei" 


"  Chroniqiie  de  Froissart,  vol.  i.  c.  182,  ii.  73, 19.  The  naivtc  of  hi 
Btorj'  is  lost  in  our  best  modern  writers. 

'"  Caesar  de  Bell.  Gallic,  vi.  13.  Orgetorix,  the  Helvetian,  could  anra 
6x  his  defence  a  body  of  ten  thousand  slaves. 

^°  'J't.err  oppression  and  misery  are  acknowledged  by  Eiuneniua 
(Panegyr.  vi.  8,)  Gallias  efferatas  injuriis. 

*°  Panegyr.  Vet.  ii.  4.     Aurelhis  Victor. 

'^  JElianus  and  Ainandus.  We  hayg  medals  coined  by  tbem 
CWtzius  in  Thes.  R.  A.  p.  117.  121. 


\.D  287.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMriRE.  409 

power  soon  expired  at  the  approach  of  the  legioiii.  The 
strength  of  union  and  discij^Une  obtained  an  easy  victory  ovei' 
a  Hcentious  and  divided  multitude.''''  A  severe  retahation  was 
inflicted  on  the  peasants  who  were  found  in  arms ;  the  aflfrighted 
remnant  returned  to  their  respective  habitations,  and  their 
unsuccessful  eSbrt  for  freedom  served  only  to  confirm  their 
slavery.  So  strong  and  uniform  is  the  current  of  popular  pas- 
sions, that  we  might  almost  venture,  from  very  scanty  materials, 
to  relate  the  particulars  of  this  war;  but  we  are  not  disposed 
to  believe  that  the  principal  leaders,  ^lianus  and  Amandus, 
were  Christians,''^  or  to  insinuate,  that  the  rebellion,  as  it  hap- 
pened in  the  time  of  Luther,  was  occasioned  by  the  abuse  of 
those  benevolent  principles  of  Christianity,  which  inculcate  the 
riatural  freedom  of  mankind. 

Maximian  had  no  sooner  recovered  Gaul  from  the  hands  of 
the  peasants,  than  he  lost  Britain  by  the  usurpation  of  Carau- 
sins.  Ever  since  the  rash  but  successful  enterprise  of  the 
Franks  under  the  reign  of  Probus,  their  daring  countrymen 
had  constructed  squadrons  of  light  brigantines,  in  which  they 
incessantly  ravaged  the  provinces  adjacent  to  the  ocean.''''  To 
repel  their  desultory  incursions,  it  was  found  necessary  to  create 
a  naval  power ;  and  the  judicious  measure  was  prosecuted  with 
prudence  and  vigor.  Gessoriacum,  or  Boulogne,  in  the  straits 
of  the  British  Channel,  was  chosen  by  the  emperor  for  the  sta- 
tion of  the  Roman  fleet ;  and  the  command  of  it  was  intrusted 
to  Carausius,  a  Menapian  of  the  meanest  origin,"^  but  who  had 
long  signalized  his  skill  as  a  pilot,  and  his  valor  as  a  soldier. 
The  integrity  of  the  new  admiral  coi  fesponded  not  with  his 


^^  Levibus  proeliis  domuit.     Eutrop.  ix.  20. 

''  The  fart  rests  indeed  on  very  slight  authority,  a  life  of  St.  Babo 
linus,  which  is  probably  of  the  seventh  century.  See  Duchesne 
Scriptores  Rer.  Francicar.  torn.  i.  p.  662. 

"*  Aurelius  Victor  calls  them  Germans.  Eutropius  (i.v.  21)  gives 
them  the  name  of  Saxons.  But  Eutropius  lived  in  the  ensuing  cen- 
tury, and  seems  to  use  the  language  of  his  own  times. 

**  The  three  expressions  of  Eutropius,  Aurelius  Victor,  and  Eume- 
oius,  "  viUssime  natus,"  "  Batavite  alumnus,"  and  "  Menapias  civis," 
give  us  a  very  doubtful  account  of  the  birth  of  Carausius.  Dr.  Stukely, 
nc  wever,  (Hist,  of  Carausius,  p.  62,)  chooses  to  make  him  o.  native  of 
St  David's  and  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal  of  Britaia  The  fcrmcr 
idea  he  had  found  in  Richard  of  Cirencester,  p.  44  * 


*  The  Menapians  were  sett  ed  between  tlie  Scheldt  ard  the  McQM,  tt 
^Qorthem  part  of  BrabaiU.     D'Anville,  Geogr.  Anc.  i.  'Xi. — Q. 
VOL.  1.— S 


♦10  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  28" 

abilities.  When  the  German  pirates  sailed  from  their  o^r* 
harbors,  he  connived  at  their  passage,  but  he  diligi'ntly  int'^r- 
cepted  their  return,  and  a])propriated  to  his  own  use  an  amj)le 
Bhare  of  the  spoil  which  they  had  acquired.  The  wealth  oT 
Carausius  was,  on  this  occasion,  very  justly  considered  as  an 
evidence  of  his  guilt ;  and  Maxiraian  had  ah'eady  given  orders 
for  his  death.  But  the  craft}'^  Menapian  foresaw  and  prevented 
the  severity  of  the  emperor.  By  his  liberality  he  had  attached 
to  his  fortunes  the  fleet  which  he  commanded,  and  secured  the 
barbarians  in  his  interest.  From  the  port  of  Boulogne  he  sailed 
over  to  Britain,  persuaded  the  legion,  and  the  auxiliaries  which 
guarded  that  island,  to  embrace  his  party,  and  boldly  assum- 
ing, with  the  Imperial  purple,  the  title  of  Augustus  defied  the 
justice  and  the  arms  of  his  injured  sovereign.^" 

When  Britain  was  thus  dismembered  from  the  empire,  its 
importance  was  sensibly  felt,  and  its  loss  sincerely  lamented. 
The  Romans  celebrated,  and  perhaps  magnified,  the  extent  of 
that  noble  island,  provided  on  every  side  with  convenient 
harboi-s ;  the  temperature  of  the  climate,  and  the  fertility  of 
the  soil,  alike  adapted  foi  the  production  of  corn  or  of  vines ; 
the  valuable  minerals  with  which  it  abounded  ;  its  rich  pastures 
covered  with  innumerable  flocks,  and  its  woods  free  from  wi'd 
beasts  or  venomous  serpents.  Above  all,  they  regretted  the 
large  amount  of  the  revenue  of  Britain,  whilst  they  confessed, 
that  such  a  province  well  deserved  to  become  the  seat  of  an 
independent  monarchy."  During  the  space  of  seven  years  it 
was  possessed  by  Carausius ;  and  fortune  continued  propitious 
to  a  rebellion  supported  with  courage  and  ability.  The  British 
emperor  defended  the  frontiers  of  his  dominions  against  the 
Caledonians  of  the  North,  invited,  from  the  continent,  a  great 
number  of  skilful  artists,  and  displayed,  on  a  variety  of  coins 
that  are  still  extant,  his  taste  and  opulence.  Born  on  tlie 
confines  of  the  Franks,  he  courted  the  friendship  of  that  for- 
midable people,  by  the  flattering  imitation  of  their  dress  and 
manners.     The  bravest  of  their  youth  he  enlisted  among  his 


*°  Panegyr.  v.  12.  Britain  at  this  timt*  was  secure,  and  slightly 
guarded. 

^'  Panegyr.  Yet  v  1 1,  vii.  9.  The  orator  Emneiiius  wished  to  exah 
the  glory  of  the  hero  (Constantius)  with  the  imy)ortance  of  the  con- 
quest. Notwithstanding  our  laudable  partiality  for  our  native  coun/jy, 
it  is  difHcult  to  conceive,  that,  in  the  beginning  of  Ihe  fourth  century, 
England  deserved  all  these  commendations.  A  century  and  a  half 
before,  h  hardly  paid  its  own  establishmer.t.     See  Appian  in  FVoceni 


A.  D.  289.1        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  411 

land  or  sea  forces ;  and,  in  return  for  their  useful  alliance,  ha 
communicatod  to  the  barbarians  the  dangerous  knowledge  of 
military  and  naval  arts.  Carausins  still  preserved  the  posses- 
sion of  Boulogne  and  the  adjacent  country.  His  fleets  rode 
triumphant  in  the  channel,  commanded  the  mouths  of  the 
Seine  and  of  the  Rhine,  ravaged  the  coasts  of  the  ocean,  and 
diffused  beyond  the  columns  of  Hercules  the  terror  of  his 
name.  Under  his  command,  Britain,  destined  in  a  future  age 
to  obtain  the  empire  of  the  sea,  already  assumed  its  natural 
and  respectable  station  of  a  maritime  power.''* 

By  seizing  the  fleet  of  Boulogne,  Carausius  had  deprived 
his  master  of  the  means  of  pursuit  and  revenge.  And  when, 
after  a  vast  expense  of  time  and  labor,  a  new  armanifut  waa 
launched  into  the  water,"  the  Imperial  troops,  unaooustomed 
to  that  element,  were  easily  baffled  and  defeated  by  the  veteran 
sailors  of  the  usurper.  This  disappointed  effort  was  soon 
productive  of  a  treaty  of  peace.  Diocletian  and  his  colleague, 
who  justly  dreaded  the  enterprising  spirit  of  Carausius,  resigned 
to  him  the  sovereignty  of  Britain,  and  reluctantly  admitted 
their  perfidious  servant  to  a  participation  of  the  Imperial 
honors.'"  But  the  adoption  of  the  two  Ceesars  restored  new 
vigor  to  the  Roman  arms ;  and  while  the  Rhine  was  guarded 
by  the  presence  of  Maximian,  his  brave  associate  Constantius 
assumed  the  conduct  of  the  British  war.  His  first  enterprise 
was  against  the  important  place  of  Boulogne.  A  stupendous 
mole,  raised  across  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  intercepted  all 
hopes  of  relief.  The  town  surrendered  after  an  obstinate 
defence ;  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  naval  strength  of 
Carausius  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  besiegers.  During  the 
three  years  which  Constantius  employed  in  preparing  a  fleet 

'*  As  a  great  number  of  medals  of  Carausius  are  still  preserved,  he 
is  become  a  very  favorite  object  of  antiquarian  curiosity,,  and  every 
circumstance  of  his  life  and  actions  has  been  investigated*  with  saga- 
cious accuracy.  Dr.  Stukely,  'n  particular,  has  devoted  a  large  volume 
to  the  British  emperor.  I  have  used  his  materials,  and  rejected  most 
of  liis  fiinciful  conjectures. 

^'  When  Mamcrtinus  pronounced  his  first  panegyric,  the  naval 
preparations  of  Maximian  were  completed ;  and  the  orator  presaged 
au  assured  victory.  His  silence  in  the  secorxl  panegyric  might  alonp 
inform  us  that  the  expedition  had  not  succeeded. 

'"  AureUus  Victor,  Eutropius,  and  the  medals,  (Pax  Augg.)  iiforra 
OM  of  this  temporary  reconciliation ;  though  I  will  net  presume  (as 
Dr.  Stukely  has  done,  Medallic  History  of  Carausius,  p.  86,  ±c )  U 
i»a€rt  the  identical  articles  of  the  treaty. 


412  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  |A.  D.  205 

adequate  to  the  conquest  of  Britain,  he  secured  the  coa&t  of 
Gaul,  invaded  the  country  of  the  Franks,  and  deprived  the 
usurper  of  the  assistance  of  those  powerful  allies. 

Before  the  preparations  were  finished,  Constantius  leceived 
the  intelligence  of  the  tyrant's  death,  and  it  was  considered  as 
a  sure  presage  of  the  approaching  victory.  The  servants  of 
Carausius  imitated  the  example  of  treason  which  he  had 
given.  He  was  murdered  by  his  first  minister,  Allectus,  and 
the  assassin  succeeded  to  his  power  and  to  his  danger.  But 
he  possessed  not  equal  ahilities  either  to  exercise  the  one  or 
to  repel  the  other.  He  beheld,  with  anxious  terror,  the  oppo- 
site shores  of  the  continent  already  filled  with  arms,  wtb 
troops,  and  with  vessels ;  for  Constantius  had  very  prudently 
divided  his  forces,  that  he  might  likewise  divide  the  attention 
and  resistance  of  the  enemy.  The  attack  was  at  length  made 
Dy  the  principal  squadron,  which,  under  the  command  of  the 
prsefect  Asclepiodatus,  an  officer  of  distinguished  merit,  had 
been  assembled  in  the  north  of  the  Seine.  So  imperfect  in 
those  times  was  the  art  of  navigation,  that  orators  have  cele- 
brated the  daring  courage  of  the  Romans,  who  ventured  to  set 
sail  with  a  side-wind,  and  on  a  stormy  day.  The  weather 
proved  favorable  to  their  enterprise.  Under  the  cover  of  a 
thick  fog,  they  escaped  the  fleet  of  Allectus,  which  had  been 
stationed  off  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  receive  them,  landed  in 
safety  on  some  part  of  the  Avestern  coast,  and  convinced  the 
Britons,  that  a  superiority  of  naval  strength  will  not  always 
protect  their  country  from  a  foreign  invasion.  Asclepiodatus 
liad  no  sooner  disembarked  the  imperial  troops,  then  he  set 
fire  to  his  ships  ;  and,  as  the  expedition  proved  fortunate,  his 
heroic  conduct  was  universally  admired.  The  usurper  had 
posted  himself  near  London,  to  expect  the  formidable  attack 
of  Constantius,  who  commanded  in  person  the  fleet  of  Bou- 
logne; but  the  descent  of  a  new  enemy  required  his  immedi- 
ate preseftce  in  the  West.  He  j)erformed  this  long  march  in 
so  precipitate  a  manner,  that  he  encountered  the  whole  force 
of  the  prsefect  Avith  a  small  b-'^dy  of  harassed  and  disheartened 
troops.  The  engagement  was  soon  terminated  by  the  total 
defeat  and  death  of  Allectus ;  a  single  battle,  as  it  has  often 
happened,  decided  the  fate  of  this  great  island ;  and  when 
Constantius  landed  on  the  shores  of  Kent,  he  found  them  cov- 
ered with  obedient  subjects.  Their  acclamations  were  loud 
ani  unanimous;  and  the  virtues  of  the  conqueror  may  induce 
OS  to  believe,  that    they  sincerely   rejoiced  in   a  revolution, 


A.  D.  29(J.J  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  418 

which,  after  a  separation  of  ten  years,  restored  Brit;iin  to  the 
oody  of  the  Roman  empire/' 

Britain  had  none  but  domestic  enemies  to  dread ;  and  aa 
long  as  the  governors  preserved  their  fidelity,  and  the  troops 
their  disciphne,  the  incursions  of  the  naked  savages  of  Scot- 
land or  IreLand  could  never  materially  atfect  the  safety  of  the 
province.  The  peace  of  the  continent,  and  the  defence  of  the 
principal  rivers  which  bounded  the  empire,  were  objects  of 
far  greater  difficulty  and  importance.  The  policy  of  Diocle- 
tian, which  inspired  the  councils  of  his  associates,  provided 
for  the  public  tranquillity,  by  encouraging  a  spirit  of  dissen- 
sion among  the  barbarians,  and  by  strengthening  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  Roman  limit.  In  the  East  he  fixed  a  line  of  camps 
from  Egypt  to  the  Persian  dominions,  and  for  every  camp,  he 
instituted  an  adequate  number  of  stationary  troops,  commanded 
by  their  respective  officei-s,  and  supplied  with  every  kind  of 
arms,  from  the  new  arsenals  which  he  had  formed  at  Antioch, 
Emesa,  and  Daraascus.^^  Nor  was  the  precaution  of  the  em- 
peror less  watchful  against  the  well-known  valor  of  the  barba- 
rians of  Europe.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine  to  that  of  the 
Danube,  the  ancient  camps,  towns,  and  citidels,  were  diligently 
reestabhshed,  and,  in  the  most  exposed  places,  new  ones  were 
skilfully  constructed :  the  strictest  vigilance  was  introduced 
among  the  garrisons  of  the  frontier,  and  every  expedient  was 
practised  that  could  render  the  long  chain  of  fortifications  firm 
and  impenetrable."  A  barrier  so  respectable  was  seldom  vio- 
lated, and  the  barbarians  often  turned  against  each  other  thei^ 
disappointed  rage.  The  Goths,  the  Vandals,  the  Gepidae,  th^ 
Burgundians,  the  Alemanni,  wasted  each  other's  strength  by 
destructive  hostilities :  and  whosoever  vanquished,  they  van- 
quished the  enemies  of  Rome.  The  subjects  of  Diocletian  en- 
joyed the  bloody  spectacle,  and  congratulated  each  other,  that 
the  mischiefs  of  civil  war  were  now  experienced  only  by  the 
barbarians.^* 


*'  With  regard  to  the  recovery  of  Britain,  we  obtain  a  few  hiata 
from  Aurelius  Victor  and  Eutropius. 

'^  John  Malala,  in  Chron.  Antiochen.  torn.  i.  p.  408,  409. 

*^  Zosim.  1.  i.  p.  3.  That  partial  historian  seems  to  celebrate  the  vigi- 
aacs  of  Diocletian,  with  a  design  of  exposing  the  negligence  of  Con- 
Btantine  ■,  we  may,  however,  listen  to  an  orator :  "  Nam  quid  ego 
alarum  et  cohortimn  castra  pcrcenseam,  toto  Rheni  et  Jstri  ct  Euphra- 
Qs  limite  rcstituta."     Panegyr.  Vet.  iv.  18. 

•*  Ruunt   omnes   in  sanguinem  suum  popuh,  quibns  Don  cootig^tt 


414  THE    UKCLINE    AND    FAlL  [A.  D.  296, 

Notwithstanding  the  policy  of  Dioclefjan,  it  >/as  impossible 
to  maintain  an  equal  and  undisturbed  tranquillity  during  a 
reign  of  twenty  years,  and  along  a  frontier  of  many  hundred 
miles.  Sometimes  the  barbarians  suspended  their  domestic 
animosities,  and  the  relaxed  vigilance  of  the  garrisons  some- 
limes  gave  a  passage  to  their  strength  or  dexterity.  When- 
ever the  provinces  were  invaded,  Diocletian  conducted  himself 
?rith  that  calm  dignity  which  he  always  aft'ected  or  possessed ; 
reserved  his  presence  for  such  occasions  as  were  "worthy  of 
his  interposition,  never  exposed  his  person  or  reputation  to 
any  unnecessary  danger,  insured  his  success  by  every  means 
that  prudence  could  suggest,  and  displayed,  with  ostentation, 
the  consequences  of  his  victory.  In  wars  of  a  more  difficult 
nature,  and  more  doubtful  event,  he  employed  the  rough  valor 
of  Maximian ;  and  that  faithful  soldier  was  content  to  ascribe 
his  own  victories  to  the  wise  counsels  and  auspicious  influence 
of  his  benefactor.  But  after  the  adoption  of  the  two  Caesars, 
the  emperors  themselves,  retiring  to  a  less  laborious  scene  of 
action,  devolved  on  their  adopted  sons  the  defence  of  the  Dan- 
ube and  of  the  Ithine.  The  vigilant  Galerius  was  never 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  vanquishing  an  army  of  barbari- 
ans on  the  Roman  territory.^''  The  brave  and  active  Contsan- 
tius  delivered  Gaul  from  a  very  furious  inroad  of  the  Ale- 
manni ;  and  his  victories  of  Langres  and  Vindonissa  appear 
to  have  been  actions  of  considerable  danger  and  merit.  As 
he  traversed  the  open  country  with  a  feeble  guard,  he  was 
encompassed  on  a  sudden  by  the  superior  multitude  of  the 
enemy.  He  retreated  with  difficulty  towards  Langres;  but, 
in  the  general  consternation,  the  citizens  refused  to  open  their 
gates,  and  the  wounded  prince  was  drawn  up  the  wall  by 
the  means  of  a  rope.  But,  on  the  news  of  his  distress,  the 
Roman  troops  hastened  from  all  sides  to  his  relief,  and  before 
the  evening  he  had  satisfied  his  honor  and  revenge  by  the 
slaughter  of  six  thousand  Alemanni.*"     From  the  monuments 


esse  Romanis,  obstinatasque  feritatis  pcenas  nunc  sponte  persolvuct 
Panegyr.  Vet.  iii.  16.  Mamertinus  illustrates  the  fact  by  the  example 
of  almost  all  the  nations  in  the  world. 

^^  He  complained,  though  not  with  the  strictest  truth,  "  Jam  fluxisse 
uncos  quindecim  in  quibus,  in  Illyrico,  ad  vipam  Danubii  relegatua 
Cum  gentibus  barbaris  luctaret."     Lactant.  de  M.  P.  c.  18. 

'*  In  the  Greek  text  of  Eusebius,  we  read  six  thousand,  a  number 
which  I  have  preferred  to  the  sixty  thousand  of  Jerome,  OroeJaa 
Eutropius,  and  his  Greek  translator  Paeanius. 


4.D.  290.J  OF    THE    ROMAX    EMPIRE.  41C 

of  those  times,  tUe  obscure  traces  of  several  other  victories 
over  the  barbarians  of  Sarmatia  and  Germany  miglit  possibly 
be  collected ;  but  the  tedious  search  would  not  be  rewarded 
either  with  amusement  or  with  instruction. 

The  conduct  which  the  emperor  Probus  had  adopted  In  the 
disposal  of  the  vanquished,  was  imitated  by  Diocletian  and  his 
associates.  The  captive  barbarians,  exchanging  death  for 
slavery,  were  distributed  among  the  provincials,  and  assigned 
to  those  districts  (in  Gaul,  the  territories  of  Amiens,  Beauvais, 
Oambray,  Treves,  Langres,  and  Troyes,  are  particularly 
specified  ")  which  had  been  depopulated  by  the  calamities  of 
war.  They  were  usefully  employed  as  shepherds  and  hus- 
bandmen, but  were  denied  the  exercise  of  arms,  except  when 
it  was  found  expedient  to  enroll  them  in  the  military  service. 
Nor  did  the  emperore  refuse  the  property  of  lands,  with  a  less 
servile  tenure,  to  such  of  the  barbarians  as  solicited  the  pro- 
tection of  Rome.  They  granted  a  settlement  to  several  colo- 
nies of  the  Carpi,  the  Bastarnae,  and  the  Sarmatians ;  and,  by 
a  dangerous  indulgence,  permitted  them  in  some  measure  to 
retain  their  national  manners  and  independence.^"  Among 
the  provincials,  it  was  a  subject  of  flattering  exultation,  that 
the  barbarian,  so  lately  an  object  of  terror,  now  cultivated 
their  lands,  drove  their  cattle  to  the  neighboring  fair,  and 
contributed  by  his  labor  to  the  public  plenty.  They  congratu- 
lated their  masters  on  the  powerful  accession  of  subjects  and 
soldiers ;  but  they  forgot  to  observe,  that  multitudes  of  secret 
enemies,  insolent  from  favor,  or  desperate  from  oppression, 
were  introduced  into  the  heart  of  the  empire.'' 

While  the  Caesars  exercised  their  valor  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  and  Danube,  the  nresence  of  the  emperors  was  re- 
quired on  the  southern  confines  of  the  Roman  world.  From 
the  Nile  to  Mount  Atlas  Africa  was  in  arms.  A  confederacy 
of  five  Moorish  nations  issued  from  their  deserts  to  invade  the 


"  Panegyr.  Vet.  vii.  21. 

"  There  was  a  settlement  of  the  Sarmatians  in  the  ncighborhocKl  of 
Treves,  which  seems  to  have  been  do-serted  by  those  lazy  barbariwjft' 
A.usonius  speaks  of  them  in  his  Mosella : — 

"Unde  iter  ingrediens  ncinorosa  per  avia  solum, 
Et  nulla  humani  spcctans  \cstigia  cultus; 


Arvaque  Sauiomatura  nuper  mctata  colonis. 

Vhere  was  a  town  of  the  Carpi  in  the  Lower  M;esia. 

See  the  rhetoricil  exultation  of  Eiimenius.     Panegyr.  TiL  H 


416  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        |^A.  D.  296 

peaceful  prov'iuces,"  Julian  had  assumed  tlie  purple  at  Caf 
thage."  Achilleus  at  Alexandria,  and  even  the  IBlemmyes, 
renewed,  or  rather  continued,  their  incursions  into  the  Uppei 
Egypt.  Scarcely  any  circumstances  have  been  preserved  ot 
the  exploits  of  Maximian  in  the  western  parts  of  Africa ;  tut 
it  appeai-s,  by  the  event,  that  the  progress  of  his  arms  was 
ra[)id  and  decisive,  that  he  vanquished  the  fiercest  barbarians 
of  Mauritania,  and  that  he  removed  them  from  the  mountains, 
whose  inaccessible  strength  had  inspired  their  inhabitants  with 
&  lawless  confidena3,  and  habituated  them  to  a  Rfe  of  rapine 
and  violence."  Diocletian,  on  his  side,  opened  the  campaign 
in  Egypt  by  the  siege  of  Alexandria,  cut  off  the  aqueducts 
which  conveyed  the  waters  of  the  Nile  into  every  quarter  of 
that  immense  city,*'  and  rendering  his  camp  impregnable  to 
the  sallies  of  the  besieged  multitude,  he  pushed  his  reiterated 
attacks  with  caution  and  vigor.  After  a  siege  of  eight  months, 
Alexandria,  wasted  by  the  sword  and  by  fire,  implored  the 
clemency  of  the  conqueror,  but  it  experienced  the  full  extent 
of  his  severity.  Many  thousands  of  the  citizens  perished  in 
a  promiscuous  slaughter,  and  there  were  few  obnoxious  per- 
sons in  Egypt  who  escaped  a  sentence  either  of  death  or  at 
least  of  exile.''*  The  fote  of  Busiris  and  of  Coptos  was  still 
more  melancholy  than  that  of  Alexandria  :  those  proud  cities, 
the  former  distinguished  by  its  antiquity,  the  latter  enriched 
by  the  passage  of  the  Indian  trade,  were  utterly  destroyed  by 
the  arms  and  by  the  severe  order  of  Diocletian."  The  char- 
acter of  the  Egyptian  nation,  insensible  to  kindness,  but 
extremely  susceptible  of  fear,  could   alone  justify  this  exces- 

*°  Scaliger  (Animadvers.  ad  Euseb.  a,  243)  decides,  in  his  usual, 
manner,  that  the  Quinque  gentiani,  or  Hve  African  nations,  were  the 
five  great  cities,  the  Pentapolis  of  the  inoffensive  province  of 
Cyrene. 

*^  After  his  defeat,  Julian  stabbed  himself  with  a  dagger,  and  ina- 
mediately  leaped  into  the  flames.     Victor  in  Epitome. 

*'^  Tu  ferocissimos  Mauritanite  populos  inaccessis  montium  jugis  et 
natm^ali  munitione  fidentes,  expugnasti,  recepisti,  traustulisti.  Pan- 
egyr  Vet.  vi.  8. 

"  See  the  description  of  Alexandria,  in  Hirtius  de  Bel.  Alexandria 
c.  5. 

**  Eutrop.  ix.  24.  Orosius,  vii.  25.  John  Malala  in  Chron.  An- 
tioch.  p.  409,  410.  Yet  Eumenius  assures  us,  that  Egypt  was  ])acified 
by  the  clemency  of  Diocletian. 

"  Eusebiiis  (in  Chron.)  places  their  destruction  several  years  sooner 
Kod  at  a  time  when  Egypt  itself  was  in  a  state  of  rebellion  againat 
the  B.oman;9, 


A.  D.  296.]  OF    TUE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  4M 

sive  rigor.  The  seditions  of  Alexandria  had  often  aflfected 
the  tranquillity  and  subsistence  of  Kome  itself.  Since  the 
usurpation  of  Firmus,  the  province  of  Upper  Egypt,  inces- 
santly relapsing  into  rebellion,  had  embraced  the  alHance  of 
the  savages  of  Ethiopia.  The  number  of  the  Blemmyes, 
scattered  between  the  Island  of  Meroe  and  the  Red  Sea,  was 
very  inconsiderable,  their  disposition  was  unwarlike,  theii 
weapons  rude  and  inoffensive."  Yet  in  the  public  disorders, 
tbase  barbarians,  whom  antiquity,  shocked  with  the  deformity 
:)f  their  figure,  had  almost  excluded  from  the  human  species, 
presumed  to  rank  themselves  among  the  enemies  of  Rome." 
Such  had  been  the  unworthy  allies  of  the  Egyptians  ;  and  while 
the  attention  of  tlie  state  was  engaged  in  more  serious  wars, 
their  vexatious  inroads  might  again  harass  the  repose  of  the 
province.  With  a  view  of  opposing  to  the  Blemmyes  a  suita- 
ble adversary,  Diocletian  persuaded  the  Nobatse,  or  people  of 
Nubia,  to  remove  from  their  ancient  habitations  in  the  deserts 
of  Libya,  and  resigned  to  them  an  extensive  but  unprofitable 
territory  above  Syene  and  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  with  the 
stipulation,  that  they  should  ever  respect  and  guard  the  fron- 
tier of  the  empire.  The  treaty  long  subsisted;  and  till  the 
establishment  of  Christianity  introduced  stricter  notions  of 
religious  worship,  it  was  annually  ratified  by  a  solemn  sacri- 
fice in  the  Isle  of  Elephantine,  in  which  the  Romans,  as  well 
as  the  barbarians,  adored  the  same  visible  or  invisible  powers 
of  the  univei"se.** 

At  the  same  time  that  Diocletian  chastised  the  past  crimes 
of  the  Egyptians,  he  provided  for  their  future  safety  and  hap- 
piness by  many  wise  regulations,  which  were  confirmed  and 
enforced  under  the  succeeding  reigns."     One  very  remarka- 

*^  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  p.  1,  172.  Pomponius  Mela,  1.  i.  c.  4.  His  words 
are  curious  :  "  Intra,  si  credere  libet  vix,  homines  magisque  semiferi  • 
vEgipanes,  et  Blemmyes,  et  Satyri." 

"  Ausus  sese  inserere  fortuuse  et  provocare  arma  Romana. 

^^  See  Procopius  de  Bell.  Persic.  1.  i.  c.  19.* 

*^  He  fixed  the  public  allowance  of  corn,  for  the  people  of  Alex- 
andria, at  two  millions  of  medimni;  about  four  hui>dred  thousand 
quarters.    Clu-on.  Paschal,  p.  276     Procop.  Hist.  Arcaii.  c.  26. 

*  Compare,  on  the  epoch  of  the  final  extirpatioa  of  the  riles  of  Pagan- 
ism from  the  Isle  of  Pliilae,  (Elcpliautine,)  vvhicli  subsisted  till  the  edirt 
of  Theodosius,  iu  the  sixtji  ccutury,  a  di.ssertation  of  M.  Letronne,  on 
certain  Greek  inscriptions.  The  dissertation  contains  some  verj*  interest' 
Ing  observations  on  the  conduct  and  policy  of  Diockniau  in  Egj'pt-  Mater 
pour  I'Hist.  du  Christiauisme  ea  Egypte,  Nubie.  et  Abyssinie,  Paris  1831 
-It 

8* 


418  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  J_A.  D.  296. 

ble  edict  wLicli  he  published,  instead  of  being  condemned  aa 
the  effect  of  jealous  tyranny,  deserves  to  be  apj)lauded  as  an 
act  of  prudence  and  humanity.  He  caused  a  diligent  inquiry 
to  be  made  "  for  all  the  ancient  books  which  treated  of  the 
admirable  art  of  making  gold  and  silver,  and  without  pity, 
comrnilted  them  to  the  flames;  apprehensive,  as  we  are 
assumed,  lest  the  opulence  of  the  Egyptians  should  inspire 
them  with  confidence  to  rebel  against  the  empire."  ^''  But 
if  Diocletian  had  been  convinced  of  the  reality  of  that  valua- 
ble art,  far  from  extinguishing  the  memory,  he  would  have 
ionverted  the  operation  of  it  to  the  benefit  of  the  public 
revenue.  It  is  much  more  likely,  that  his  good  sense  discov- 
ered to  him  the  folly  of  such  magnificent  pretensions,  and 
that  he  was  desirous  of  preserving  the  reason  and  fortunes 
of  his  subjects  from  the  mischievous  pursuit.  It  may  be 
remarked,  that  these  ancient  books,  so  liberally  ascribed  to 
Pythagoras,  to  Solomon,  or  to  Hermes,  were  the  pious  frauds 
of  more  recent  adepts.  The  Greeks  were  inattentive  either 
to  the  use  or  to  the  abuse  of  chemistiy.  In  that  immense 
register,  where  Pliny  has  deposited  the  discoveries,  the  arts, 
and  the  errors  of  mankind,  there  is  not  the  least  mention  of 
the  transmutation  of  metals ;  and  the  persecution  of  Diocle- 
tian is  the  first  authentic  event  in  the  history  of  alchemy. 
The  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Arabs  difiused  that  vain  sci- 
ence over  the  globe.  Congenial  to  the  avarice  of  the  human 
heart,  it  was  studied  in  China  as  in  Europe,  with  equal  eager- 
ness, and  with  equal  success.  The  darkness  of  the  middle 
ages  insured  a  favorable  reception  to  every  tale  of  wonder, 
and  the  revival  of  learning  gave  new  vigor  to  hope,  and 
suggested  more  specious  arts  of  deception.  Philosophy,  with 
the  aid  of  experience,  has  at  length  banished  the  study  of 
alchemy ;  and  the  present  age,  however  desirous  of  riches,  is 
content  to  seek  them  by  the  humbler  means  of  commerce 
and  industry." 

The  reduction  of  Egypt  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
Persian  war.  It  was  reserved  for  the  reign  of  Diocletian  to 
vanquish  that  powerful  nation,  and  to  extort  a  confession  from 


**  John  Antioch.  in  Excerp.  Valesian.  p.  834.  Suidas  in  Diode 
lian. 

"  See  a  short  history  and  confutation  of  Alchemy,  in  the  vrorka 
©f  that  philosopliical  compiler,  La  Mothe  Ic  Vayer,  torn.  i.  p.  83 
—863. 


A.D  286.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  419 

the  successors  of  Artaxerxcs,  of  the  superior  majesty  of  the 
Roman  empire. 

We  have  observed,  under  the  reign  of  Valerian,  that  Ar- 
menia was  subdued  by  the  perfidy  and  the  arras  of  the 
Persians,  and  that,  after  the  assassination  of  Chosroes,  his  son 
Tiridates,  the  intant  heir  of  the  monarchy,  was  saved  by  the 
fidehty  of  his  friends,  and  educated  under  the  protection  of  the 
emperors.  Tiridates  derived  from  liis  exile  such  advantages 
as  he  could  never  have  obtained  on  the  throne  of  Armenia ; 
the  early  knowledge  of  adversity,  of  mankind,  and  of  the 
Roman  discipline.  He  signalized  his  youth  by  deeds  of  valor, 
and  displayed  a  matchless  dexterity,  as  well  as  strength,  in 
every  martial  exercise,  and  even  in  the  less  honorable  contests 
of  tlie  Olympian  games."  Those  qualities  were  more  nobly 
exerted  in  the  defence  of  his  b.niefactor  Licinius."  That 
officer,  in  the  sedition  which  occasioned  the  death  of  Probus, 
was  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  danger,  and  the  enraged 
soldiers  were  forcing  their  way  into  his  tent,  when  they  were 
checked  by  the  single  arm  of  the  Armenian  prince.  The 
gratitude  of  Tiridates  contributed  soon  afterwards  to  his  res- 
toration. Licinius  was  in  every  station  the  friend  and  com- 
panion of  Galerius,  and  the  merit  of  Galerius,  long  before  he  was 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  Csesar,  had  been  known  and  esteemed 
by  Diocletian.  In  the  third  year  of  that  emperor's  reign 
Tiridates  was  invested  with  the  kingdom  of  Armenia.  The 
justice  of  the  measure  was  not  less  evident  than  its  expediency. 
It  was  time  to  rescue  from  the  usurpation  of  the  Persian  mon- 
arch an  important  territory,  which,  since  the  reign  of  Nero,  had 
been  always  granted  under  the  protection  of  the  empire  to  a 
younger  branch  of  the  house  of  Arsaces.''' 

When  Tiridates  appeared  on  the  frontiers  of  Armenia,  he 
was  received  with  an  unfeigned  transport  of  joy  and  loyalty. 

^"  See  the  education  and  strength  of  Tiridates  in  the  Armenian 
history  of  Moses  of  Chorene,  1.  ii.  c.  76.  He  could  seize  two  wild  bulla 
by  the  horns,  and  break  them  off  with  his  hands. 

°'  If  we  give  credit  to  the  younger  Victor,  who  supposes  that  in 
tue  year  323  Licinius  was  only  sixty  years  of  age,  he  could  scarcely 
be  the  same  person  as  the  patron  of  Tiridates ;  but  we  know  from 
much  better  authority,  (Euseb.  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  L  x.  c.  8,)  that 
Licinius  was  at  that  time  in  the  last  period  of  old  age :  sixteeu  years 
Defore,  he  is  represented  with  gray  hairs,  and  as  the  contemporary 
of  (ralerius.  See  Lactant.  c.  32.  Licinius  was  probably  born  about 
the  year  250. 

"  See  the  sixtv-second  and  sixty-third  books  of  Dion  Cassiua. 


420  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        |^A.  D.  286 

Durinor  twenty-six  years,  the  country  had  experienced  the  real 
and  imaginary  hardships  of  a  foreign  yoke.  The  Persian 
mouarchs  adorned  their  new  conquest  with  magnificent  build- 
ings ;  but  those  monuments  had  been  erected  at  the  expense 
of  the  people,  and  were  abhorred  as  badges  of  slavery.  The 
apprehension  of  a  revolt  had  inspired  the  most  rigorous  pre- 
cautions :  oppression  had  been  aggravated  by  insult,  and  the 
e(:)nsciousness  of  the  public  hatred  had  been  productive  of  everj 
measure  that  could  render  it  still  more  implacable.  We  have 
already  remarked  the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  Magian  religion. 
The  statues  of  the  deified  kings  of  Armenia,  and  the  sacred 
images  of  the  sun  and  moon,  were  broke  in  pieces  by  the  zeal 
of  the  conqueror ;  and  the  perpetual  fire  of  Ormuzd  was  kin- 
dled and  preserved  upon  an  altar  erected  on  the  summit  of 
Mount  Bagavan.^^  It  was  natural,  that  a  people  exasperated 
by  so  many  injuries,  should  arm  with  zeal  in  the  cause  of  their 
independence,  their  religion,  and  their  hereditary  sovereign 
The  torrent  bore  down  every  obstacle,  and  the  Persian  gar- 
risons retreated  before  its  fury.  The  nobles  of  Armenia  flew 
to  the  standard  of  Tiridates,  all  alleging  their  past  merit,  offer- 
ing their  future  service,  and  soliciting  from  the  new  king  those 
honors  and  rewards  from  which  they  had  been  excluded  with 
disdain  under  the  foreign  government.^®  The  command  of 
the  army  was  bestowed  on  Artavasdes,  whose  father  had  saved 
the  infancy  of  Tiridates,  and  whose  family  had  been  mas- 
sacred for  that  generous  action.  The  brother  of  Artavasdes 
obtained  the  government  of  a  province.  One  of  the  first  mili- 
tary dignities  was  conferred  on  the  satrap  Otas,  a  man  of 
singular  temperance  and  fortitude,  who  presented  to  the  king 
his  sister '''  and  a  considerable  treasure,  both  of  which,  in 
a  sequestered  fortress,  Otas  had  pi'eserved  from  violation. 
Among  the  Armenian  nobles  appeared  an  ally,  whose  fortunes 

*^  Moses  of  Chorene.  Hist.  Armen.  1.  ii.  c.  74.  The  statues  had 
been  erected  by  Valarsaces,  who  reigned  in  Armenia  about  130  years 
before  Christ,  and  was  the  first  king  of  the  family  of  Arsaces,  (see 
Moses,  Hist.  Armen.  1.  ii.  2,  3.)  The  deification  of  the  Arsacides  is 
mentioned  by  Justm,  (xli.  5,)  and  b-y  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
(xxiii.  6.) 

^°  The  Armenian  nobility  was  numerous  and  powerful.  Moses 
mentions  many  families  which  were  distinguished  under  the  reign 
of  Valarsaces,  (1.  ii.  7,)  and  which  still  subsisted  in  his  own  time, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  See  the  preface  of  hw 
Editors. 

"  She  was  named  Chosroiduchta,  and  had  not  He  os  p^tidurt  lik* 


A.  D,  286.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  42i 

are  too  remarkable  to  pass  unnoticed.  His  name  was  Manigo,f 
his  ongin  was  Scythian,  and  the  horde  which  ackno\vledgcd 
his  authority  had  encamped  a  very  few  years  before  on  the 
skirts  of  the  Chinese  empire/*  which  at  that  time  extended  as 
far  as  the  neighborhood  of  Sogdiana.^"  Having  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  his  master,  Mamgo,  with  his  followers,  retired 
to  the  banks  of  the  Oxus,  and  implored  the  protection  of 
Bapor,  The  emperor  of  China  claimed  the  fugitive,  J,nd 
alleged  the  right?  of  sovereignty.  The  Persian  monarch 
pleaded  the  laws  of  hospitality,  and  with  some  difficulty 
avoided  a  war,  by  the  promise  that  he  would  banish  Mamgo 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  West,  a  punishment,  as  he  de- 
scribed it,  not  less  dreadful  than  death  itself.     Armenia  was 


other  women.  (Hist.  Arraen.  1.  ii.  c.  19.)  I  do  not  understand  the  ex- 
pression.* 

^*  In  the  Armenian  history,  (1.  ii.  78,)  as  well  as  in  the  Geograpliy, 
(p.  367,)  China  is  called  Zenia,  or  Zenastan.  It  is  characterized  by  the 
production  of  silk,  by  the  opulence  of  the  natives,  and  by  their  love  of 
peace,  above  all  the  other  nations  of  the  earth.:]; 

^^  Vou-ti,  the  first  emperor  of  the  seventh  dynasty,  who  then  reign- 
ed in  China,  had  political  transactions  with  Fergana,  a  province  of 
Sogdiana,  and  is  said  to  have  received  a  Roman  embassy,  (Histoire 
des  Huns,  torn.  i.  p.  38.)  In  those  ages  the  Chinese  kept  a  garrison 
at  Kashgar,  and  one  of  their  generals,  about  the  time  of  Trajan,  march- 
ed as  far  as  the  Caspian  Sea.  With  regard  to  the  intercourse  be- 
tween China  and  the  Western  countries,  a  curious  memoir  of  M.  do 
Guigues  may  be  consulted,  in  the  Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn, 
xxii.  p.  855.§ 


*  Os  patulum  signifies  merely  a  large  and  widely  opening  mouth.  Ovid 
(Metani.  xv.  513)  says,  speaking  of  the  monster  who  attacked  Hippolytas, 
patulo  partem  maris  evomit  ore.  Probably  a  wide  mouth  was  a  commou 
defect  among  the  Armenian  women. — G. 

t  Mamgo  (according  to  M.  St.  Martin,  note  to  Le  Beau,  ii.  213)  belonged 
to  the  imperial  race  of  Hon,  who  had  filled  the  throne  of  China  for  four  hun- 
dred years.  Dethroned  by  the  usurping  race  of  Wei,  Mamgo  found  a  hos 
pitable  reception  in  Persia  in  the  reign  of  Ardeschir.  The  emperor  of  China 
having  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  fugitive  and  his  partisans,  Sapor,  then 
king,  threatened  with  war  both  by  E«me  and  China,  counselled  Mamgo  to 
retire  into  Armenia.  "  I  have  exjjelled  him  from  my  dominions,  (he  answer- 
ed the  Chinese  ambassador;)  I  have  banished  him  to  the  extremity  of  the 
earth,  where  the  sun  sets ;  I  have  dismissed  him  to  certain  deatli."  Compare 
Mem.  sur  I'Armenie,  ii.  25. — M. 

.f  See  St.  Martin,  Mem.  sur  1' Ai-menie,  i.  304. 

§  The  Chinese  Annals  mention,  under  the  ninth  year  of  Yan-hi,  which  cot- 
responds  ^vith  the  year  1C6  .1.  C,  an  embassy  which  arrived  from  Talhsin, 
and  was  sent  by  a  prince  called  An-thun,  who  can  be  nc  other  than  Marcui 
AareHus  Antoninus,  who  then  i-uled  over  the  Romans.  St.  Martin,  Mem.  soi 
I'ArrEisnie,  ii.  30.  See  also  Klaproth.  Tableaux  Historiques  de  I'Asie,  p 
•9.    Thf!  emba«sv  came  by  Jy-nan,  Tonquin. — M 


422  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  286, 

choBen  for  tlie  place  of  exile,  and  a  large  district  was  assigned 
to  the  Scythian  horde,  on  which  they  might  feed  their  flocks 
and  herds,  and  remove  their  encampment  from  one  place  to 
another,  accord  ng  to  the  different  seasons  of  the  year.  They 
were  employed  to  repel  the  invasion  of  Tindates ;  but  their 
leader,  after  weighing  the  obligations  and  injuries  which  he 
had  received  from  the  Pe/sian  monarch,  resolved  to  abandon 
his  party.  The  Armenian  prince,  who  was  well  acquainted 
tvitb  tb^  merit  as  well  as  power  of  Mamgo,  treated  him  with 
distinguished  respect ;  and,  by  admitting  him  into  his  confi- 
dence, acquired  a  brave  and  faithful  servant,  who  contributed 
<rery  effectually  to  his  restoration.'^" 

For  a  while,  fortune  appeared  to  favor  the  enterprising 
valor  of  Tiridates.  He  not  only  expelled  the  enemies  of  his 
family  and  country  from  the  whole  extent  of  Armenia,  but  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  revenge  he  carried  his  arms,  or  at  least 
his  incursions,  into  the  heart  of  Assyria.  The  historian,  whc 
has  preserved  the  name  of  Tiridates  from  oblivion,  celebrates, 
with  a  degree  of  national  enthusiasm,  his  personal  prowess : 
and,  in  the  true  spirit  of  eastern  romance,  describes  the  gian*/S 
and  the  elephants  that  fell  beneath  his  invincible  arm.  It  is 
from  other  information  that  we  discover  the  distracted  state 
of  the  Persian  monarchy,  to  which  the  king  of  Armenia  was 
indebted  for  some  part  of  his  advantages.  The  throne  was 
disputed  by  the  ambition  of  contending  brothers  ;  and  Hormuz, 
after  exerting  without  success  the  strength  of  his  own  party, 
had  recourse  to  the  dangerous  assistance  of  the  barbarians 
who  inhabited  the  banks  of  the  Caspian  Sea."  The  civil  war 
was,  however,  soon  terminated,  either  by  a  victor  or  by  a 
reconciliation  ;  and  Narses,  who  was  universally  acknowledged 
as  king  of  Persia,  directed  his  whole  force  against  the  foreign 
enemy.  The  contest  then  became  too  unequal ;  nor  was  the 
valor  of  the  hero  able  to  withstand  the  power  of  the  monarch, 
Tiridates,  a  second  time  expelled  from  the  throne  of  Armenia, 

«"  See  Hist.  Armen.  1.  ii.  c.  81. 

*'  Ipsos  Pcrsas  ipsumque  Regem  ascitis  Saccis,  et  Russia,  et  Gellla, 
petit  frater  Ornjies.  Panegyric.  Vet.  iii.  1.  The  Saccae  were  a  nation 
of  wandering  Scythians,  -who  encamped  towards  the  sources  of  tlie 
Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes.  The  Gelli  where  the  inhabitants  of  Ghilan, 
along  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  who  so  long,  under  the  name  of  Dilemi  "«s 
infested  the  Persian  mor  vrchy.  See  d'Herbelot,  Bibliothequo  C  ri 
sntale 


\.D.  296.]  OF  THE  roman  empire.  423 

once  movi  U  ok  refuge  in  the  court  of  the  emperors.*  Narses 
soon  reestablished  his  authority  over  the  revolted  province; 
and  loudly  complaining  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  reoeis  and  fugitives,  aspired  to  the  conquest  of  the 
East." 

Neither  prudence  nor  honor  could  permit  the  emjjerors  to 
forsake  the  cause  of  the  Armenian  king,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  exert  the  force  of  the  empire  in  the  Persian  war.  Diocletian, 
with  the  calm  dignity  which  he  constantly  assumed,  fixed  his 
own  station  in  the  city  of  Antioch,  from  whence  he  prepared 
and  directed  the  military  operations."  The  conduct  of  the 
legions  was  intrusted  to  the  intrepid  valor  of  Galerius,  who, 
for  that  important  purpose,  was  removed  from  the  banks  of  the 
Danube  to  those  of  the  Euphrates.  The  armies  soon  encoun- 
tered each  other  in  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia,  and  two  battles 
were  fought  with  various  and  doubtful  success ;  but  the  third 
engagement  Avas  of  a  more  decisive  nature ;  and  the  Roman 
army  received  a  total  overthrow,  which  is  attributed  to  the 
rashness  of  Galerius,  who,  with  an  inconsiderable  body  of 
troops,  attacked  the  innumerable  host  of  the  Persians.**  But 
the  consideration  of  the  country  that  was  the  scene  of  action, 
may  suggest  another  reason  for  his  defeat.  The  same  ground 
on  which  Galerius  was  vanquished,  had  been  rendered  mem- 
orable by  the  death  of  Crassus,  and  the  slaughter  of  ten 
legions.  It  was  a  plain  of  more  than  sixty  miles,  which 
extended  from  the  hills  of  Carrhae  to  the  Euphrates  ;  a  smooth 
and  barren  surface  of  sandy  desert,  without  a  hillock,  without 


*^  Moses  of  Chorene  takes  no  notice  of  this  second  revolution,  which 
I  have  been  obliged  to  collect  from  a  passage  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
(1.  xxiii.  c.  5.)  Lactantius  speaks  of  the  ambition  of  Narses :  "  Concita- 
tus  domesticis  exemplis  avi  sui  Saporis  ad  occiipandum  orientcm  mag- 
nis  copiis  inhiabat."     De  Mort.  Persecut.  c.  9. 

"^  "We  may  readily  believe,  that  Lactantius  ascribes  to  cowardice 
ibe  conduct  of  Diocletian.  Julian,  in  his  oration,  says,  that  he  re- 
mained with  all  the  forces  of  the  empire;  a  very  hyperbolical  expres- 
sion. 

^*  Our  five  abbreviators,  Eutropius,  Festus,  *he  two  Victors,  and 
Orosius,  all  relate  the  last  and  great,  battle ;  but  Orosius  is  the  only 
on*i  who  s]Deaks  of  the  two  former. 


•  M  St.  Martin  represents  this  diffcreiitly.  Le  roi  de  Perse  *  *  *  prolite 
d'un  voyage  que  Tiridate  avoit  fait  a  Home  pour  attaqucr  ce  royauiie.  Tbii 
reads  like  the  evasion  of  the  national  historians  to  disguise  the  fa  i;t  4ieoreJ 
Itablft  to  their  hero.    See  Mem.  sur  I'Armenie,  i.  Mi. — M. 


424  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A  D.  297. 

a  tree,  and  without  a  spring  of  fiesh  water.**  The  steady 
infantry  of  the  Romans,  fainting  with  heat  and  thirst,  could 
neither  hope  for  victory  if  they  preserved  their  ranks,  nor 
break  their  ranks  without  exposing  themselves  to  the  most 
imminent  danger.  In  this  situation  they  were  gradually 
encompassed  by  the  superior  numbers,  harassed  by  the  rapid 
evolutions,  and  destroyed  by  the  arrows  of  the  barbarian  cav* 
airy.  The  king  of  Armenia  had  signahzed  his  valor  in  the 
battle,  and  acquired  personal  glory  by  the  public  misfortune. 
He  was  pursued  as  far  as  the  Euphrates ;  his  horse  was 
wounded,  and  it  appeared  impossible  for  him  to  escape  the 
victorious  enemy.  In  this  extremity  Tiridates  embraced  the 
only  refuge  which  appeared  before  him :  he  dismounted  and 
plunged  into  the  stream.  His  armor  was  heavy,  the  river 
very  deep,  and  at  those  parts  at  least  half  a  mile  in  breadth  ;  '* 
yet  such  was  his  strength  and  dexterity,  that  he  reached  in 
safety  the  opposite  bank."  With  regard  to  the  Roman  gen- 
eral, we  are  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  of  his  escape ;  but 
when  he  returned  to  Antioch,  Diocletian  received  him,  not  with 
the  tenderness  of  a  friend  and  colleague,  but  with  the  indig- 
nation of  an  offended  sovereign.  The  haughtiest  of  mei-, 
clothed  in  his  purple,  but  humbled  by  the  sense  of  his  fault  and 
uisfortune,  was  obliged  to  follow  the  emperor's  chariot  above 
mile  on  foot,  and  to  exhibit,  before  the  whole  court,  the 
spectacle  of  his  disgrace.^* 

As  soon  as  Diocletian  had  indulged  his  private  resentment, 
and  asserted  the  majesty  of  supreme  power,  he  yielded  to 
the  submissive  entreaties  of  the  Caesar,  and  permitted  him  to 
retrieve  his  own  honor,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Roman  arms. 
In  the  room  of  the  unwarlike  troops  of  Asia,  which  had  most 
probably  served  in  the  first  expedition,  a  second  army  was 
drawn  from  the  veterans  and  new  levies  of  the  Illyrian  fron- 
tier, and  a  considerable  body  of  Gothic  auxiliaries  were  taken 


•'  The  nature  of  the  country  is  finely  described  by  Plutarch,  in  the 
life  of  Crassus ;  and  by  Xenophon,  in  the  first  book  of  the  Anabasis 

'"  See  Foster's  Dissertation  in  the  second  vohnne  of  the  translation 
of  the  Anabasis  by  Spelman ;  which  I  will  venture  to  recommend  as 
one  of  the  best  versions  extant. 

"  Hist.  Armen.  1.  ii.  c.  76.  I  have  transferred  this  exploit  of  Tlri 
dates  from  an  imag^inary  defeat  to  the  real  one  of  Galerius. 

**  Ammian.  Marcellin.  1.  xir.  The  mile,  in  t)\e  hands  of  Eutrophis, 
(ix.  24,)  of  Festus  (c.  25,)  and  of  Orosius,  (vii  25],  easily  incrojaed  *• 
ttveral  miles 


A.  D.  297. 1  OF    TKC   ROMAN    EMPIRE  49|I 

into  the  Imperial  pay.'"  At  the  liead  of  a  chosen  army  of 
twenty -five  thousand  men,  Galerius  again  passed  tlie  Eu 
phrates ;  but,  instead  of  exposint^  liis  legions  in  the  opei 
plains  of  Mesopotamia  he  advanced  through  the  mountains  of 
Armenia,  where  he  found  the  inhabitants  devoted  to  his  cause, 
and  the  country  as  favorable  to  the  operations  of  infantry  as  it 
was  inconvenient  for  the  motions  of  cavalry.'"  Adversity  had 
3onfirmed  the  Roman  discipline,  while  the  barbarians,  elated 
by  success,  were  become  so  negligent  and  remiss,  that  in  the 
moment  when  they  least  expected  it,  they  were  surprised  by 
the  active  conduct  of  Galerius,  who,  attended  only  by  two 
horsemen,  had  with  his  own  eyes  secretly  examined  the  state 
and  position  of  their  camp.  A  surprise,  especially  in  the 
night  time,  was  for  the  most  part  fatal  to  a  Persian  army. 
"Their  horses  were  tied,  and  generally  shackled,  to  prevent 
their  running  av/ay  ;  and  if  an  alarm  happened,  a  Persian  had 
his  housing  to  fix,  his  horse  to  bridle,  and  his  corselet  to  put  on, 
before  he  could  mount." "  On  this  occasion,  the  impetuous 
attack  of  Galerius  spread  disorder  and  dismay  over  the  camp 
of  the  barbarians.  A  slight  resistance  was  followed  by  a 
dreadful  carnage,  and,  in  the  general  confusion,  the  wounded 
monarch  (for  Narses  commanded  his  armies  in  person)  fled 
towards  the  deserts  of  Media.  His  sumptuous  tents,  and  those 
of  his  satraps,  afforded  an  immense  booty  to  the  conqueror; 
and  an  incident  is  mentioned,  which  proves  the  rustic  but 
martial  ignorance  of  the  legions  in  the  elegant  superfluities  of 
life.  A  bag  of  shining  leather,  filled  with  pearls,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  a  private  soldier ;  he  carefully  preserved  the  bag, 
but  he  threw  away  its  contents,  judging  that  whatever  was  of 
no  use  could'  not  possibly  be  of  any  value."  The  principal 
loss  of  Narses  was  of  a  much  more  affecting  nature.  Several 
of  his  wives,  his  sisters,  and  children,  who  had  attended  the 
army,  were  made  captives  in  the  defeat.  But  though  the 
character  of  Galerius  had  in  general  very  little  affinity  with 
that  of  Alexander,  he  imitated,  after  his  victory,  the  amiable 

"•  Aurelius  Victor.     Jornandes  de  Rebus  Geticis,  c.  21. 

"  Aurelius  Victor  says,  "  Per  Armeuiani  in  hostcs  contendit,  qtsH) 
fermo  sola,  seu  facilior  vincendi  via  est."  He  followed  the  convluct  of 
•^rrajan,  and  the  idea  of  Julius  CsBsar. 

'''  Xenophon'8  Anabasis,  1.  iii.  For  that  reason  the  Persian  vAvalrj 
encamped  sixty  stadia  from  the  enemy. 

'*  The  story  is  tol  1  by  Ammianus,  L  xxii.  Instead  of  saecum,  wetm* 
fead  sciitum 


•26  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  I).  29^. 

behavior  of  the  Macedonian  towards  the  family  of  Dariuo. 
The  wives  and  children  of  Narses  were  protected  from  vio- 
lence and  rapine,  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  treated 
with  every  mark  of  respect  and  tenderness,  that  wah  due  from 
a  generous  enemy  to  their  age,  their  sex,  and  their  royal 
dignity." 

While  the  East  anxiously  expected  the  decision  of  this 
great  contest,  the  emperor  Diocletian,  having  assembled  ir 
Syria  a  strong  army  of  observation,  displayed  from  a  distance 
the  resources  of  the  Roman  power,  and  reserved  himself  for 
any  future  emergency  of  the  war.  On  the  intelligence  of  the 
victorj'  he  condescended  to  advance  towards  the  frontier,  with 
a  view  of  moderating,  by  his  presence  and  counsels,  the  pride 
of  Galerius.  The  interview  of  the  Roman  princes  at  Nisibis 
;vas  accompanied  with  every  expression  of  respect  on  one 
side,  and  of  esteem  on  the  other.  It  was  in  that  city  that  they 
Boon  afterwards  gave  audience  to  the  ambassador  of  the 
Great  King."  The  power,  or  at  least  the  spirit,  of  Narses, 
had  been  broken  by  his  last  defeat ;  and  he  considered  an  im- 
mediate peace  as  the  only  means  that  could  stop  the  progress 
of  the  Roman  arms.  He  despatched  Apharban,  a  servant 
who  possessed  his  favor  and  confidence,  with  a  commission  to 
negotiate  a  treaty,  or  rather  to  receive  whatever  conditions 
the  conqueror  should  impose.  Apharban  opened  the  confer- 
ence by  expressing  his  master's  gratitude  for  the  generous 
treatment  of  his  family,  and  by  sohciting  the  liberty  of  those 
illustrious  captives.  He  celebrated  the  valor  of  Galerius, 
without  degrading  the  reputation  of  Narses,  and  thought  it  no 
dishonor  to  confess  the  superiority  of  the  victorious  Caesar, 
over  a  monarch  who  had  surpassed  in  glory  all  the  princes  of 
his  race.  Notwithstanding  the  justice  of  the  Persian  cause, 
he  was  empowered  to  submit  the  present  differences  to  the 
decision  of  the  emperors  themselves ;  convinced  as  he  was, 
that,  in  the  midst  of  prosperity,  they  would  not  be  unmindful 
of  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune.     Apharban  concluded  his  dis- 

"  The  Persians  confessed  the  Roman  superiority  in  morals  as  ■well 
•B  in  arms.  Eutrop.  ix.  24.  But  this  respect  and  gratitude  of  ene- 
Eaies  is  very  seldom  to  be  found  in  their  own  accoujits. 

''*  The  account  of  the  negotiation  is  taken  from  the  fragments  of 
fcter  the  Patrician,  in  the  Excerpta  Legationmn,  pubUshed  in  the 
Byzantine  Collection.  Peter  lived  under  Justinian ;  but  it  is  very 
evident,  ly  the  nature  of  his  materials,  that  they  are  drawn  from  th« 
Bifwt  arVfciToio  o^ici  respectable  writers. 


h.  D.  29*7.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMl'IUE^  421 

course  in  the  style  of  eastern  allegory,  by  observing  that  the 
Roman  and  Persian  monarchios  were  the  two  oyt^  of  tlia 
world,  which  would  remain  imperfect  and  mutilated  if  cither 
of  them  sliould  be  put  out. 

"  It  well  becomes  the  Persians,"  replied  Galerius,  with  a 
transport  of  fury,  which  seemed  to  convulse  his  wiiole  frame, 
"  it  well  becomes  the  Persians  to  expatiate  on  the  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  and  calmly  to  read  us  lectures  on  the  virtues  of 
moderation.  Let  them  remember  their  own  moderation,  to- 
wards the  unhappy  Valerian.  They  vanquished  him  by 
fraud,  they  treated  him  with  indignity.  They  detained  him 
till  the  last  moment  of  his  life  in  shameful  captivity,  and  after 
his  death  they  exposed  his  body  to  perpetual  ignominy." 
Softening,  however,  his  tone,  Galerius  insinuated  to  the  am- 
bassador, that  it  had  never  been  the  practice  of  the  Romans 
to  trample  on  a  prostrate  enemy ;  and  that,  on  this  occasion, 
they  should  consult  their  own  dignity  rather  than  the  Persian 
merit.  He  dismissed  Apharban  with  a  hope  that  Narscs 
would  soon  be  informed  on  what  conditions  he  might  obtain, 
from  the  clemency  of  the  emperors,  a  lasting  peace,  and  the 
restoration  of  his  wives  and  children.  In  this  conference  we 
may  discover  the  fierce  passions  of  Galerius,  as  well  as  his 
deference  to  the  superior  wisdom  and  authority  of  Diocletian. 
The  ambition  of  the  former  grasped  at  the  conquest  of  the 
East,  and  had  proposed  to  reduce  Persia  into  the  state  of  a 
province.  The  prudence  of  the  latter,  who  adhered  to  the 
moderate  policy  of  Augustus  and  the  Antonines,  embraced 
the  favorable  opportunity  of  terminating  a  successful  war  by 
an  honorable  and  advantageous  peace.'^ 

In  pursuance  of  their  promise,  the  emperors  soon  afterwards 
appointed  Sicorius  Probus,  one  of  their  secretaries,  to  acquaint 
the  Persian  court  with  their  final  resolution.  As  the  minister 
of  peace,  he  was  received  with  every  mark  of  politeness  and 
friendship;  but,  under  the  pretence  of  allowing  him  the 
necessary  repose  after  so  long  a  journey,  the  audience  of 
Probus  was  deferred  from  day  to  day ;  and  he  attended  the 
slow  motions  of  the  king,  till  at  length  he  was  admitted  to  his 
presence,  near  the  River  Asprudus  in  Media.  The  secret 
motive  of  Narses,  in  this  delay,  had  been  to  collect  such  a    y 

"  Adeo  victor  (says  Aurdius)  ut  ni  Valerius,  cujus  nutu  omni* 
gerebantur,  abnuisset,  Romani  fasces  in  provinciam  novam  ferrentuT: 
Verum  pars  terrarum  tamen  nobis  utilior  quaes! ta. 


428  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  297 

military  force  iis  might  enable  him,  though  sincerely  desirous  of 
peace,  to  negotiate  with  the  greater  weight  and  dignity.  Three 
persons  only  assisted  at  this  important  conference,  the  niinistei 
Apharban,  the  prjefect  of  the  guards,  and  an  officer  who  had 
commanded  on  the  Armenian  frontier."  The  first  condition 
proposed  by  the  ambassador  is  not  at  present  of  a  very  intel- 
ligible nature ;  that  the  city  of  Nisibis  might  be  established  for 
thi'.  place  of  mutual  exchange,  or,  as  we  should  formerly  have 
termed  it,  for  the  staple  of  trade,  between  the  two  empires 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  the  intention  of  the  Roman 
princes  to  improve  their  revenue  by  some  restraints  upon 
commerce ;  but  as  Nisibis  was  situated  within  their  own 
dominions,  and  as  they  were  masters  both  of  the  imports  and 
exports,  it  should  seem  that  such  restraints  were  the  objects 
of  an  internal  law,  rather  than  of  a  foreign  treaty.  To  render 
them  more  effectual,  some  stipulations  were  probably  required 
on  the  side  of  the  king  of  Persia,  which  appeared  so  very 
repugnant  either  to  his  interest  or  to  his  dignity,  that  Narses 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  subscribe  them.  As  this  was  the 
only  article  to  which  he  refused  his  consent,  it  was  no  longer 
insisted  on  ;  and  the  emperors  either  suffered  the  trade  to  flow 
in  its  natural  channels,  or  contented  themselves  with  suet 
'■estrictions,  as  it  depended  on  their  own  authority  to  establish 
As  soon  as  this  difficulty  was  removed,  a  solemn  peace  was 
concluded  and  ratified  between  the  two  nations.  The  condi- 
tions of  a  treaty  so  glorious  to  the  empire,  and  so  necessary 
to  Persia,  may  deserve  a  more  peculiar  attention,  as  the  history 
of  Rome  presents  very  few  transactions  of  a  similar  nature ; 
most  of  her  wars  having  either  been  terminated  by  absolute 
conquest,  or  waged  against  barbarians  ignorant  of  the  use  of 
etters.  I.  The  Aboras,  or,  as  it  is  called  by  Xenophon,  the 
Araxes,  was  fixed  as  the  boundary  between  the  two  mon- 
archies.'^    That    river,    which    rose    near    the    Tigris,    was 


'®  He  Lad  been  governor  of  Sumium,*  (Pet.  Patricius  in  Excerpt, 
Legat.  p.  30.)  This  province  seems  to  be  msntioned  by  Mosea  of 
Chorene,  (Geograph.  p.  360,)  and  lay  to  the  east  of  Moni!t  Ararat. 

"  By  an  error  of  the  geographer  Ptolemy,  the  pcsition  of  Singara  i» 
•cmovod  from  the  Aboras  to  the  Tigris,  which  may  havi,  produced 
the  mistake  of  Peter,  in  assigning  the  iaiter  river  for  tht  bcxu-lary, 


•  The  Siounikh  of  the  Armeniaa  vt'rl'e-.-s     St.  Martin   M^n^  so'    .'A» 
assie,  i.  142.— M. 


A.  L>.297.f  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  428 

increased,  a  few  miles  below  Nisibis,  by  the  little  stream  of 
the  Mygdonius,  passed  under  the  walls  of  Singara,  and  fell 
into  the  Euphrates  at  Circesium,  a  frontier  town,  which,  by 
the  care  of  Diocletian,  was  very  strongly  fortified."  Meso- 
potomia,  the  object  of  so  many  wars,  was  ceded  to  the  emjiire; 
and  the  Persians,  by  this  treaty,  renounced  all  pretensions  to 
that  great  province.  II.  They  relinquished  to  the  Romans 
five  provinces  beyond  the  Tigris."  Their  situation  formed  a 
s'ery  useful  barrier,  and  their  natural  strength  was  soon 
(raproved  by  art  and  military  skill.  Four  of  these,  to  the 
north  of  the  river,  were  districts  of  obscure  fame  and  incon- 
Biderable  extent ;  IntiHne,  Zabdicene,  Arzanene,  and  Mox- 
oene  ;  f  but  on  the  east  of  the  Tigris,  the  em])ire  acquired  the 
large  and  mountainous  territory  of  Carduene,  the  ancient  scat 

instead  of  the  former.  The  line  of  the  Roman  frontier  traversed,  but 
never  followed,  the  course  of  the  Tigris.* 

'*  Procopius  de  Edificiia,  1.  ii.  c.  G. 

'"  Three  of  the  provinces,  Zabdicene,  Arzanene,  and  Cardaene,  are 
allowed  on  all  sides.  But  instead  of  the  other  two,  Peter  (in  Excerpt 
Leg.  p.  SO)  inserts  Rehimene  and  Sophene.  I  have  preferred  Am- 
mianus,  (1.  xxv.  7,)  because  it  might  be  proved  that  Sophene  was  never 
in  the  hands  of  the  Persians,  either  before  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  oi 
after  that  of  Jovian.  For  want  of  correct  maps,  like  those  of  M.  d' An 
ville,  almost  all  the  moderns,  with  Tillemoiit  and  Valesius  at  tlieir 
head,  have  imagined,  that  it  was  in  respect  to  Persia,  and  not  to  Rome, 
that  the  five  provinces  were  situate  beyond  the  Tigris. 

*  There  are  here  several  eiTors.  Gibbon  has  confounded  the  streams,  and 
the  towns  which  they  pass.  The  Aboras,  or  rather  the  Chaboras,  the  Arax-iS 
of  Xenophon,  has  its  source  above  Ras-Ain  or  Re-Saina,  (Theodosiopolis,) 
about  t\venty-seven  leagues  from  the  Tigris ;  it  receives  the  waters  of  the 
Mygdonius,  or  Saocoras,  about  thirty-three  leagues  below  Nisibis.  at  a  town 
now  called  Al  Nahraim ;  it  docs  not  pass  under  the  walls  of  Singara ;  it  is 
the  Saocoras  that  washes  the  walls  of  that  town :  the  latter  river  lias  its 
Bource  near  Nisibis.  at  five  leagues  from  the  Tigris.  See  D  Anv.  I'Eupbrate 
et  I(;  Tigi-e,  4G,  49,  50,  and  the  map. 

To  the  east  of  the  Tigris  is  another  less  considerable  river,  named  aisc 
llic  Chaboras,  which  D'Anville  calls  the  Ccntrites,  Khabour,  Niccplioriua, 
without  quotiug  the  authorities  on  which  he  gives  those  names.  Gibbon 
did  not  mean  to  speak  of  this  river,  which  does  not  pass  by  Sinj^ara,  and 
does  not  fall  into  the  Euphrates.  See  Micbaclis,  Supp.  ad  Lex.  Hebraica. 
3d  part,  p.  664,  665. — G. 

t  Sec  St.  Martin,  note  on  Le  Beau,  i.  380.  He  would  read,  for  Litiline, 
[ngeleme,  the  name  of  a  small  province  of  Armenia,  near  the  sources  of 
the  Tigris,  mentioned  by  St.  E[)iphanius,  (Ha^res,  60;)  for  the  unknown 
OBime  Arzacene,  with  Gibbon,  Arzanene.  These  provinces  do  not  appear 
to  ha>e  made  an  integral  part  of  the  Roman  empire;  Roman  ganisona 
replaced  those  of  Persia,  but  the  sovereignty  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
ftnzdatory  princes  of  Armenia.  A  prince  of  Cardaene,  :illy  or  dejieBJeul 
on  the  cmj  ire,  w  tli  the  Riraan  name  of  Jovianus,  occurs  iu  the  reigfrj  of 
Jtlkn.-  M. 


430  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D,  297 

of  the  Carduchians,  who  preserved  for  many  ages  their  nianlj 
freedom  in  the  heart  of  the  despotic  monarchies  of  Asia, 
The  ten  thousand  Greeks  traversed  their  country,  after  a 
painful  march,  or  rather  engagement,  of  seven  days ;  and  it 
is  confessed  by  their  leader,  in  his  incomparable  relation  of 
the  retreat,  that  they  suftered  more  from  the  arrows  of  the 
Carduchians,  than  from  the  power  of  the  Great  King."  Their 
posterity,  the  Curds,  with  very  little  alteration  either  of  name  or 
manners,*  acknowledged  the  nominal  sovereignty  of  the  Turk- 
ish sultan.  III.  It  is  almost  needless  to  observe,  that  Tiridates, 
the  faithful  ally  of  Rome,  was  restored  to  the  throne  of  hia 
lathers,  and  that  the  rights  of  the  Imperial  supremacy  were 
fully  asserted  and  secured.  The  limits  of  Armenia  wero 
extended  as  far  as  the  fortress  of  Sintha  in  Media,  and  this 
increase  of  dominion  was  not  so  much  an  act  of  liberality  as 
of  justice.  Of  the  provinces  already  mentioned  beyond  the 
Tigris,  the  four  first  had  been  dismembered  by  the  Parthians 
from  the  crown  of  Armenia ;"  and  when  the  Romans  acquired 
the  possession  of  them,  they  stipulated,  at  the  expense  of  the 
usurpers,  an  ample  compensation,  which  invested  their  ally 
with  the  extensive  and  fertile  country  of  Atropatene.  Its 
principal  city,  in  the  same  situation  perhaps  as  the  modern 
Tauris,  was  frequently  honored  by  the  residence  of  Tiridates ; 
and  as  it  sometimes  bore  the  name  of  Ecbatana,  he  imitated, 
in  the  buildings  and  fortifications,  the  splendid  capital  of  the 
Medes."  IV.  The  country  of  Iberia  was  barren,  its  inhabit- 
ants rude  and  savage.  But  they  were  accustomed  to  the  use 
of  arms,  and  they  separ.ited  from  the  empire  barbarians  much 
fiercer  and  more  formidable  than  themselves.  The  narrow 
defiles  of  Mount  Caucasus  were  in  their  hands,  and  it  was  in 
their  choice,  either  to  admit  or  to  exclude  the  wandering  tribes 

*'  Xeiiophon's  Anabasis,  1.  iv.  Their  bows  were  three  cubits  ia 
length,  tlieir  arrows  two ;  tliey  rolled  down  stones  that  were  each  a 
wagon  load.  The  Greeks  found  a  great  many  villages  in  that  rude 
country. 

*"'  According  to  Eutropius,  (vi.  9,  as  the  text  is  represented  by  the 
best  MSS.,)  the  city  of  Tigranocerta  was  in  Arzanene.  Tlie  names 
and  jjituation  of  the  other  three  may  be  faintly  traced. 

*^  Compare  Herodotus,  1.  i.  c.  9*7,  witli  Moses  Clioronens.  Hist 
Armen.  1  ii.  c.  84,  and  the  map  of  Armenia  given  by  his  editors. 


*  I  travelled  through  this  country  in  1810,  and  should  judge,  frona  yvhal 
I  have  read  and  seen  of  its  inhahitants,  that  tliey  have  remained  an;lianged 
in  iheir  appoarance  and  character  for  more  than  twenty  centuries  Mai 
oolra,  note  tf*  Uist.  of  Persia,  vol.  i.  p.  82; — M. 


A.  D.  303.]  OF  THE  roman  empire.  4"I 

of  Siirraatia,  whenever  a  rapacious  spirit  urged  them  to  peno- 
trato  into  the  richer  chmes  of  the  South.*'  The  noiiiinatioc 
of  the  kings  of  Iberia,  wliich  was  resigned  by  the  Persian 
monarch  to  the  emperors,  contributed  to  the  strength  aod 
security  of  the  Roman  power  in  Asia."  Tiie  East  enjoyed  » 
profound  tranquiUity  during  forty  years  ;  and  the  treaty  between 
the  lival  monarchies  was  strictly  observed  till  the  death  of 
I'iridates ;  when  a  new  generation,  animated  with  different 
views  and  different  passions,  succeeded  to  the  government  of 
the  world ;  and  the  grandson  of  Narses  undertook  a  long  and 
memorable  war  against  tlie  princes  of  the  house  of  Con 
stantine. 

The  arduous  work  of  rescuing  the  distressed  empire  from 
tyrants  and  barbarians  had  now  been  completely  achieved  by 
a  succession  of  Illyrian  peasants.  As  soon  as  Diocletian 
entered  into  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign,  he  celebrated  that 
memorable  eera,  as  well  as  the  success  of  his  arms,  by  the 
pomp  of  a  Roman  triumph.*'  INIaximian,  the  equal  partnei 
of  his  power,  was  his  only  companion  in  the  glory  of  thai 
day.  The  two  Caesars  had  fought  and  conquered,  but  the 
merit  of  their  exploits  was  ascribed,  according  to  the  rigor  of 
ancient  maxims,  to  the  auspicious  influence  of  their  fathers 
and  emperors.*"  The  triumph  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian 
was  less  magnificent,  perhaps,  than  those  of  Aurelian  and 
Probus,  but  it  was  dignified  by  several  circumstances  of  supe 
rior  fame  and  good  fortune.  Africa  and  Britain,  the  Rhine, 
the  Danube,  and  the  Nile,  furnished  their  respective  trophies  ; 
but  the  most  distinguished  ornament  was  of  a  more  singular 
nature,  a  Persian  victory  followed  by  an  important  conquest. 
The  representations  of  rivers,  mountains,  and  provinces,  were 
carried  before  the  Imperial  car.  The  images  of  the  captive 
wives,  the  sisters,  and  the  children  of  the  Great  King,  afforded 
a  new  and   grateful  spectacle  to  the  vanity  of  the  people." 

*"  Hibcn,  locorum  potentes,  Caspia  via  Sarmatam  in  Armenios 
raptim  effundunt.  Tacit.  Annal.  vi.  34.  See  Strabon.  Geograph.  L  xi. 
p.  7G4,  [edit.  Casaub.] 

^*  Peter  Patricius  (in  Excerpt.  Leg.  p.  30)  is  the  only  writer  who 
mentions  the  Iberian  article  of  tlie  treaty. 

*'  Euseb.  in  Cliron.  Pagi  ad  annum.  Till  tlie  discovery  of  the 
treatise  De  Mortibus  Persecutoruni,  it  was  not  certain  that  tSie 
triumph  and  the  Vicennaha  was  celebrated  at  the  same  time. 

*'  At  the  time  of  the  Vicennaha,  Galerius  seems  to  have  kept  m 
Elation  on  the  Danube.     See  Lactaiit.  de  M.  P.  c.  38. 

*''  Eutropius  (ix.  27)  mentions  them  as  a  part  of  the  triumpL     4* 


432  TUE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  303 

[n  the  eyes  of  posterity,  this  triumph  is  remarkable,  by  ?. 
lisciuction  of  a  less  honorable  kind.  It  was  the  last  that 
Ronje  e\er  beheld.  Soon  after  this  period,  the  emperors 
leased  to  vanquish,  and  Rome  ceased  to  be  the  capital  of  the 
impire. 

The  spot  on  ^vhich  Rome  was  founded  had  been  onse- 
crated  by  ancient  ceremonies  and  imaginary  miracles.  The 
presence  of  some  god,  or  the  memory  of  some  hero,  seemed 
to  animate  every  part  of  the  city,  and  the  empire  of  the  world 
had  been  promised  to  the  Capitol."  The  native  Romans  felt 
and  confessed  the  power  of  this  agreeable  illusion.  It  was 
derived  from  their  ancestors,  had  grown  up  with  their  earliest 
habits  of  life,  and  was  protected,  in  some  measure,  by  the 
opinion  of  political  utiHty.  The  form  and  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment were  intimately  blended  together,  nor  was  it  esteemed 
possible  to  transport  the  one  without  destroying  the  other." 
But  the  sovereignty  of  the  capital  was  gradually  annihilated  in 
the  extent  of  conquest ;  the  provinces  rose  to  the  same  level, 
and  the  vanquished  nations  acquired  the  name  and  privileges, 
without  imbibing  the  partial  aftections,  of  Romans.  During 
a  long  period,  however,  the  remains  of  the  ancient  constitu- 
tion, and  the  influence  of  custom,  preserved  the  dignity  of 
Rome.  The  emperors,  though  perhaps  of  African  or  Illyrian 
extraction,  respected  their  adopted  country,  as  the  seat  of  their 
power,  and  the  centre  of  their  extensive  dominions.  The 
emergencies  of  war  very  frequently  required  their  presence 
on  the  frontiers ;  but  Diocletian  and  Maximian  were  the  first 
Roman  princes  who  fixed,  in  time  of  peace,  their  ordinary 
residence  in  the  provinces ;  and  their  conduct,  however  it 
might  be  suggested  by  private  motives,  was  justified  by  very 
specious  considerations  of  policy.  The  court  of  the  emperor 
of  the  West  was,  for  the  most  part,  established  at  Milan,  whose 
situation,  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  appeared  far  more  conve- 

the  persons  had  been  restored  to  Ifarses,  nothing  more  than  their 
images  could  be  exhibited. 

*'  Livy  gives  us  a  speecli  of  Camillas  on  that  subject,  (v.  51 — 55,) 
full  of  eloquence  and  sensibility,  in  opposition  to  a  design  of  remov 
ing  tlie  seat  of  government  from  Rome  to  the  neighboring  city  of 
Veii. 

*'  Julius  Ca3sar  was  reproached  with  the  intention  of  remo\ing  the 

empire  to  Ilium  or  Alexandria.     See  Sueton.  in  Caesar,   c.  79.     Ao- 

»rimg   to   the   ingenious   conjecture  of  Le  Fevre   and   Dacier,    th« 

.lird  ode  i>f  the  third  book  of  Horace  was  int«nc'ed  to  divert  Augua 

aa  from  the  execution  of  a  similar  design. 


D.  303.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  43S 

nient  than  that  of  Rome,  for  the  iraportaiit  purpose  of  watch- 
ing the  motions  of  the  barbarians  of  Germany.  Milan  soon 
assumed  the  splendor  of  an  Imperial  city.  The  houses  aro 
described  as  numerous  and  well  built;  the  manners  of  tbo 
people  as  polished  and  liberal,  A  circus,  a  theatre,  a  mint,  a 
palace,  baths,  which  bore  the  iiarae  of  their  founder  Maxim- 
iaii ;  porticos  adorned  w-ith  statues,  and  a  double  circumfer- 
ence of  walls,  contributed  to  the  beauty  of  the  new  cai)ital ; 
nor  did  it  seem  oppressed  even  by  the  proximity  of  Rome.** 
To  rival  the  majesty  of  Rome  was  the  ambition  likewise  of 
Diocletian,  who  employed  his  leisure,  and  the  wealth  of  the 
East,  in  the  embellishment  of  Nicomedia,  a  city  placed  on 
the  verge  of  Europe  and  Asia,  almost  at  an  equal  distance 
between  the  Danube  and  the  Euphrates.  By  the  taste  of 
the  monarch,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  Nicomedia 
acquired,  in  the  space  of  a  few  years,  a  degree  of  magnifi- 
cence which  might  appear  to  have  required  the  labor  of  ages, 
and  became  inferior  only  to  Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch, 
In  extent  of  populousness."'  The  life  of  Diocletian  and  Max- 
iraian  was  a  life  of  action,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  it  was 
spent  in  camps,  or  in  the  long  and  frequent  marches ;  but 
whenever  the  public  business  allowed  them  any  relaxation, 
they  seemed  to  have  retired  with  pleiisure  to  their  favorite 
residences  of  Nicomedia  and  Milan.  Till  Diocletian,  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  his  reign,  celebrated  his  Roman  triumph,  it 
is  extremely  doubtful  whether  he  ever  visited  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  empire.  Even  on  that  memorable  occasion  his 
stay  did  not  exceed  two  months.  Disgusted  with  the  licentious 
familiarity  of  the  people,  he  quitted  Rome  with  precipitation 
thirteen   days  before  it  was   expected   that  he  should    have 


•"  See  Aurelius  Victor,  who  likewise  mentions  the  buildings  erected 
by  Maximian  at  Carthage,  probably  during  the  Moorisli  war.  We  sliril 
iosert  some  verses  of  Ausoniue  de  Clar.  Urb.  v. 

Et  Mediolani  niira  ')mnia:  copia  reruin  ; 
Innumeric  cult.Bqae  d.imus;  facunda  viroruin 
Ingenia,  ct  mores  laeti :  turn  duplirc  inuro 
Ampliflcata  loci  species  ,  populique  voluptas 
Circus  ;  et  inclusi  moles  cuneala  Theatri ; 
Templa,  Palalin;cque  arces,  opuleiis(me  Monela, 
Et  regio  Herculei  Celebris  sub  lionnre  lavaeri. 
Cunctaque  marmoreis  ornata  Perislyla  slRtiis  ; 
Moenia(iue  in  valli  formam  circumdata  hibro, 
Omnia  qua;  masnis  uperum  velut  iemula  formi? 
Excellunt:  necjuncta  premit  vicinia  Rorare. 

"  Lactant  de  M.  P.  c  17.     Libanius,  Orat  viii.  p.  20*. 
▼  OL.  I. T 


484  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  ').  30d 

Bppearoi  in  the  senate,  invested  with  the  ensigns  cf  the  con- 
sular dignity.*" 

The  dislike  expressed  by  Diocletian  towards  Rome  and 
Roman  freedom,  was  not  the  effect  of  momentary  caprice,  but 
the  result  of  the  most  artful  policy.  That  crafty  prince  had 
framed  a  new  system  of  Imperial  government,  which  was 
afterwards  completed  by  the  family  of  Constantino ;  and  as 
the  image  of  the  old  constitution  was  religiously  preserved  in 
the  senate,  he  resolved  to  deprive  that  order  of  its  smaii 
remains  of  power  and  consideration.  We  may  recollect, 
about  eight  yeare  before  the  elevation,  of  Diocletian  the  tran- 
sient greatness,  and  the  ambitious  hopes,  of  the  Roman  sen- 
ate. As  long  as  that  enthusiasm  prevailed,  many  of  the 
nobles  imprudently  displayed  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  free- 
dom ;  and  after  the  successes  of  Probus  had  withdrawn  their 
countenance  from  the  republican  party,  the  senators  were 
unable  to  disguise  their  impotent  resentment.  As  the  sover- 
eign of  Italy,  Maxim ian  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  extin- 
guishing this  troublesome,  rather  than  dangerous  spirit,  and 
the  task  was  perfectly  suited  to  his  cruel  temper.  The  most 
illustrious  membei-s  of  the  senate,  whom  Diocletian  always 
affected  to  esteem,  were  involved,  by  his  colleague,  in  the 
accusation  of  imaginary  plots ;  and  the  possession  of  an  ele- 
gant villa,  or  a  well-cultivated  estate,  was  interpreted  as  a 
convincing  evidence  of  guilt.*'  The  camp  of  the  Praetorians, 
which  had  so  long  oppressed,  began  to  protect,  the  majesty  of 
Rome ;  and  as  those  haughty  troops  were  conscious  of  the 
decline  of  their  power,  they  were  naturally  disposed  to  unite 
their  strength  with  the  authority  of  the  senate.  By  the  pru- 
dent measures  of  Diocletian,  the  numbers  of  the  Praetorians 
were  insensibly  reduced,  their  privileges  abolished,**  and  their 
place  supplied  by  two  faithful  legions  of  Illyricum,  who,  under 
the  new  titles  of  Jovians  and  Herculians,  were  appointed  to 
perform  the  service  of  the  Imperial  guards.'*     But  the  most 

*^  Lactant.  de  M.  P.  c.  1*7.  On  a  similar  occasion,  Aramianus  men- 
tions  the  dicacitas  plebis,  as  not  very  agreeable  to  an  Imperial  ear. 
(See  1.  xvi.  c.  10.) 

°'  Lactantius  accuses  Maximian  of  destroying  fictis  criminationibua 
himina  eenatiis,  (De  M.  P.  c.  8.)  Aurelius  Victor  speaks  very  doubt- 
fully of  the  faith  of  Diocletian  towards  his  friends. 

"*  Truncatje  vires  urbis,  immiimto  pisetoriaruna  cohortium  atque  in 
trmis  vulgi  numero.  Aurelius  Victor.  Lactantius  attributes  to  Galo- 
riiis  the  prosecution  of  the  same  plan,  (c.  26.) 

••  They  were  old  corps  stationed  in  Illyricum;  and  acccrding  to 


A.  D.  303.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  435 

fatal  though  secret  wound,  which' the  senate  received  from  the 
hands  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian,  was  inflicted  by  the  inevi- 
table operation  of  their  absence.  As  long  as  the  emperors 
resided  at  Rome,  that  assembly  might  be  oppressed,  but  it 
could  scarcely  be  neglected.  The  successors  of  Augustus 
exercised  the  power  of  dictating  whatever  laws  their  wisdom 
or  caprice  might  suggest ;  but  those  laws  were  ratified  by  the 
tsanction  of  the  senate.  The  model  of  ancient  freedom  was 
preserved  in  its  deliberations  and  decrees ;  and  wise  princes, 
who  respected  the  prejudices  of  the  Roman  people,  were  in 
some  measure  obliged  to  assume  the  language  and  behavior 
suitable  to  the  general  and  first  magistrate  of  the  republic.  In 
the  armies  and  in  the  provinces,  they  displayed  the  dignity  of 
mouarchs ;  and  when  they  fixed  their  residence  at  a  distance 
from  the  capital,  they  forever  laid  aside  the  dissimulation 
which  Augustus  had  recommended  to  his  succebsore.  In  the 
exercise  of  the  legislative  as  well  as  the  executive  power,  the 
sovereign  advised  with  his  ministers,  instead  of  consulting  the 
great  council  of  the  nation.  The  name  of  the  senate  was 
mentioned  with  honor  till  the  last  period  of  the  empire ;  the 
vanity  of  its  members  was  still  flattered  with  honorary  distinc- 
tions f*  but  the  assembly  which  had  so  long  been  the  source, 
and  so  long  the  instrument  of  power,  was  respectfully  suffered 
to  sink  into  oblivion.  The  senate  of  Rome,  losing  all  connec- 
tion with  the  Imperial  court  and  the  actual  constitution,  was 
left  a  venerable  but  useless  monument  of  antiquity  on  the  Cap- 
itoHne  hill. 

When  the  Roman  princes  had  lost  sight  of  the  senate  and 
of  their  ancient  capital,  they  easily  forgot  the  origin  and 
nature  of  their  legal  power.  The  civil  offices  of  consul,  of 
proconsul,  of  censor,  and  of  tribune,  by  the  union  of  which  it 
had  been  formed,  betrayed  to  the  people  its  republican  ex- 
traction.    Those  modest  titles  were  laid  aside ;"  and  if  they 

the  ancient  establishment,  they  each  consisted  of  six  thousand  men. 
Tliey  had  acquired  much  reputation  by  the  use  of  the  pliimbata,  or 
darts  loaded  with  lead.  Each  soldier  carried  five  of  these,  which  he 
daitod  from  a  considerable' distance,  with  great  strength  and  dexter 
ity.     See  Vegetius,  i.  1*7. 

*»  See  the  Theodo.*ian  Code,  1.  vi.  tit.  ii.  with  Godefroy's  comnren 
tary. 

^'  See  the  12th  dissertation  in  Spanheim's  excellent  work  de  Usu 
Numismatum.  From  medals,  inscriptions,  and  historians,  he  examine! 
every  title  separately,  and  traces  it  from  Augustas  to  the  momeot  of 
ita  disappearing. 


tfS6  THE    DECLINE  AND    FALL  [A.  D.  303 

Btill  distinguislKid  their  high  station  bj  the  appellation  of 
Emperor,  or  Imperator,  that  word  was  understood  in  a  new 
and  more  dignified  sense,  and  no  longer  denoted  the  general 
of  the  Roman  armies,  but  the  sovereign  of  the  Roman  world. 
The  name  of  Emperor,  which  was  at  first  of  a  military  nature, 
was  associated  with  another  of  a  more  servile  kind.  The 
epithet  of  Domixus,  or  Lord,  in  its  primitive  signification,  was 
expressive,  not  of  the  authority  of  a  prince  over  his  subjects, 
or  of  a  commander  over  his  soldiers,  but  of  the  despotic  power 
of  a  master  over  his  domestic  slaves."'  Viewing  it  in  that 
odious  light,  it  had  been  rejected  with  abhorrence  by  the  ^rst 
Caesars.  Their  resistance  insensibly  became  more  feeble, 
and  the  name  less  odious ;  till  at  length  the  style  of  our  Lord 
and  Emperor  was  not  only  bestowed  by  flattery,  but  was 
regularly  admitted  into  the  laws  and  public  monuments.  Such 
lofty  e^^ithets  were  sufficient  to  elate  and  satisfy  the  most 
excessive  vanity ;  and  if  the  successors  of  Diocletian  still 
declined  the  title  of  King,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  effect  not 
so  much  of  their  moderation  as  of  their  delicacy.  Wherever 
the  Latin  tongue  was  in  use,  (and  it  was  the  language  of  gov- 
ernment throughout  the  empire,)  the  Imperial  title,  as  it  was 
peculiar  to  themselves,  conveyed  a  more  respectable  idea  than 
the  name  of  king,  which  they  must  have  shared  with  a  hun- 
dred barbarian  chieftains ;  or  which,  at  the  best,  they  could 
derive  only  from  Romulus,  or  from  Tarquin.  But  the  senti- 
ments of  the  East  were  very  different  from  those  of  the  West. 
From  the  earliest  period  of  history,  the  sovereigns  of  Asia 
had  been  celebrated  in  the  Greek  language  by  the  title  of 
Basileus,  or  King ;  and  since  it  was  considered  as  the  first 
distinction  among  men,  it  was  soon  employed  by  the  servile 
provincials  of  the  East,  in  their  humble  addresses  to  the 
Roman  throne.""  Even  the  attributes,  or  at  least  the  titles,  of 
the  Divinity,  were  usurped  by  Diocletian  and  Maxiraian,  who 
transmitted    them   to   a  succession    of    Christian    emperors."* 


**  Pliny  (in  Panegyr.  c.  3,  55,  &c.)  speaks  of  Dominus  with  execra- 
tion, as  synonymous  to  Tyrant,  and  opposite  to  Prince.  And  the 
same  Pliny  regularly  gives  that  title  (in  the  tenth  book  of  the  epistles) 
to  his  friend  rather  than  master,  the  virtuous  Trajan.  This  strange 
contradiction  puzzles  the  commentators,  who  think,  and  tlie  transla- 
tors, who  can  write. 

"  Synosius  de  Regno,  edit.  Petav.  ]).  15.  I  am  indebted  for  this 
quotation  to  the  Abbe  de  la  Bleterie. 

"°  See  Vaiidale  de  Consecratioue,  p.  354,  Ac.    It  was  customary  foi 


A.D.  303.]       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRK.  48Y 

Such  extravagant  compliments,  however,  soon  los*  their 
mipiety  by  losing  their  meaning ;  and  when  tlie  oar  is  onco 
accustomed  to  the  sound,  they  are  heard  witli  indifference,  as 
vague  though  excessive  professions  of  respect. 

From  tho  time  of  Augustus  to  that  of  Diocletian,  the  Komatj 
princes,  conversing  in  a  familiar  manner  among  their  fellow- 
citizens,  were  saluted  only  with  the  same  respect  that  was 
usually  paid  to  senators  and  magistrates.  Their  principal 
distinction  was  the  Imperial  or  military  robe  of  purple ;  whilst 
the  senatorial  garment  was  marked  by  a  broad,  and  tho  eques- 
trian by  a  narrow,  band  or  stripe  of  the  same  honorable  color. 
The  pride,  or  rather  the  policy,  of  Diocletian,  engaged  that 
ailful  prince  to  introduce  the  stately  magnificence  of  the  court 
of  Persia.'"  He  ventured  to  assume  the  diadem,  an  ornament 
detested  by  the  Romans  as  the  odious  ensign  of  royalty,  and 
the  use  of  which  had  been  considered  as  the  most  desperate 
act  of  the  madness  of  Caligula.  It  was  no  more  than  a  broad 
white  fillet  set   with    pearls,   which    encircled  the   emperor's 

the  emperors  to  mention  (in  the  preamble  of  laws)  their  numen,  sacred 
majesty,  divine  oracles,  &c.  According  to  Tillemont,  Gregory  Nazian- 
zen  complains  most  bitterly  of  the  profanation,  especially  when  it  was 
practised  by  an  Arian  emperor.* 

""  See  Spanlieim  de  Usu  Numismat.  Dissert,  xii. 


*  In  the  time  of  the  republic,  says  Hegewdsch,  when  the  consuls,  tlie 
proetors,  aud  the  other  magistrates  appeared  in  public,  to  perform  the 
functions  of  their  office,  their  dignity  was  announced  both  by  the  symbols 
which  use  had  consecrated,  and  the  brilliant  cortege  by  which  they  vycro 
accompanied.  But  this  dignity  belonged  to  the  office,  not  to  the^  indi- 
vidual; this  pomp  belonged  to  the  magistrate,  not  to  the  man.  *  *  The 
consul,  followed,  in  the  comitia,  by  all  the  senate,  the  proetors,  the  quass- 
tors,  the  aediles,  the  lictors,  the  apparitors,  and  the  heralds,  on  reentering 
his  house,  was  served  only  by  freedmen  and  by  his  slaves.  Tho  first 
emperors  went  no  further.  Tiberius  had,  for  his  personal  attendance,  only 
a  moderate  number  of  slaves,  and  a  few  freedmen.  (Tacit.  Ann.  iv.  7.) 
But  in  proportion  as  the  republican  forms  disappeared,  one  after  another, 
the  inclination  of  the  emperors  to  environ  themselves  with  personal  pomp, 
displayed  itself  more  and  more.  *  *  The  magnificence  and  the  ceremoniaJ 
of  tl:e  East  were  entirely  introduced  by  Diocletian,  and  were  consecrated 
by  Constantino  to  the  Imperial  use.  Thenceforth  the  palace,  the  court, 
the  table,  all  the  personal  attendance,  distinguished  the  emperor  from  hia 
Bubjects,  still  more  than  hia  superior  dignity.  The  organiziition  whicU 
Diocletian  gave  to  his  new  court,  attached  less  honor  and  distuiction  Xo 
rank  than  to  services  perfomicd  towards  the  members  of  the  Inipenal 
family.     Hegewisch,  Essai,  Hist,  sur  les  Finances  Romains.^ 

Few  historians  have  characterized,  in  a  more  philosophic  manner,  the 
influence  of  a  new  institution. — G. 

It  is  singular  that  the  son  of  a  slave  reduced  the  haufihty  aristocracy  af 
Borne  to  the  offices  of  sci-vitudc. — M. 


488  THE    OECLINK    AND    FALL  [A.  D,  30JJ. 

head.  The  sumptuous  robes  of  Diocletian  and  his  successors 
were  of  silk  and  gold  ;  and  it  is  remarked  with  indignation, 
that  even  their  shoes  were  studded  with  the  most  precious 
gems.  The  access  to  their  sacred  person  was  every  day  ren 
dered  more  difficult  by  the  institution  of  new  forms  and  cere- 
monies. The  avenues  of  the  palace  were  strictly  guarded  bj 
the  various  schools,  as  they  began  to  be  called,  of  domestic 
officers.  The  interior  apartments  were  intrusted  to  the  jealoua 
vigilance  of  the  eunuchs,  the  increase  of  whose  numbers  and 
influence  was  the  most  infallible  symptom  of  the  progress  of 
despotism.  When  a  subject  was  at  length  admitted  to  the 
Imperial  presence,  he  was  obliged,  whatever  might  be  his 
rank,  to  fall  prostrate  on  the  ground,  and  to  adore,  according 
to  the  eastern  fashion,  the  divinity  of  his  lord  and  master."* 
Diocletian  was  a  man  of  sense,  who,  in  the  course  of  private 
as  well  as  public  life,  had  formed  a  just  estimate  both  of  him- 
self  and  of  mankind :  nor  is  it  easy  to  conceive,  that  in 
substituting  the  manners  of  Persia  to  those  of  Rome,  he  was 
seriously  actuated  by  so  mean  a  principle  as  that  of  vanity. 
He  flattered  himself,  that  an  ostentation  of  splendor  and 
luxury  would  subdue  the  imagination  of  the  mvdtitude ;  that 
the  monarch  would  be  less  exposed  to  the  rude  license  of  the 
people  and  the  soldiers,  as  his  person  was  secluded  from  the 
public  view ;  and  that  habits  of  submission  would  insensibly 
be  productive  of  sentiments  of  veileration.  Like  the  modesty 
affected  by  Augustus,  the  state  maintained  by  Diocletian  was 
a  theatrical  representation  ;  but  it  must  be  confessed,  that  of 
the  two  comedies,  the  former  was  of  a  much  more  liberal  and 
manly  character  than  the  latter.  It  was  the  aim  of  the  one  to 
disguise,  and  the  object  of  the  other  to  display,  the  unbounded 
power  which  the  emperors  possessed  over  the  lioman  world. 

Ostentation  was  the  first  principle  of  the  new  system  insti- 
tuted by  Diocletian.  The  second  was  division.  He  divided 
the  empire,  the  provinces,  and  every  branch  of  the  civil  as 
well  as  military  administration.  He  multiplied  the  wheels  of 
the  machine  of  government,  and  rendered  its  operations  less 
rapid,  but  more  secure.  Whatever  advantages  and  whatever 
defects  might  attend  these  innovations,  they  must  be  ascribed 
in  a  very  great  d(>gree  to  the  first  inventor ;  but  as  the  new 

*""■  Aurelius  Victor.  Eutropius,  ix.  26.  It  appears  by  the  Panegy- 
rists, that  the  Romans  were  soon  reconciled  to  the  name  and  ceremon7 
of  adoration. 


I.D.  303.J        OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  489 

frame  of  policy  was  gradually  improved  and  completed  by 
Bucceeding  princes,  it  will  bo  more  satisfactory  to  delay  tho 
consideration  of  it  till  the  season  of  its  full  maturity  and  per- 
fection.'" Reserving,  therefore,  for  the  reign  of  Constantiae 
a  more  exact  picture  of  the  new  empire,  we  shall  content  our- 
selves with  describing  the  principal  and  decisive  outline,  as  it 
was  traced  by  the  hand  of  Diocletian.  He  had  associated 
three  colleagues  in  the  exercise  of  the  supreme  power ;  an<J 
as  he  was  convinced  that  the  abiUties  of  a  single  man  were 
inadequate  to  the  public  defence,  he  considered  the  joint  ad- 
ministration of  four  princes  not  as  a  temporary  expedient,  but 
as  a  fundamental  law  of  the  constitution.  It  was  his  intention, 
that  the  two  elder  princes  should  be  distinguished  by  the  use 
of  the  diadem,  and  the  title  of  Augusti ;  that,  as  affection  or 
esteem  might  direct  their  choice,  they  should  regularly  call  to 
their  assistance  two  subordinate  colleagues ;  and  that  the 
Ccesars,  rising  in  their  turn  to  the  fii-st  rank,  should  supply 
an  uninterrupted  succession  of  emperors.  The  empire  was 
divided  into  four  parts.  The  East  and  Italy  were  the  most 
honorable,  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine  the  most  laborious  sta- 
tions. The  former  claimed  the  presence  of  the  Augusti,  the 
latter  were  intrusted  to  the  administration  of  the  Ccesars. 
The  strength  of  the  legions  was  in  the  hands  of  the  four  part- 
ners of  sovereigntj^,  and  the  despair  of  successively  vanquish- 
ing four  formidable  rivals  'might  intimidate  the  ambition  of 
an  aspiring  general.  In  their  civil  government,  the  emperoi's 
were  supposed  to  exercise  the  undivided  power  of  the  mon- 
arch, and  their  edicts,  inscribed  with  their  joint  names,  were 
received  in  all  the  provinces,  as  promulgated  by  their  mutual 
councils  and  autliority.  Notwithstanding  these  precautions, 
the  political  union  of  the  Roman  world  was  gradually  dis- 
solved, and  a  principle  of  division  was  introduced,  which,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years,  occasioned  tho  perpetual  separation 
of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empires. 

The  system  of  Diocletian  was  accompanied  with  another 
very  material  disadvantage,  which  cannot  even  at  present  be 
totally  overlooked ;  a  more  expensive  establishment,  and  con- 
Bequently  an   increase   of  taxes,  and   the    oppression    of  tho 


"*  Tlie  innovations  introduced  by  Diocletian  are  chiefly  deduced, 
1st,  from  some  very  stronj^  passages  in  Lactantius;  and,  2dly,  from 
the  new  and  various  offices  which,  in  the  Tlieodosian  code,  appear 
iUready  established  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Constantine. 


440  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  308* 

peonle.  Instead  of  a  jnodest  family  of  slaves  i.nd  freedmeti, 
«uch  as  had  contented  the  simple  greatness  of  Augustus  and 
Trajan,  three  or  four  magnificent  courts  were  established  in 
the  various  parts  of  the  empire,  and  as  many  Roman  kings 
contended  with  each  other  and  with  the  Persian  monarch  for 
the  vain  superiority  of  pomp  and  luxury.  The  number  cf 
ministers,  of  magistrates,  of  officers,  and  of  servants,  who 
fihed  the  different  departments  of  the  state,  was  multiphed 
boyond  the  example  of  former  times  ;  and  (if  we  may  borrow 
the  warm  expression  of  a  contemporary)  "  when  the  propor- 
tion of  those  who  received,  exceeded  the  proportion  of  those 
who  contributed,  the  provinces  were  oppressed  by  the  weight 
of  tributes.'""  From  this  period  to  the  extinction  of  the 
empire,  it  would  be  easy  to  deduce  an  uninterrupted  series  of 
clamors  and  complaints.  According  to  his  religion  and  situa- 
tion, each  writer  chooses  either  Diocletian,  or  Constantine,  or 
Valens,  or  Theodosius,  for  the  object  of  his  invectives ;  but 
they  unanimously  agree  in  representing  the  burden  of  the 
public  impositions,  and  particularly  the  land  tax  and  capita- 
tion, as  the  intolerable  and  increjising  grievance  of  their  own 
times.  From  such  a  concurrence,  an  impartial  historian,  who 
is  obliged  to  extract  truth  from  satire,  as  well  as  from  pane- 
gyric, will  be  inclined  to  divide  the  blame  among  the  princes 
whom  they  accuse,  and  to  ascribe  their  exactions  much  less 
to  their  personal  vices,  than  to  the  uniform  system  of  their 
administration.*      The    emperor   Diocletian   was   indeed   the 

"'  Lactaiit.  de  M.  P.  c.  7. 


*  Tbe  most  curious  document  whicli  has  come  to  liglit  since  the  publi 
cation  of  Gibbon's  History,  is  tlie  edict  of  Diocletian,  published  from  an 
inscription  found  at  Eskihissar,  (Stratoniccia,)  by  Col.  Leake.  This 
inscription  was  first  copied  by  Sherard,  afterwards  much  more  complete!}' 
by  Mr.  Bankes.  It  is  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  a  more  imperfect  copy  of 
the  same  edict,  found  in  the  Levant  by  a  gentleman  of  Aix,  and  brouglit  to 
this  countiy  by  M.  Vescovali.  This  edict  -was  issued  in  the  name  of  the 
four  Cffisars,  Diocletian,  Maximian,  Constantius,  and  Galerius.  It  fixed  a 
maximum  of  prices  throughout  the  empire,  for  all  the  necessaries  and 
commodities  of  life.  The  preamble  insists,  -with  great  vehemence,  on  the 
extortion  and  inhumanity  of  the  venders  and  nier('hanta.  Q.uis  cnim  adeo 
obtunisi  (obtusi)  pectores  (is)  et  a  sensu  inhumanitatis  extorris  est  qui 
Igiiorarc  potest  immo  non  senserit  in  venalibus  rebus  quas  rel  in  mercimoniis 
Wgnntur  vel  diunia  urbium  conversatione  tractantur,  in    tantnm   se  licen 

tiam  defusissc,  ut  effrsonata  libido  rapien ram  copia  nee  annornm  uber- 

latibus  mitigaretur.  The  edict,  as  Col.  Leake  clearly  soows,  -was  is-sucd 
A.  C.  303.  Among  the  articles  of  which  the  maximum  valae  is  assessed, 
ere  oil,  salt,  honey,  butchers'  meat,  poultry,  game,  fish,  vegetables,  fhiit 
die   waass  of  laborei-s  and  artisans,   schoojnasters   and   oratorr    dotbei 


A..  D.  303.]        O?  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  441 

author  of  thst  system  ;  but  during  his  reign,  Jio  growing  evil 
was  confined  within  the  bounds  of  modesty  and  discretion, 
and  he  deserves  the  reproach  of  estabhshing  pernicious  pre- 
cedents, rather  than  of  exercising  actual  oppression."*  It 
may  be  added,  that  his  revenues  were  managed  with  prudent 
sconomy ;  and  that  after  all  the  current  expenses  were  dis- 
charged, there  still  remained  in  the  Imperial  treasury  an 
ample  provision  either  for  judicious  liberality  or  for  any  emer- 
gency of  the  state. 

It  was  in  the  twenty  first  year  of  his  reign  that  Diocletian 
executed  his  memorable  resolution  of  abdicating  the  empire  ; 
an  action  more  naturally  to  have  been  expected  from  the 
elder  or  the  younger  Antoninus,  than  from  a  prince  who  had 
never  practised  the  lessons  of  philosopliy  either  in  the  attain- 
ment or  in  the  use  of  supreme  power.  Diocletian  acquired 
the  glory  of  giving  to  the  world  the  first  example  of  a  resig- 
nation,"* which  has  not  been  very  frequently  imitated  by  suo- 
ceeding  monarchs.  The  parallel  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  how- 
ever, will  naturally  ofier  itself  to  our  mind,  not  only  since  the 
eloquence  of  a  modern  historian  has  rendered  that  name  so 
familiar  to  an  English  reader,  but  from  the  very  striking  re- 
semblance between  the  characters  of  the  two  emperors,  whoso 
political  abilities  were  superior  to  their  military  genius,  and 
whose  specious  virtues  were  much  less  the  eft'ect  of  nature 
than  of  art.     The  abdication  of  Charles  appears  to  have  been 

'"^  Indicta  lex  nova  qua  sane  illorum  temporum  modestia  tolerab 
ilis,  in  pernicicm  procossit.  Aurel.  Victor.,  who  has  treated  tho 
character  of  Diocletian  ■with  good  sense,  though  in  bad  Latin. 

^°°  Solus  omnium  post  condituin  Romanuin  Imperium,  qui  ex 
tanto  fastigio  sponte  ad  privatae  vitse  statum  civilitatemque  remearet 
Eutrop.  ix.  28.  

skins,  boots  and  shoes,  harness,  timber,  com.  wine,  and  beer,  (zythus.) 
The  depreciation  in  the  value  of  money,  or  the  rise  in  the  price  of  com- 
modities, had  been  so  great  during  the  past  century,  that  butchers'  meat, 
which,  in  the  second  century  of  tho  empire,  was  in  Rome  about  two  denarii 
the  pound,  was  now  fixed  at  a  maximum  of  eiqlit.  Col.  Leake  supposes 
the  average  price  could  not  be  less  than  four :  at  the  same  time  the  maxi- 
mum of  the  wages  of  tlie  agricultural  laborers  was  twenty-five.  The  whole 
edict  is,  perhaps,  the  most  gigantic  effort  of  a  blind  though  well-inten 
tioned  dtspotism,  to  control  tliat  which  is,  and  ought  to  be,  beyond  the 
regulation  of  the  government.  See  an  Edict  of  Diocletian,  by  Col.  Lcalce, 
London.  ISifi. 

Col.  Leake  has  not  observed  that  this  Edict  is  expressly  named  in  liifl 
treatise  de  Mort.  Persccut.  ch.  vii.  Idem  cum  variis  iniquitatibus  immen 
ma  faceret  laritatem,  legem  prctiis  rerum  vc^aJium  statuero  oonatud  c* 
— M 


442  THE   DECLINE    AXD    FALL  [A.  D.  SOi 

hastened  by  tlie  vicissitude  of  fortune ;  and  the  disappoint- 
ment of  bis  favorite  schemes  urged  him  to  rebnquish  a  power 
which  he  found  inadequate  to  his  ambition.  But  the  leign  of 
Diocletian  had  flowed  with  a  tide  of  uninterrupted  success ; 
nor  was  it  till  after  he  had  vanquished  all  his  enemies,  and 
accomplished  all  his  designs,  that  he  seems  to  have  entertained 
any  serious  thoughts  of  resigning  the  empire.  Neither  Charles 
nor  Diocletian  were  arrived  at  a  very  advanced  period  of  life ; 
lince  the  one  was  only  fifty-five,  and  the  other  was  no  more 
than  fifty-nine  years  of  age;  but  the  active  life  of  those 
princes,  their  wars  and  journeys,  the  cares  of  royalty,  and 
their  application  to  business,  had  already  impaired  their  con- 
stitution, and  brought  on  the  infirmities  of  a  premature  old 

Notwithstanding  the  severity  of  a  very  cold  and  rainy 
winter,  Diocletian  left  Italy  soon  after  the  ceremony  of  his 
triumph,  and  began  his  progress  towards  the  East  round  the 
circuit  of  the  Illyrian  provinces.  From  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather,  and  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  he  soon  con- 
tracted a  slow  illness ;  and  though  he  made  easy  marches,  and 
was  generally  carried  in  a  close  htter,  his  disorder,  before  he 
arrived  at  Nicomedia,  about  the  end  of  the  summer,  was 
become  very  serious  and  alarming.  During  the  whole  winter 
he  was  confined  to  his  palace :  his  danger  inspired  a  general 
and  unaffected  concern ;  but  the  people  could  only  judge  of 
ihe  various  alterations  of  his  health,  from  the  joy  or  conster- 
nation which  they  discovered  in  the  countenances  and  beha- 
vior of  his  attendants.  The  rumor  of  his  death  was  for  some 
time  universally  believed,  and  it  was  supposed  to  be  concealed 
with  a  view  to  prevent  the  troubles  that  might  have  happened 
during  the  absence  of  the  Caesar  Galerius.  At  length,  how 
ever,  on  the  first  of  March,  Diocletian  once  more  appeared  in 
public,  but  so  pale  and  emaciated,  that  he  could  scarcely  have 
been  recognized  by  those  to  whom  his  }>erson  was  the  most 
familiar.  It  was  time  to  put  an  end  to  the  painful  struggle, 
which  he  had  sustained  during  more  than  a  year,  between  the 
care  of  his  health  and  that  of  his  dignity.  The  former  re- 
quired indulgence  and  relaxation,  the  latter  compelled  him  to 
direct,  from  the  bed  of  sickness,  the  administration  of  a  great 

"'  The  particulars  of  the  journey  and  illness  are  takfn  from  Lae 
tantius,  (c.  17,)  who  may  sometimes  be  admitted  as  an  evideriOO  of 
public  facts,  though  very  seldom  of  private  anecdotes. 


A.  D.  305.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  442 

empire.  He  resolved  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
honorable  repose,  to  place  bis  glory  beyond  the  reach  of  fo^ 
tune,  and  to  relinquish  the  theatre  of  the  world  to  his  younger 
and  more  active  associates.'"* 

The  ceremony  of  his  abdication  was  performed  in  a 
spacious  plain,  about  three  miles  from  Nicomedia.  The  em- 
peror ascended  a  lofty  .hroae,  and  in  a  speech,  full  of  reasoa 
and  dignity,  declared  his  intention,  both  to  the  people  and  to 
the  soldiers  who  were  assembled  on  this  extraordinary  occa- 
sion. As  soon  as  he  had  divested  himself  of  his  purple,  he 
withdrew  from  the  gazing  multitude ;  and  traversing  the  city 
in  a  covered  chariot,  proceeded,  without  delay,  to  the  favorite 
retirement  which  he  liad  chosen  in  his  native  country  of  Dal- 
matia.  On  the  same  day,  which  was  the  first  of  May," 
Maximian,  as  it  had  been  previously  concerted,  made  his 
resignation  of  the  Imperial  dignity  at  Milan.  Even  in  the 
Bplendor  of  the  Roman  triumph,  Diocletian  had  meditated  his 
design  of  abdicating  the  government.  As  he  wished  to  secure 
the  obedience  of  Maximian,  he  exacted  from  him  either  a 
general  assurance  that  he  would  submit  his  actions  to  the  au- 
thority of  his  benefactor,  or  a  particular  promise  that  he  would 
descend  from  the  throne,  whenever  he  should  receive  the  ad- 
vice and  the  example.  This  engagement,  though  it  was  con- 
firmed by  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  before  the  altar  of  the 
Capitoline  Jupiter,""  would  have  proved  a  feeble  restraint  on 
the  fierce  temper  of  Maximian,  whose  passion  w;is  the  love  of 
power,  and  who  neither  desired  present  tranquillity  nor  future 

*"*  Aurelius   Victor  ascribes  the   abdication,   which  had   boon   so 

variously  accounted  for,  to  two  causes:  1st,  Diocletian's  contempt  of 
ambition ;  and  2dly,  His  apprehension  of  impending  troubles.  One  of 
the  panegyrists  (vi.  9)  mentions  the  age  and  infirmities  of  Diocletian  as 
a  very  natural  reason  for  his  retirement.* 

'"''  The  difficulties  as  well  as  mistakes  attending  the  dates  both  of 
the  year  and  of  tlie  day  of  Diocletian's  abdication  arc  perfectly  cleared 
up  by  Tillemont,  Hist,  des  Empercurs,  torn.  iv.  p  525,  note  19,  and  by 
I'agi  ad  annum. 

""  See  Panegyr.  Veter.  vi.  9.  The  oration  was  pronounced  after 
Maximian  had  resumed  the  purple. 

*  Constantino  (Orat.  ad  Sanct.  c.  401)  more  than  insinuated  that  derauf^- 
ment  of  mind,  connected  with  the  conflagration  of  the  palace  at  Nicomedia 
by  lightning,  was  the  cause  of  his  abdication.  But  Hcinichen.  in  a  very 
sersible  rote  ou  this  passage  in  Euscbius,  wliile  ho  admits  that  his  long 
illness  might  produce  a  temporarj'  depression  of  spirits,  triumphantly  appeali 
to  the  phUosophical  conduct  of  Diocletian  in  his  retreat,  and  the  inilaenoe 
which  he  still  retained  on  public  affairs. — M. 


Hi  THE    DECUNE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  308 

reputaiion.  But  he  yielded,  however  reluctantly,  to  the  aa- 
Cendant  which  his  wiser  colleague  had  acquired  over  him,  and 
retired,  immediately  after  his  abdication,  to  a  villa  in  Lucania, 
where  it  was  almost  impossible  that  such  an  impatient  spirit 
cjuld  find  any  lasting  tranquillity. 

Dioccletian,  who,  from  a  servile  origin,  had  raised  himself  to 
t]ie  throne,  passed  the  nine  last  years  of  his  life  in  a  private 
condition.  Reason  had  dictated,  and  content  seems  to  have 
accompanied,  his  retreat,  in  which  he  enjoyed,  for  a  long  time, 
the  respect  of  those  princes  to  whom  he  had  resigned  the  pos- 
session of  the  world.''*  It  is  seldom  that  minds  long  exer- 
cised in  busiut  ss  have  formed  the  habits,  of  conversing  with 
themselves,  and  in  the  loss  of  power  they  principally  regret  the 
want  of  occupation.  The  amusements  of  letters  and  of  de- 
votion, which  afford  so  many  resources  in  solitude,  were  inca- 
pable of  fixing  the  attention  of  Diocletian;  but  he  had  pre- 
served, or  at  least  he  soon  recovered,  a  taste  for  the  most 
innocent  as  well  as  natural  pleasures,  and  his  leisure  hours 
were  sufficiently  employed  in  building,  planting,  and  garden- 
ing. His  answer  to  Maximian  is  deservedly  celebrated.  He 
was  solicited  by  that  restless  old  man  to  reassume  the  reins 
of  government,  and  the  Imperial  purple.  He  rejected  the 
temptation  with  a  smile  of  ])ity,  calmly  observing,  that  if  he 
could  show  Maximian  the  cabbages  which  he  had  planted  with 
his  own  hands  at  Salona,  lie  should  no  longer  be  urged  to 
relinquish  the  enjoyment  of  happiness  for  the  pursuit  of 
power."''  In  his  conversations  with  his  friends,  he  frequently 
acknowledged,  that  of  all  arts,  the  most  difficult  was  the  art 
of  reigning;  and  he  expressed  himself  on  that  favorite  topic 
with  a  degree  of  warmth  which  could  be  ii\e  result  only  of 
experience.  "How  often,"  was  he  accustomed  to  say,  "is  it 
the  interest  of  four  or  five  ministers  to  combine  together  to 
deceive  their  sovereign !  Secluded  from  mankind  by  his  ex- 
alted dignity,  the  truth  is  concealed  from  his  knowledge ;  he 
can  see  only  with  their  eyes,  he  hears  nothing  but  their  mis- 
representations.    He  confers  the  most  important  offices  upon 

"'  Eurncnius  paj^s  him  a  very  fine  compliment:  "At  enim  diviiiiim 
dlum  viriim,  qui  primus  imptriiiin  et  participavit  et  posuit,  consilii  et 
feet  isui  non  poenitet ;  iiec  amisisse  se  putat  quod  sponte  transcripeit 
Felix  beatusque  vera  quern  vestra,  tantorum  principum,  colunt  obseq  cLa 
privatum."     Panegyr.  Vet.  vii.  15. 

"^  We  are  obliged  to  the  younger  Victor  for  this  celebrated  boo 
mot     Eutropius  mentions  the  thing  in  a  more  general  manner. 


A.D.  313.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMrTRB.  440 

vice  and  weakness,  and  disgraces  tl:e  nuKt  vittu,  u?  and  dcserr- 
ing  among  his  subjtcts.  By  such  inlan\ous  arts,''  added  Dio- 
cistian,  "  the  best  and  wisest  princes  are  sold  U>  the  venal 
corruption  of  their  courtiers."  ""  A  just  estimate  of  greatness, 
and  the  assurance  of  immortal  fame,  improve  our  relish  for 
tlie  pleasures  of  retirement ;  but  the  llomau  emperor  had  filled 
too  important  a  character  in  the  world,  to  enjoy  without  alloy 
the  comforts  and  security  of  a  private  condition.  It  was  im- 
possible that  he  could  remain  ignorant  of  the  troubles  which 
afflicted  the  empire  after  his  abdication.  It  was  impossiblo 
that  he  could  be  inditierent  to  their  consequences.  Fear, 
sorrow,  and  discontent,  sometimes  pursued  him  into  the  soli- 
tude of  Salona.  His  tenderness,  or  at  least  his  pride,  was 
deeply  wounded  by  the  misfortunes  of  his  wife  and  dhughter ; 
and  the  last  moments  of  Diocletian  wore  imbittored  jy  some 
affronts,  which  Licinius  and  Constantino  might  ha.e  spared 
the  father  of  so  many  emperors,  and  the  first  autln.r  of  their 
own  fortune.  A  report,  though  of  a  very  doul)tfui  i/ature,  has 
reached  our  times,  that  he  prudently  withdrew  himself  frono 
their  power  by  a  voluntary  death."* 

Before  we  dismiss  the  consideration  of  tlie  life  and  charac 
ter  of  Diocletian,  we  may,  for  a  moment,  direct  our  view  tu 
the  place  of  his  retirement.  Salona,  a  principal  city  of  ]ns> 
native  province  of  Dalmatia,  was  near  two  hundred  Roman 
miles  (according  to  the  measurement  of  the  public  highways) 
from  Aquileia  and  the  confines  of  Italy,  and  about  two  hvm- 
dred  and  seventy  from  Sirmium,  the  usual  residence  of  the 
emperors  whenever  they  visited  the  Illyrian  frontier."*  A 
miserable  village  still  preserves  the  name  of  Salona ;  but  so 
late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  the  remains  of  a  theatre,  and  a 
onfused  prospect  of  broken  arches  and  marble  columns,  con- 
tinued to  attest  its  ancient  splendor."'     About  six  or  seven 

"'  Hist.  August,  p.  223,  224.  Vopiscus  Lad  learned  this  conversa- 
tion from  his  father. 

"'  The  younger  Victor  slightly  mentions  the  report.  But  as  Diocle- 
tian had  disobliged  a  pow(!rful  and  successful  party,  his  memory  lias 
^^•eeu  loaded  with  every  crime  and  misfortune.  It  has  been  affirmed 
xhat  he  died  raving  mad,  that  he  was  condenmed  as  a  criminal  by  the 
^oman  senate,  &c. 

'-"  See  the  Itiner.  p.  269,  272,  edit.  Wessel. 

■''  The  Abate  Fortis,  in  his  Viaggio  in  Dalmazia,  p.  4-3,  (printed  a< 
f  enice  in  the  year  1774,  in  two  small  volumes  in  quarto,)  quotes  a  MS 
•vccount  of  tlie  antiquities  of  Salona,  composed  by  Giambaltiata  Oiu» 
tiniani  about  the  middle  of  tLe  xvith  century. 


446  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A  D.  31d 

miles  from  the  city,  Diocletian  constructed  a  magu  ficent 
palace,  and  we  may  infer,  from  the  greatness  of  the  work, 
how  long  he  had  meditated  his  design  of  abdicating  tli3 
empire.  The  choice  of  a  spot  which  united  all  that  could 
contribute  either  to  health  or  to  luxury,  did  not  require  the 
partiality  of  a  native.  "The  soil  was  dry  and  fertile,  the  air 
js  pure  and  wholesome,  and  though  extremely  hot  during  the 
summer  months,  this  country  seldom  feels  those  sultry  and 
noxious  winds,  to  which  the  coasts  of  Istria  and  some  parts 
of  Italy  are  exposed.  The  views  from  the  palace  are  no  less 
beautiful  than  the  soil  and  climate  were  inviting.  Towards 
the  west  lies  the  fertile  shore  that  stretches  along  the  Adriatic, 
in  which  a  number  of  small  islands  are  scattered  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  give  this  part  of  the  sea  the  appearance  of  a 
great  lake.  On  the  north  side  lies  the  bay,  which  led  to  the 
ancient  city  of  Salona ;  and  the  country  beyond  it,  appearing 
in  sight,  forms  a  proper  contrast  to  that  more  extensive  pros- 
pect of  water,  which  the  Adriatic  presents  both  to  the  south 
and  to  the  east.  Towards  the  north,  the  view  is  terminated 
by  high  and  irregular  mountains,  situated  at  a  proper  distance 
and  in  many  places  covered  with  villages,  woods,  and  vine- 
yards." "' 

Though  Constantine,  from  a  very  obvious  prejudice,  affects 
to  mention  the  jDalace  of  Diocletian  with  contempt,"*  yet  one 
of  their  successors,  who  could  only  see  it  in  a  neglected  and 
mutilated  state,  celebrates  its  magnificence  in  terms  of  the 
highest  admiration."'  It  covered  an  extent  of  ground  consist- 
ing of  between  nine  and  ten  English  acres.  The  form  was 
quadrangular,  flanked  with  sixteen  towers.  Two  of  the  sides 
were  near  six  hundred,  and  the  other  two  near  seven  hundred 
feet  in  length.     The  whole  was  constructed  of  a  beautiful 

"'  Adam's  Antiquities  of  Diocletian's  Palace  at  Spalatro,  p.  6.  "We 
nay  add  a  circumstance  or  two  from  the  Abate  Fortis :  the  little 
Btream  of  the  Hyader,  mentioned  by  Lucan,  produces  most  exquisite 
trout,  which  a  sagacious  writer,  perhaps  a  monk,  supposes  to  have  been 
one  of  the  principal  reasons  that  determined  Diocletian  in  the  clioice 
of  his  retirement.  Fortis,  p.  45.  Tlie  same  author  (p.  88)  observes, 
that  a  taste  for  agriculture  is  reviving  at  Spalatro ;  and  that  an  exj)er- 
anental  farm  has  lately  been  established  near  the  city,  by  a  society  of 
gentlemen. 

"*  Constantin.  Orat.  ad  Ccetum  Sanct.  c.  25.  In  this  sermon,  the 
smperor,  or  the  bishop  who  composed  it  for  him,  affects  to  rela'e  the 
miserable  end  of  all  the  persecutors  of  the  church. 

"'  Coiiatantin.  Porphyr.  de  Statu  Imper.  p.  86. 


A    D.  313.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    ^M-l'ItlE.  441 

freestone,  extracted  from  the  neighboring  quarries  of  Trau, 
or  Tragutium,  and  very  httle  inferior  to  marble  itself.  Four 
Btrvets,  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles,  divided  tha 
several  parts  of  this  great  edifice,  and  the  apjiroach  '."o  ;h0 
principal  apartment  was  from  a  very  stately  entrance,  which  is 
still  denominated  the  Golden  Gate.  The  approach  vvsis  ter- 
minated by  a  imisbjlium  of  granite  columns,  on  one  side  of 
which  we  discover  the  s  [uare  temple  of  .^culapius,  on  the 
other  the  octagon  temple  of  Jupiter.  The  latter  of  those 
deities  Diocletian  revered  as  the  patron  of  his  fortunes,  the 
former  as  the  protector  of  his  health.  By  comparing  the  pres- 
ent remains  with  the  precepts  of  Vitruvius,  the  several  parta 
of  the  building,  the  baths,  bed-chamber,  the  atrium,  the  basil' 
ica,  and  the  Cyzicene,  Corinthian,  and  Egyptian  halls  have 
been  described  with  some  degree  of  precision,  or  at  least  of 
probability.  Their  forms  were  various,  their  proportions  just ; 
but  they  all  were  attended  with  two  imperfections,  very  repug- 
nant to  our  modern  notions  of  taste  and  conveniency.  These 
stately  rooms  had  neither  windows  nor  chimneys.  They 
were  lighted  from  the  top,  (for  the  building  seems  to  have 
consisted  of  no  more  than  one  story,)  and  they  received  their 
heat  by  the  help  of  pipes  that  were  conveyed  along  the  walls. 
The  range  of  principal  apartments  was  protected  towards  the 
south-west  by  a  portico  five  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  long, 
which  must  have  formed  a  very  noble  and  delightful  walk, 
when  the  beauties  of  painting  and  sculpture  were  added  to 
those  of  the  prospect. 

Had  this  magnificent  edifice  remained  in  a  sohtary  country, 
it  would  have  been  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  time ;  but  it 
might,  perhaps,  have  escaped  the  rapacious  industry  of  man. 
The  village  of  Aspalathus,""  and,  long  afterwards,  the  pro- 
vincial town  of  Spalatro,  have  grown  out  of  its  ruins.  The 
Golden  Gate  now  opens  into  the  market-place.  St.  John  the 
Baptist  has  usurped  the  honors  of  ^sculapius  ;  and  the  temple 
of  Jupiter,  under  the  protection  of  the  Virgin,  is  converted  into 
the  cathedral  church.  For  this  account  of  Diocletian's  palace 
we  are  principally  indebted  to  an  ingenious  artist  of  our  own 
time  and  country,  whom  a  very  liberal  curiosity  carried  into 
the  heart  of  Dalmatia.'"     But  there  is   room  to  suspect   that 


*■*  D'Anville,  Geogra.phie  Ancienne,  torn.  i.  p.  162. 

'*'  Messieurs  Adam  and  Clerisseau,  attended  by  two  d.'aughteinon, 


448  THE    DECUrNE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  {{13 

the  elegance  of  his  designs  and  engraving  lias  somewhat  flat- 
tered the  objects  wliich  it  was  their  purpose  to  represent.  We 
are  informed  by  a  more  recent  and  very  judicious  traveller, 
that  the  awful  ruins  of  Spalatro  are  not  less  expressive  of  the 
declino  of  the  art  than  of  the  greatness  of  the  Kctnan  empire 
in  the  time  of  Diocletian.'"  If  such  was  udeed  the  state  of 
architecture,  we  must  naturally  beheve  that  painting  and 
sculpture  had  experienced  a  still  more  sensible  decay.  The 
practice  of  architecture  is  directed  by  a  few  general  and  even 
mechanical  rules.  But  sculpture,  and  above  all,  painting, 
propose  to  themselves  the  imitation  not  only  of  the  forms  of 
nature,  but  of  the  characters  and  passions  of  the  human  soul. 
In  those  sublime  arts,  the  dexterity  of  the  hand  is  of  little 
avail,  unless  it  is  animated  by  fancy,  and  guided  by  the  most 
correct  taste  and  observation. 

It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  remark,  that  the  civil  distrac- 
tions of  the  empire,  the  license  of  the  soldiers,  the  inroads  of 
the  barbarians,  and  the  progress  of  despotism,  had  proved 
very  unfavorable  to  genius,  and  even  to  learning.  The  suo- 
cession  of  Illyrian  princes  restored  the  empire  without  restor 
ing  the  sciences.  Their  military  education  was  not  calculat- 
ed to  ins])ire  thein  with  the  love  of  letters;  and  even  the 
mind  of  Diocletian,  however  active  and  capacious  in  business, 
was  totally  uninformed  by  study  or  speculation.  The  profes- 
sions of  law  and  jjhysic  are  of  such  common  use  and  certain 
profit,  that  they  will  always  secure  a  sufficient  number  of 
practitioners,  endowed  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  abilities 
and  knowledge ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  students  in 
those  two  faculties  appeal  to  any  celebrated  masters  who  have 
flourished  within  that  period.  The  voice  of  poetry  was  silent. 
History  was  reduced  to  dry  and  confused  abridgments,  alike 
destitute  of  amusement  and  instruction.  A  languid  and  atfect- 
ed  eloquence  was  still  retained  in  the  pay  and  service  of  the 


visited  Spalatro  in  the  month  of  July,  llbl.  ITie  magnificent  work 
wliich  their  journey  produced  was  published  in  London  seven  ye;xrs 
afterwards. 

"'^  I  shall  quote  the  -words  of  the  Abate  Fortis.  "  E'bastevolmerite 
rvita  agli  amatori  dell'  Architettura,  e  dell'  Antichita,  I'opera  del 
Bignor  Adams,  die  a  donato  molto  a  que'  superbi  vestigi  coll'  abituale 
eleganza  del  suo  toccalapis  e  del  bulino.  In  generale  la  rozzezza  del 
Bcalpello,  e'l  cattivo  gusto  del  secolo  vi  gareggiano  coUa  magnificenzj 
del  fal)rica,to."     See  Viaggio  in  Dalraazia,  p.  40. 


A.  D.  313.]  OF    THE    nOMAN    EMI'IRE.  440 

emperors,  wlio  encouraged  not  any  arts  except  Ihosu  wliich 
o^ntributed  to  the  gratification  of  their  pride,  or  the  def<.'nce  of 
'.Iveir  power."* 

The  declining  age  of  learning  aiij  of  mankind  is  marked, 
however,  by  the  rise  and  I'apid  progiess  of  the  new  I'latonists 
The  school  of  Alexandria  silenced  those  of  Athens ;  and  th» 
aacient  sects  enrolled  themselves  under  the  bannci-s  of  tht 
mote  fashionable  teachers,  who  recommended  their  system  by 
tae  novelty  of  their  method,  and  tlie  austerity  of  their  man 
ners.  Several  of  these  masters,  Ammonius,  Plotinus,  Ame- 
lius,  and  Porphyry,'"  were  men  of  profound  thought  and 
intense  application ;  but  by  mistaking  the  true  object  of  philos- 
ophy, their  labors  contributed  much  less  to  imjjrove  than  to 
corrupt  the  human  understanding.  The  knc  .vledge  that  is 
Buited  to  our  situation  and  powers,  the  whole  compass  of  moral, 
natural,  and  mathematical  science,  was  neglected  by  the  new 
Platonists  ;  v/hilst  they  exhausted  their  strength  in  the  verbal 
disputes  of  metaphysics,  attempted  to  explore  the  secrets  of 
the  invisible  world,  and  studied  to  reconcile  Aristotle  with 
Phito,  on  subjects  of  which  both  these  philosophers  were  as 
ignorant  as  the  rest  of  mankind.  ConsuminiX  their  reason  in 
these  deep  but  unsubstantial  meditationii,  their  minds  were 
exposed  to  illusions  of  fancy.  They  flattered  themselves  that 
they  possessed  the  secret  of  disengaging  the  soul  from  its  cor- 
poreal prison ;  claimed  a  familiar  intercourse  with  demons 
and  sjjirits ;  and,  by  a  very  singular  revolution,  converted  the 
study  of  philosophy  into  that  of  magic.  The  ancient  sages 
had  derided  the  popular  superstition ;  after  disguising  its  ex- 
travagance by  the  thin  pretence  of  allegory,  tlie  disciples  of 
Plotinus  and  Porphyry   became   its  most   zealous   defendei's. 


'^°  Tlie  orator  Eumenius  was  secretary  to  the  emjierors  Muximian 
aiid  Const  antius,  and  Profei^sor  of  lllietoric  in  the  college  of  Autun. 
His  salary  was  six  hundred  thousand  sesterces,  which,  accordinj^  to 
the  lowest  computation  of  that  age,  r.iust  have  exceeded  tliree  thou- 
sand pounds  a  year.  He  generously  requested  the  permission  of  cm- 
ploying  it  in  rebuilding  the  college.  See  his  Oration  De  Kestaurandia 
Scholis ;  which,  though  not  exempt  from  Vanity,  may  atone  for  hia 
panegyiics. 

'"*  Porpl  yry  died  about  the  time  of  Diocletian's  abdication.  -The 
life  of  his  master  Plotinus,  which  he  composeil,  will  give  us  the  most 
oimplete  idea  of  the  geni*  .s  of  the  sect,  and  the  manners  of  its  pro- 
fessors. This  very  curious  piece  is  insert  ?d  in  Fabricius  Bibliotlieca 
BrjBca  tom.  iv.  p.' 88— 148. 


460  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        |  A.  D.  313 

as  ti.ey  agraed  with  the  Christians  in  a  few  mysterious  points 
of  faith,  they  attacked  the  remainder  of  their  theological  sys- 
tem with  all  the  fury  of  civil  war.  The  new  Platonists  would 
scarcely  deserve  a  place  in  the  history  of  science,  but  in 
that  of  the  church  the  mention  of  them  will  very  n-equently 
oocnr. 


A.  D.  305-323.]      of  the  roman  empire.  451 


CHAPTEK    XIV. 

TROUBLES  AFfER   THE  ABDICATION  OF  DIOCLETIAN. —  DEATH  0» 

CONSTANTIUS. ELEVATION     OF    CONSTANTINE    AND    MAXEN- 

TIUS. SIX     EMPERORS     AT     THE     SAME     TIME. DEATH     OF 

MAXIMIAN    AND      GALERIUS. VICTORIES     OF      CONSTANTINE 

OVER    MAXENTIUS  AND    LICINIUS. REUNION    OF    THE  EMPIRB 

UNDER   THE    AUTHORITY    OF    CONSTANTINE. 

The  balance  of  power  established  by  Diocletian  subsisted  no 
'/onger  than  while  it  was  sustained  by  the  firm  and  dexterous 
hand  of  the  founder.  It  required  such  a  fortunate  mixture  of 
different  tempers  and  abilities,  as  could  scarcely  be  found  or 
even  expected  a  second  time ;  two  emperors  without  jealousy, 
two  Caesars  without  an-sbition,  and  the  same  general  interest 
invariably  pursued  by  four  independent  princes.  The  abdica- 
tion of  Diocletian  and  Maximian  was  succeeded  by  eighteen 
years  of  discord  and  confusion.  The  empire  was  afflicted  by 
five  civil  wars  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  time  was  not  so  much 
a  state  of  tranquillity  as  a  suspension  of  arms  between  several 
hostile  monarchs,  who,  \'iewing  each  other  with  an  eye  of  fear 
and  hatred,  strove  to  increase  their  respective  forces  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  subjects. 

As  soon  as  Diocletian  and  Maximian  had  resigned  the  pur- 
ple, their  station,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  new  constitution, 
was  filled  by  the  two  Caesars,  Constantius  and  Galerius,  who 
immediately  assumed  the  title  of  Augustus.' 

The  honors  of  seniority  and  precedence  were  allowed  to 
the  former  of  those  princes,  and  he  continued  under  a  new 
appellation  to  administer  his  ancient  department  of  Gaul, 
Spain,  and  Britain.  The  government  of  those  ample  prov- 
inces was  sufficient  to  exercise  his  talents  and  to  satisfy  his 
ambition.       Clemency,    temperance,    and    moderation,    distin- 

'  M.  de  Montesquieu  (Considerations  Pur  la  Grandeur  et  la  Deca- 
dcr.ce  dcs  Romains,  c.  17)  supposes,  on  the  autliority  of  Orosius  and 
ISusebius,  that,  on  this  occasion,  the  empire,  for  the  first  time,  was  really 
divided  into  two  parts.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  discover  in  wliat 
respect  the  plan  of  Galerius  diCFered  from  tliat  of  Diocletian. 


462  THE    DECLINE  AND    FALL        [A.  D.  305- 5*25 

guislied  the  amiable  character  of  Ccnstantiiis,  and  his  fortu 
natc  subjects  had  frequently  occasion  to  compare  the  virtues  of 
their  sovereign  with  the  passions  of  Maximian,  and  even  with 
the  arts  of  Diocletian.*  Instead  of  imitating  their  eastern 
pride  and  magnificence,  Constantius  preserved  the  modesty  of 
a  Roman  prince.  He  declared,  with  unaffected  sincerity,  that 
his  most  valued  treasure  was  in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  and 
that,  whenever  the  dignity  of  the  throne,  or  the  danger  of  the 
state,  required  any  extraordinary  supply,  he  could  depend  with 
corfidence  on  their  gratitude  and  liberality.*  The  provincials 
of  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain,  sensible  of  his  worth,  and  of  thei 
own  happiness,  reflected  with  anxiety  on  the  declinmg  health 
of  the  emperor  Constantius,  and  the  tender  ago  of  his  numer 
Dus  family,  the  issue  of  his  second  marriage  witli  the  daughter 
of  Maximian. 

The  stern  temper  of  Galerius  was  cast  in  a  very  different 
mould ;  and  while  he  commanded  the  esteem  of  his  subjects, 
he  seldom  condescended  to  solicit  their  affections.  His  tame 
in  arms,  and,  above  all,  the  success  of  the  Persian  war,  had 
elated  his  haughty  mind,  which  was  naturally  impatient  of  a 
superior,  or  even  of  an  equal.  If  it  were  possible  to  rely  on 
the  partial  testimony  of  an  injudicious  writer,  we  might  ascribe 
the  abdication  of  Diocletian  to  the  menaces  of  Galerius,  and 
relate  the  particulars  of  a  private  conversation  between  tho 
two  princes,  in  which  the  former  discovered  as  much  pusilla- 
nimity as  the  latter  displayed  ingratitude  and  arrogance.''    But 


^  Hie  non  modo  amabilis,  sedetiam  venerabilis  Gallis  fuit;  praecipue 
quod  Diocletiani  suspectam  jarudentiani,  et  Maximiani  sanguinariaia 
violentiam  imperio  ejus  evaserant.     Eutrop.  Breviar.  x.  i. 

^  Divitiis  Provincialium  (mel.  provinciarum)  ac  privatorum  studens, 
fisci  commoda  non  admodum  affectans;  ducensque  melius  publicas 
opes  a  privatis  haberi,  quam  intra  unuin  claustrum  rcservari.  Id.  ibid. 
lie  carried  this  maxim  so  far,  that  whenever  he  gave  an  entertainment, 
he  was  obliged  to  borrow  a  service  of  plate. 

*  Lactantius  de  Mort.  Persecutor,  c.  18.  Were  the  particulars  of 
this  conference  more  consistent  with  truth  and  decency,  we  might  still 
ask  how  they  came  to  the  knowledge  of  an  obscure  rhetorician.*  But 
there  are  many  historians  who  put  us  in  mind  of  the  admirable  saying 
of  the  great  Conde  to  Cardinal  de  Retz :  "  Ces  coquins  nous  font  par- 
liif  et  agir,  comme  ils  auroient  fait  eux-memes  a  uotro  place." 


'  This  aUack  upon  Lactantius  is  unfounded.  Lactaniins  was  so  fai 
from  having  been  an  obscure  rhetorician,  that  he  had  taught  rhetoric  pub 
licly,  and  with  the  gicatest  success,  first  in  Africa,  and  afterwards  ia 
Nioimcdia.    His  reputation  obtained  him  the  esteem  of  Constantine,  who 


A,D.  305-323.J     OF  iiii;  ruman  EMPinE.  458 

these  obscure  anecdotes  are  sufBeiently  refuted  by  an  inipartia 
view  of  the  character  and  conduct  of  Diocletian.  Whatevei 
might  otherwise  have  been  liis  intentions,  if  he  had  apjtro- 
hcuded  any  danger  from  the  violence  of  Galerius,  his  gtjod 
sense  would  have  instructed  him  to  prevent  the  ignoiiiinioua 
contest;  and  as  he  had  held  the  sceptre  with  glory,  he  would 
have  resigned  it  without  disgrace. 

After  the  elevation  of  Constantius  and  Galerius  to  the  rank 
'bl  AugustL  two  new  Ccesars  were  required  to  supply  their 
place,  and  to  complete  the  system  of  the  Imperial  government. 
Diocletian  was  sincerely  desirous  of  withdrawing  himself  from 
the  world ;  he  considered  Galerius,  who  had  married  his 
daughter,  as  the  firmest  support  of  his  family  and  of  the  em- 
pire ;  and  he  consented,  without  reluctance,  that  his  successor 
should  assuine  the  merit  as  well  as  the  envy  of  tlie  important 
nomination.  It  was  fixed  without  consulting  the  interest  or 
inclination  of  the  princes  of  the  AVest.  Each  of  them  bad  a 
son  who  was  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood,  and  who  might 
have  been  deemed  the  most  natural  candidates  for  the  vacant 
honor.  ])ut  the  impotent  resentment  of  Maximian  was  no 
longer  to  be  dreaded ;  and  the  moderate  Constantius,  though 
he  might  despise  the  dangers,  was  humanely  apprehensive  of 
the  calamities,  of  civil  war.  The  two  persons  whom  Galerius 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  C^sar,  were  much  better  suited  to 
serve  the  views  of  his  ambition ;  and  their  principal  recom- 
mendation seems  to  have  consisted  in  the  want  of  merit  or 
personal  consequence.  The  first  of  these  was  Daza,  or,  as 
he  was  afterwards  called,  Maximin,  whose  mother  was  the 
sister  of  Galerius.  The  unexperienced  youth  still  betrayed, 
by  his  manners  and  language,  his  rustic  education,  when,  to 
his  own  astonishment,  as  well  as  that  of  the  world,  he  was 


invited  him  to  his  court,  and  intrusted  to  him  the  education  of  his  son 
Crispus.  TIic  facts  which  he  relates  took  place  during  his  own  time ;  ho 
taniiot  be  accused  of  dishonesty  or  imposture.  Satis  mc  vixisso  arbitrabor 
!t  ollicium  hominis  implfcsse  si  labor  meus  aliquos  homines,  ab  crroribua 
iberatos,  ad  iter  coeleste  direxerit.  De  Opif.  Dei,  cap.  20.  The  eloquence 
if  Lactanf.ius  has  cause  I  him  to  be  called  the  Christian  Cicero.  Anon 
jent — (j. 

Yet  no  unprejudiced  person  can  read  this  coarse  and  particular  private 
x;nv(u-.sation  of  the  two  emperors,  without  assenting  to  the  justice  of  Gib- 
bo  u's  severe  sentence.  But  the  aathor.«hip  of  the  treatise  is  by  no  mcaiia 
cert'iiii.  Tb-J  fame  of  Lactantius  for  eloquence  as  well  as  for  truth,  would 
•afler  u:  .t<ss  i;  it  should  be  adjudged  to  some  more  "obscure  rhetorician." 
lianso,  in  his  Lcben  Constautins  des  Grossen,  corturs  ou  lhi.s  point  witk 
Gibbou      Uejlage,  iv. — M. 


454  THE  DECMNE  AND  FALL   [A.  D.  305 -32^ 

invested  by  Diocletian  -with  the  purpl'j,  exalted  to  the  dignity  of 
Ceesar,  and  intrusted  with  the  sovereign  command  of  Egypt 
und  Syria.*  At  the  same  time,  Severus,  a  faithful  servant,  ad- 
dicted to  pleasure,  but  not  incapable  of  business,  was  sent  tc 
Milan,  to  receive,  from  the  reluctant  hands  of  Maximian,  the 
Jajsarian  ornaments,  and  the  possession  of  Italy  and  Africa. 
According  to  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  Severus  acknowl 
edged  the  supremacy  of  the  western  emperor;  but  he  svas 
absolutely  devoted  to  the  commands  of  his  benefactor  Galerius, 
who,  reserving  to  himself  the  intermediate  countries  from  the 
confines  of  Italy  to  those  of  Syria,  firmly  established  his  powei 
over  three  fourths  of  the  monarchy.  In  the  full  confidence 
that  the  approaching  death  of  Constantius  would  leave  him 
sole  master  of  the  Roman  world,  we  are  assured  that  he  had 
arranged  in  his  mind  a  long  succession  of  future  princes,  and 
that  he  meditated  his  own  retreat  from  public  life,  after  he 
should  have  accomplished  a  glorious  reign  of  about  twenty 
years.'' 

But  within  less  than  eighteen  months,  two  unexpected  revo- 
lutions overturned  the  ambitious  schemes  of  Galerius.  The 
hopes  of  uniting  the  western  provinces  to  his  empire  were  dis- 
appointed by  the  elevation  of  Constantine,  whilst  Italy  and 
AtVica  were  lost  by  the  successful  revolt  of  Maxentius. 

I.  The  fame  of  Constantine  has  rendered  posterity  attentive 
to  the  most  minute  circumstances  of  his  life  and  actions.  The 
place  of  his  birth,  as  well  as  the  condition  of  his  mother  Hel- 
ena, have  been  the  subject,  not  only  of  literary,  but  of  national 
disputes.  Notwithstanding  the  recent  tradition,  -which  assigns 
for  her  father  a  British  king,'  we  are  obliged  to  confess,  that 


"  Sublatus  nuper  a  pecoribus  et  silvis  (says  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  a 
19)  statiin  Scutarius,  continuo  Protector,  mox  Tribunus,  postridiu 
Cajsar,  accepit  Orientem.  Aurelius  Victor  is  too  liberal  in  giving  him 
tlie  whole  portion  of  Diocletiaa. 

°  His  diligence  and  fidelity  are  acknowledged  even  by  LactantiuSj 
de  M.  P.  c.  18. 

^  These  schemes,  however,  rest  only  on  the  very  doubtful  authority 
of  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  20. 

*  This  tradition,  unknown  to  the  contemporaries  of  Constantine 
was  invented  in  the  darkness  of  monestaries,  was  embellished  by  Jeffrej 
of  Monmouth,  and  the  writers  of  the  xiith  century,  has  been  defended 
by  our  antiquarians  of  the  last  age,  and  is  seriously  related  in  the  pon- 
derous History  of  England,  compiled  by  Mr.  Carte,  (vol.  i.  p.  147.)  H« 
transports,  however,  tlic  kingdom  uf  Coil,  t-''¥  imaginary  father  '»f  ilele- 
oisl,  from  Essex  to  the  wall  uf  Antoninus. 


A.  D.  292.J  OF    TIIK    ROMAN    EMl'IRE.  AUi 

Helena  was  the  dauglitcr  of  an  innkeeper ;  but  at  the  same 
time,  we  may  defend  tiie  legality  of  ber  marriage,  againsj 
those  who  have  represented  her  as  the  concubine  of  Constan- 
tius.°  The  great  Constaiitine  was  most  probably  born  at 
Naissus,  in  Dacia;"  and  it  is  not  surprising  that,  in  a  family 
and  province  distinguished  only  by  the  j^roft^'.ssion  of  arms,  the 
youth  should  discover  very  little  inclination  to  improve  hh 
mind  by  the  acquisition  of  knowledge."  He  was  aboul 
eighteen  yoars  of  age  when  his  father  was  j)romoted  to  the 
rank  of  Caesar ;  but  that  fortunate  event  was  attended  with  his 
mother's  divorce ;  and  the  splendor  of  an  Imperial  alliance 
reduced  the  son  of  Helena  to  a  state  of  disgrace  and  humili- 
ation. Instead  of  following  Constantius  in  the  West,  he 
remained  in  the  service  of  Diocletian,  signalized  his  valor  in 
the  wars  of  Egypt  and  Persia,  and  gradually  rose  to  the  hon- 
orable station  of  a  tribune  of  the  lii"st  order.  The  figure  of 
Constantine  was  tall  and  majestic ;  he  was  dexterous  in  all  hia 


•  Eutropius  (x.  2)  expresses,  in  a  few  words,  the  real  truth,  and  the 
occasion  of  the  error  "  ex  obscuriori  matrimonio  ejus  fihus."  Zosimus 
(L  ii.  p.  78)  eagerly  seized  the  most  mifavorablo  report,  and  is  followed 
by  Orosius,  (vii.  25,)  whose  authority  is  oddly  enough  overlooked  by  the 
indefiitigable,  but  partial  Tillemont.  By  insisting  on  the  divorce  of 
Helena,  Diocletian  acknowledged  her  marriage. 

"  There  are  tliree  opinions  with  regard  to  the  place  of  Constan 
tine's  birth.  1.  Our  English  antiquarians  wore  used  to  dwell  with  rap 
ture  on  the  words  of  his  panegyrist,  "  Britannias  illic  oriendo  nobilea 
fecisti."  But  this  celebrated  passage  may  be  referred  with  as  much 
propriety  to  the  accession,  as  to  the  nativity  of  Constantine.  2.  Some 
of  the  modern  Greeks  have  ascribed  the  honor  of  his  bhth  to  Dre- 
panum,  a  town  on  the  Gulf  of  Nicomedia,  (Cellarius,  tom.  ii.  p.  17-t,) 
which  Constantine  dignified  with  the  name  of  Helenopolis,  and 
Justinian  adorned  with  many  splendid  buildings,  (Procop.  do  Edificijj*, 
V.  2.)  It  is  indeed  probable  enough,  that  Helena's  father  kept  an  inn 
at  Drepanum,  and  that  Constantius  might  lodge  there  when  he 
returned  from  a  Persian  embassy,  in  the  reign  of  Aurelian.  But 
in  the  wandering  life  of  a  soldier,  the  place  of  his  maniage,  and  tho 
places  where  his  cliildren  are  born,  have  ver}'  little  connection  with 
each  other.  3.  The  claim  of  Naissus  is  supported  by  tlie  anonymous 
wi'iter,  pubUshed  at  the  end  of  Ammianus,  p.  710,  and  who  in  general 
copied  very  good  materials;  and  it  is  confirmed  by  Julius  Firmi- 
cus,  (de  Astrologia,  1.  i.  c.  4,)  who  flourished  under  the  reign  of  Con 
etautine  himself.  Some  objections  have  been  raised  against  the 
integrity  of  the  text,  and  the  application  of  the  passage  of  Firmicus* 
but  the  former  is  established  by  the  best  MSS.,  and  the  latter  is  very 
ably  defended  by  Lipsius  de  Magnitudine  llomana,  1.  iv.  ell,  ct  Sup 
plfmeut. 

^*  Uteris  minus  instruotus.     Anonym,  ad  Aiamian.  p.  710. 


46C  THE    DECLINE    AN'D    FALL  i  A.  D.  292. 

exeicises,  intrepid  in  war,  .affable  in  peace;  in  nis  whole  cod- 
.met,  the  a'.tive  spirit  of  youth  \^as  tempered  by  habitual  pru- 
dence; and  while  his  mind  was  engrossed  by  ambition,  ho  ap 
peared  cold  and  insensible  to  the  allurements  of  pleasure. 
The  favor  of  the  people  and  soldie-rs,  who  had  named  him  as 
R  worthy  candidate  for  the  rank  of  Ccesar,  served  only  to  ex- 
asperate the  jealousy  of  Galerius  ;  and  though  prudence  might 
restrain  him  from  exercising  any  open  violence,  an  absolute 
D3onafch  is  seldom  at  a  loss  now  to  execute  a  sure  and  secret 
oven^ire.'*  Every  hour  increased  the  danger  of  Constantine, 
and  the  anxiety  of  his  father,  who,  by  repeated  letters, 
expressed  the  warmest  desire  of  embracing  his  son.  For 
Bome  time  the  policy  of  Galerius  supplied  him  with  delays  and 
excuses ;  but  it  was  impossible  long  to  refuse  so  natural  a 
request  of  his  associate,  without  maintaining  his  refusal  by  arms. 
The  permission  of  the  journey  was  reluctantly  granted,  and 
whatever  precautions  the  emperor  might  have  taken  to  intercept 
a  return,  the  consequences  of  which  he,  with  so  much  reason, 
apprehended,  they  were  effectually  disappointed  by  the  incred- 
ible diligence  of  Constantine."  Leaving  the  palace  of  Nico- 
media  in  the  night,  he  travelled  post  through  Bithynia,  Thrace, 
Dacia,  Pannonia,  Italy,  and  Gaul,  and,  amidst  the  joyful 
acclamations  of  the  people,  reached  the  port  of  Boulogne  in 
the  very  moment  Avhen  his  father  was  preparing  to  embark  for 
Britain.'' 

"  Galerius,  or  perhaps  his  own  courage,  exposed  him  to  single  com 
6at  with  a  Sarmatian,  (Anonym,  p.  710,)  and  with  a  mcnstrous  lioa 
See  Praxagoras  apud  Photium,  p.  63.    Praxagoras,  an  Athenian  philoso 

f)hcr,  had  written  a  life  of  Constantine  in  two  books,  which  are  no\V 
ost.     He  was  a  contemporary. 

"  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  78,  79.  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  24.  The  former 
tells  a  very  foolish  story,  tliat  Constantine  caused  all  the  post-horses 
which  he  had  used  to  be  hamstrung.  Such  a  bloody  execution,  with- 
out preventing  a  pursuit,  would  have  scattered  suspicions,  and  might 
have  stopped  his  journey.* 

"  Anonym,  p.  710.  Panegyr.  Veter.  vii.  4.  But  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  79, 
Eusebius  de  Vit.  Constant.  1.  i.  c.  21,  and  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  24, 
suppose,  with  less  accuracy,  tliat  he  found  his  father  on  his  death- 
bed. 

*  Zosimus  is  i.ot  the  only  writer  who  teUs  this  story.  The  young-er  Victor 
rxiafirms  it.  Ad  frustrandos  iu.sequentes,  publica  jumenta,  quaqua  iter  ageret, 
inlerficiens.  Aurelius  Victor  de  Caasar.  sajs  the  same  -hiiig-,  G.  sj3  also  the 
Anonymus  Valesii. — M. 

Manso,  (Lebeu  Coastai  tins,)  p.  18,  ob.serves  that  the  .story_  lits  boei 
exaggcMited ;  he  took  this  precaution  dai'ln.?  the  iirst  stage  of  his  jowruay 
— M, 


A.  D.  306.1  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMrms.  457 

The  British  expedition,  and  an  easy  victory  over  tho  barba- 
rians of  Caledonia,  were  the  hvst  exploits  of  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantius.  He  ended  his  life  in  the  Imperial  palace  of  York, 
fifteen  months  after  he  had  received  the  title  of  Augustus,  and 
almost  fourteen  years  and  a  half  after  he  had  been  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Cresar.  His  death  was  immediately  succeeded 
by  the  elevation  of  Constantine.  The  ideas  of  inhcritanoo 
and  succession  are  so  very  famihar,  that  the  generality  of 
mankind  consider  them  as  founded,  not  only  in  reason,  but  in 
nature  itself.  Our  imagination  readily  t*-ansfers  tho  same 
principles  from  private  property  to  public  dominion :  and 
whenever  a  virtuous  father  leaves  behind  him  a  son  whose 
merit  seems  to  justify  the  esteem,  or  even  the  hopes,  of  tho 
people,  the  joint  influence  of  prejudice  and  of  aftection  operates 
with  irresistible  weight.  The  flower  of  the  western  armies 
Uad  followed  Constantius  into  Britain,  and  the  national  troops 
were  reenforced  by  a  numerous  body  of  Alemanni,  who  obeyed 
the  orders  of  Crocus,  one  of  their  hereditary  chieftains.'^  The 
opinion  of  their  own  importance,  and  the  assurance  that 
Britain,  Gaul,  and  Spain  would  acquiesce  in  their  nomination, 
were  diligently  inculcated  to  the  legions  by  the  adherents  of 
Constantine.  The  soldiers  were  asked,  whether  they  could 
hesitate  a  moment  between  the  honor  of  placing  at  their  head 
the  worthy  son  of  their  beloved  emperor,  and  the  ignominy  of 
tamely  expecting  the  arrival  of  some  obscure  stranger,  on 
whom  it  might  please  the  sovereign  of  Asia  to  bestow  the 
armies  and  provinces  of  the  West.  It  was  insinuated  to  them, 
that  gratitude  and  liberality  held  a  distinguished  place  among 
the  virtues  of  Constantine ;  nor  did  that  artful  prince  show 
himself  to  the  troops,  till  they  were  prepared  to  salute  him 
with  the  names  of  Augustus  and  Emperor.  The  throne  wjw 
the  object  of  his  desires ;  and  had  he  been  less  actuated  by 
ambition,  it  was  his  only  means  of  safety.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  character  and  sentiments  of  Galerius,  and 
sufficiently  apprised,  that  if  he  wished  to  live  he  must  deter- 
mine  to   reijyn.     The    decent   and   even    obstinate   resistance 


"  Cunctia  qui  aderant  annitcntibus,  sed  prrRcipue  Croco  {alii  Eroco) 
[L^rich?]  Alamannorum  Rege,  auxilii  gratia  Constantiuin  comitata 
imperium  capit.  Victor  Junior,  c.  41.  Tliis  is  perhaps  the  first  in- 
stance of  a  barbarian  king,  wlio  assisttul  tlic  Roman  arms  with  an 
independent  body  of  his  own  suiijects.  The  f  r  act  ice  grew  fairjli:ur 
4nd  at  h\st  became  fut'il. 

VOL    I. U. 


458  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  306, 

which  he  chose  to  affect,"  was  contrived  to  justify  his  usurpa- 
tion ;  nor  did  Le  yield  to  the  acchimations  of  the  army,  till 
he  had  provided  the  proper  materials  for  a  letter,  which  he 
immediately  despatched  to  the  emperor  of  the  E;ist.  Constan- 
tino informed  him  of  the  melancholy  event  of  his  father's 
death,  modestly  asserted  his  natural  ch\im  to  the  succession, 
and  respectfully  lamented,  that  the  affectionate  violence  of  his 
troops  had  not  permitted  him  to  solicit  the  Imperial  purple  it 
the  regular  and  constitutional  manner.  The  first  emotions  of 
Galevius  were  those  of  surprise,  disappointment,  and  rage ; 
and  as  he  could  seldom  restrain  his  passions,  he  loudly  threat- 
ened, that  he  would  commit  to  the  flames  both  the  letter  and 
the  messenger.  But  his  resentment  insensibly  subsided ;  and 
when  he  recollected  the  doubtful  chance  of  war,  when  he  had 
weighed  the  character  and  strength  of  his  adversary,  he  con- 
sented to  embrace  the  honorable  accommodation  which  the 
prudence  of  Constantine  had  left  open  to  him.  Without  either 
condemning  or  ratifying  the  choice  of  the  British  army,  Gale- 
rius  accepted  the  son  of  his  deceased  colleague  as  the  sovereign 
of  the  provinces  beyond  the  Alps ;  but  he  irave  him  only  the 
title  of  Caesar,  and  the  fourth  rank  among  the  Boman  princes, 
whilst  he  conferred  the  vacant  place  of  Augustus  on  his  favoi'ite 
Severus,  The  apparent  harmony  of  the  empire  was  still 
preserved,  and  Constantino,  who  already  possessed  the  substance, 
expected,  without  impatience,  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  the 
honors,  of  supreme  power." 

The  children  of  Constantius  by  his  second  marriage  wero 
six  in  number,  three  of  either  sex,  and  whose  Imperial  descent 
might  have  solicited  a  preference  over  the  meaner  extraction  of 
the  son  of  Helena.  But  Constantino  was  in  the  thirty-second 
year  of  his  age,  in  the  full  vigor  both  of  mind  and  body,  at 
the  time  when  the  eldest  of  his  brothers  could  not  possibly  be 
more  than  thirteen  years  old.  His  clann  of  superior  merit 
had  been  allowed  and  ratified  by  the  dyinir  emperor."     In  hib 

"  His  panegyrist  Eumenius  (vii.  8)  ventures  to  afSira.  in  the  prea 
ence  of  Constantine,  tliat  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  kied,  but  ir 
vain,  to  escape  from  the  hands  of  his  soldiers. 

"  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  25.  Eumenius  (vii.  8.)  gives  a  fhetarical 
turn  to  the  wliole  transactioi:. 

'^  Tlie  choice  of  Constantme,  by  his  dying  father,  wfiich  is  war- 
ranted by  reason,  and  insinuated  by  Eumenius,  seems  to  be  confirmod 
by  the  most  unexceptionable  authority,  tlie  concurring  evidence  at 
Lactantius  (de  M.  P.  c.  24)  and  of  Libauius,  (Oratio  i.,)  of  Eiisebiia 
(id  Vit.  Constantin.  1.  i.  c.  18,  21)  and  of  Julian,  (Oratio  L) 


A.  D.  306.]  OF   TUE   ROMAN    SMnUE,  4S9 

iast  raoments  Constantius  bequeathed  to  liis  eldest  3on  the  care 
of  the  safety  as  well  as  greatness  of  the  family  ;  conjuring 
him  to  assume  both  the  authority  and  the  sentiments  of  a 
father  with  regard  to  the  children  of  Theodora.  Their  liberal 
education,  advantageous  marriages,  the  secure  dignity  of 
their  lives,  and  the  first  honors  of  the  state  with  which  they 
were  invested,  attest  the  fraternal  affection  of  Constantino  ;  and 
as  those  princes  possessed  a  mild  and  grateful  disposition,  they 
submitted  without  reluctance  to  the  superioiity  of  his  genius 
and  fortune.'* 

U.  The  ambitious  spirit  of  Galerius  was  scarcely  reconciled 
to  the  disappointment  of  his  views  upon  the  Gallic  provinces, 
before  the  unexpected  loss  of  Italy  wounded  his  pride  as  well 
as  power  in  a  still  more  sensible  part.  The  long  absence  of 
the  emperors  had  filled  Rome  with  discontent  and  indigna- 
tion ;  and  the  people  gradually  discovered,  that  the  preference 
given  to  Nicomedia  and  Milan  was  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
particular  inclination  of  Diocletian,  but  to  the  permanent  form 
of  government  which  he  had  instituted.  It  was  in  vain  that,  a 
few  months  after  his  abdication,  his  successors  dedicated, 
under  his  name,  those  magnificent  baths,  whose  ruins  still 
supply  the  ground  as  well  as  the  materials  for  so  many 
churches  and  convents.*"  The  tranquillity  of  those  elegant 
recesses  of  ease  and  luxury  was  disturbed  by  the  impatient 
murmurs  of  the  Romans,  and  a  report  was  insensibly  circulat- 
ed, that  the  sums  expended  in  erecting  those  buildings  would 
soon  be  required  at  their  hands.  About  that  time  the  avarice 
of  Galerius,  or  perhaps  the  exigencies  of  the  state,  had  in- 
duced him  to  make  a  very  strict  and  rigorous  inquisition  into 
the  property  of  his    subjects,  for   the  purpose   of  a   general 

"  Of  tlie  three  sisters  of  Constantinc,  Constantia  married  the 
emperor  Licinius,  Anastasia  tb  e  Cffisar  Bassianus,  and  Eutropia  the 
consul  Nepotianus.  The  three  brothers  were,  Dahnatius,  Julius  Con- 
stantius, and  Annibalianus,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
h.GrG3,ftGr, 

""  See  Gruter.  Inscrip.  p.  178.  The  six  princes  are  all  mentioned, 
Diocletian  and  Maxiniian  as  the  senior  August!,  and  fatliers  of  the 
emperors.  Tliey  jointly  dedicate,  for  the  use  of  their  own  Romans, 
this  magnificent  edifice.  The  architects  have  delineated  the  ruins  of 
these  Thcrmce,  and  the  antiquarians,  particularly  Donatus  and  Nar- 
dini,  have  ascertained  the  ground  which  they  covered.  One  of  th« 
great  rooms  is  now  the  Carthusian  church;  and  even  one  of  tlia 
porter's  lodges  is  sufficient  to  form  another  church,  ivhicfc  belongs  U 
the  Feuillans. 


460  THE   DISCLINE    XNU   FALt  [A.  D.  306i, 

taxation,  bo'li  on  their  lands  and  on  their  persons.  A  very 
minute  survey  appears  to  have  been  taken  of  tlieir  real  estates  ^ 
and  wherever  there  was  the  slightest  suspicion  of  conceal- 
ment, torture  was  very  freely  employed  to  obtain  a  sincere 
declaration  of  their  personal  wealth.*'  The  privileges  which 
had  exalted  Italy  above  the  rank  of  the  provinces  were  no 
longer  regarded :  *  and  the  ofSccrs  of  the  revenue  already 
began  to  number  the  Roman  people,  and  to  settle  the  propor- 
uon  of  the  new  taxes.  Even  when  the  spirit  of  freedom  had 
oeeu  utterly  extinguished,  the  tamest  subjects  have  sometimes 
ventured  to  resist  an  unprecedented  invasion  of  their  property; 
out  on  this  occasion  the  injuiy  was  aggravated  by  the  insult, 
i»nd  the  sense  of  private  interest  was  quickened  by  that  of 
national  honor.  The  conquest  of  Macedonia,  as  we  have 
afready  observed,  had  delivered  the  Roman  people  from  the 
weight  of  personal  taxes.  Though  they  had  experienced 
every  form  of  despotism,  they  had  now  enjoyed  that  exemp- 
tion near  five  hundred  years ;  nor  could  they  patiejitly  brook 
the  insolence  of  an  Illyrian  peasant,  who,  from  his  distant 
residence  in  Asia,  presumed  to  number  Rome  among  the  trib- 
utary cities  of  his  empire.  The  rising  fury  of  the  people  was 
encouraged  by  the  authoi'ity,  or  at  least  the  connivance,  of 
the  senate ;  and  the  feeble  remains  of  the  Praetorian  guards, 
who  had  rejison  to  apprehend  their  own  dissolution,  embraced 
so  honorable  a  pretence,  and  declared  their  readiness  to  draw 
their  swords  in  the  service  of  their  oppressed  country.  It  was 
the  wish,  and  it  soon  became  the  liope,  of  every  citizen,  that 
after  expelling  from  Italy  their  foreign  tyrants,  they  should 
elect  a  prince  who,  by  the  place  of  his  residence,  and  by  his 
maxims  of  government,  might  once  more  deserve  the  title 
of  Roman  emperor.  The  name,  as  well  as  the  situation, 
of  Maxentius  determined  in  his  favor  the  popular  enthu- 
sL'jsm. 

Maxentius  was  the  son  of  the  emperor  Maximian,  and   ha 

"^  See  Lactant'us  de  M.  P.  c.  26,  31. 


*  Saviguy,  in  his  memoir  on  Roman  taxation,  (Mem.  Berl.  Academ.  !823 
l&ii3,  p.  5,)  dates  from  this  period  the  abolition  of  the  Jus  Italicum.  He  quotes 
B  remarliable  passage  of  AureHus  Victor.  Hinc  denique  parti  Italiaj  inveo 
turn  tributorum  ingens  malum.  Aur.  Vict.  c.  39.  It  ^va8  a  necessary  couso 
quence  of  the  division  of  the  empire:  it  became  impossible  to  ranhitain  a 
■eeoud  court  and  execative,  and  leave  so  large  and  fruitful  a  part  of  tibe  tw 
ritorj-  axeiapt  fiom  coatribution. — M. 


A.D.  306.]  OF    TIIR    ROMAN    EMTIRK.  4^1 

hid  married  the  daughter  of  Galeriiis.  His  birth  and  ii'ilianofl 
seemed  to  ofter  hiin  the  fairest  promise  of  succeed innj  to  tho 
empire ;  but  his  vices  and  inca])acity  procured  him  the  same 
exckision  from  the  dignity  of  Caesar,  wliich  Constantino  had 
deserved  by  a  dangerous  superiority  of  merit.  The  pohcy 
of  Galerius  preferred  such  associates  as  would  never  disgrace 
the  clioice,  nor  dispute  the  commands,  of  their  bcnetactor. 
An  ol)scure  stranger  was  therefore  raised  to  the  throne  of 
Italy,  and  the  son  of  the  late  emperor  of  the  West  was  left  to 
enjoy  the  luxury  of  a  private  fortune  in  a  villa  a  few  miles 
distant  from  the  capital.  The  gloomy  passions  of  his  soul, 
Bhame,  vexation,  and  rage,  were  inflamed  by  envy  on  the 
news  of  Constantine's  success ;  but  the  hopes  of  Maxentius 
revived  with  the  public  discontent,  and  he  was  easily  per- 
suaded to  unite  his  personal  injury  and  pretensions  with  the 
cause  of  the  Roman  people.  Two  Praetorian  tribunes  and  a 
commissary  of  provisions  undertook  the  management  of  the 
conspiracy ;  and  as  every  order  of  men  was  actuated  by  the 
same  spirit,  the  immediate  event  was  neither  doubtful  nor 
difficult.  The  praefect  of  the  city,  and  a  few  magistrates, 
who  maintained  their  fidelity  to  Severus,  were  massacred  by 
the  guards ;  and  Maxentius,  invested  ivitli  the  Imperial  orna- 
ments, was  acknowledged  by  the  applauding  senate  and 
people  as  the  protector  of  the  Roman  freedom  and  dignity. 
It  is  uncertain  whether  Maximian  was  previously  acquainted 
with  the  conspiracy  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  standard  of  rebellion 
was  erected  at  Rome,  the  old  emperor  broke  from  the  retire- 
ment where  the  authority  of  Diocletian  had  condemned  him 
to  pass  a  life  of  melancholy  and  solitude,  and  concealed  his 
returning  ambition  under  the  disguise  of  paternal  tenderness. 
At  the  request  of  his  son  and  of  the  senate,  he  condescended 
to  reassume  the  purple.  His  ancient  dignity,  his  experience, 
and  his  fame  in  arms,  added  strength  as  well  as  reputation  to 
the  party  of  Maxentius."' 

According  to  the  advice,  or  rather  the  orders,  of  his  col- 
league, the  emperor  Severus  immediately  hastened  to  Rome, 
in  the  full   confidence,  that,  by  his   unexpected   celerit)',  he 


'''  TJIie  isixii:  Panegyric  represents  the  conduct  of  ilaxiinian  in  the 
most  favorable  light,  and  the  ambiguous  expression  of  Aurelius 
Victor,  "retractante  diu,"  may  signify  cither  that  he  contrived,  or  thai 
he  opposed,  the  conspiracy.  See  Zosimus,  L  ii.  p.  79,  and  Lactantiiu 
da  M.  P.  c.  26. 


482  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  307. 

should  easily  suppress  the  tumult  of  an  unwarlike  populace, 
commanded  by  a  hcentious  youth.  But  he  found  on  his  arri- 
val the  gates  of  the  city  shut  against  him,  the  \valls  filled  with 
men  and  arms,  an  experienced  general  at  the  head  of  the 
rebels,  and  his  own  troops  without  spirit  or  affection.  A  large 
body  of  Moors  deserted  to  the  enemy,  allured  by  the  promisft 
of  a  large  donative ;  and,  if  it  be  true  that  they  had  been 
levied  by  Maximian  in  his  African  war,  preferring  the  natural 
feelings  of  gratitude  to  the  artificial  ties  of  allegiance.  Anu- 
linus,  the  Praetorian  prsefect,  dec"ared  himself  in  favor  of  Max- 
entius,  and  drew  after  him  the  most  considerable  part  of  the 
troops,  accustomed  to  obey  his  commands.  Rome,  according 
to  the  expression  of  an  orator,  recalled  her  armies ;  and  the 
unfortunate  Severus,  destitute  of  force  and  of  counsel,  retired, 
or  rather  fled,  with  precipitation,  to  Ravenna.  Here  he  might 
for  some  time  have  been  safe.  The  fortifications  of  Ravenna 
were  able  to  resist  the  attempts,  and  the  morasses  that  sur- 
rounded the  town,  were  sufficient  to  prevent  the  approach,  of 
the  Italian  army.  The  sea,  which  Severus  commanded  with 
a  powerful  fleet,  secured  him  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  pro- 
visions, and  gave  a  free  entrance  to  the  legions,  which,  on  the 
return  of  spring,  would  advance  to  his  assistance  from  Illyri- 
cum  and  the  East.  Maximian,  who  conducted  the  siege  in 
person,  was  soon  convinced  that  he  might  waste  his  time  and 
his  army  in  the  fruitless  enterprise,  and  that  he  had  nothing  to 
hope  either  from  force  or  famine.  With  an  art  more  suitable 
to  the  character  of  Diocletian  than  to  his  own,  he  directed  his 
attack,  not  so  much  against  the  walls  of  Ravenna,  as  against 
the  mind  of  Severus.  The  treachery  which  he  had  expe- 
rienced disposed  that  unhappy  prince  to  distrust  the  most  sin- 
cere of  his  friends  and  adherents.  The  emissaries  of  Max- 
imian easily  persuaded  his  credulity,  that  a  conspiracy  was 
formed  to  betray  the  town,  and  prevailed  upon  his  fears  not  to 
expose  himself  to  the  discretion  of  an  irritated  conqueror,  but 
to  accept  the  faith  of  an  honorable  capitulation.  He  was  at 
first  received  with  humanity  and  treated  with  respeoi.  Max- 
imian conducted  the  captive  emperor  to  Rome,  and  gave  him 
the  most  solemn  assurances  that  he  had  secured  his  life  by  the 
resignation  of  the  purple.  But  Severus  could  obtain  only  an 
sasy  death  and  an  Imperial  funeral.  When  the  sentence  was 
signified  to  him,  the  manner  of  executing  it  was  left  to  hia 
own  choice ;  he  preferred  the  favorite  mode  of  the  ancients, 
ihat  of  opening  his  veins ;   and  as  soon  ss    he  expired,  his 


A.D.  307.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  KMPIRE.  469 

body  was  c;inied  to  the  sepulchre  which  had  oecn  coiiBtructed 
tor  the  tainily  of  Gallieuus.'^ 

Though  the  characters  of  Constatitiuc  and  Maxentius  Latl 
very  httle  affinity  with  each  other,  their  situation  and  interest 
were  the  same ;  and  prudence  seemed  to  ret^uire  that  they 
should  unite  their  forces  against  the  common  enemy.  Not- 
withstanding the  superiority  of  his  age  and  dignity,  the  inde- 
atigable  Maximian  passed  the  Alps,  and,  courting  a  pei-sonal 
interview  with  the  sovereign  of  Gaul,  carried  with  him  his 
daughter  Fausta  as  the  pledge  of  the  now  alliance.  The 
maniage  was  celebrated  at  Aries  with  every  circumstance  of 
magnificence;  and  the  ancient  colleague  of  Diocletian,  who 
again  asserted  his  claim  to  the  Western  empire,  conferred  on 
his  son-in-law  and  ally  the  title  of  Augustus.  By  consenting 
to  receive  that  honor  from  Maximian,  Constantine  seemed  to 
embrace  the  cause  of  Rome  and  of  the  senate ;  but  his  pro- 
fessions were  ambiguous,  and  his  assistance  slow  and  ineffec- 
tual. He  considered  with  attention  the  approaching  contest 
between  the  masters  of  Italy  and  the  emperor  of  the  East, 
and  was  prepared  to  consult  his  own  safety  or  ambition  in  the 
event  of  the  war.^* 

The  importance  of  the  occasion  called  for  the  presence 
and  abilities  of  Galerius.  At  the  head  of  a  powerful  army, 
collected  from  Illyricum  and  the  East,  he  entered  Italy, 
resolved  to  revenge  the  death  of  Severus,  and  to  chastise  the 
rebellious  Romans ;  or,  as  he  expressed  his  intentions,  in  the 
furious  language  of  a  barbarian,  to  extirpate  the  senate,  and 
to  destroy  the  people  by  the  sword.  But  the  skill  of  Maxim- 
ian had  concerted  a  prudent  system  of  defence.  The  invader 
found  every  place  hostile,  fortified,  and  inaccessible ;  and 
though  he  forced  his  way  as  far  as  Narni,  within  sixty  miles 


'*  The  circumstances  of  tJiis  war,  and  the  death  of  Severus,  ar« 
very  doubtfully  and  variously  told  in  our  ancient  fr.agments,  (see 
Tilk  mont,  Hist,  des  Empereurs,  torn.  iv.  part  i.  p.  555.)  I  have  en- 
dea>  ored  to  extract  from  them  a  consistent  and  probable  narration.* 

-*  The  sixtft  Panegyric  was  pronounced  to  celebrate  tlio  elevation 
».'  Constantine;  but  the  prud'int  orator  avoid^^  the  mention  cither  of 
Qalerius  or  of  Maxentius.  He  introduces  only  one  slight  adasion  to 
Ihe  actual  troubles,  and  to  the  majesty  of  Rome.f 


'  Manso  ju.stly  observes  that  two  totally  diflTerent  narratives  raight  be 
formed  almost  ujpon  otjual  antliority.     Bcylaj^c,  iv. — M. 

t  Compare  Manso,  Beylago,  iv  p  302  Gibbon's  account  le  at  least  Of 
probable  as  that  of  liis  oritic— M. 


464  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  iUT 

vf  Rome,  his  dominion  in  Italy  was  confined  to  the  nariow 
amies  of  ]iis  camp.  Sensible  of  the  increasing  difficulties  of 
his  enterprise,  the  haughty  Galerius  made  the  first  advance? 
towards  a  reconciliation,  and  despatched  two  of  his  most  con- 
siderable officers  to  tempt  the  Roman  princes  by  the  offer  cf 
a  conference,  and  the  declaration  of  his  paternal  regard  foi 
Maxentius,  who  might  obtain  much  more  from  his  liberalitj 
than  he  could  hope  from  the  doubtful  chance  of  war.^*  ITie 
oft'ers  of  Galerius  were  rejected  with  firmness,  his  perfidious 
friendship  refuse^  with  contempt,  and  it  was  not  long  befora 
he  discovered,  that,  unless  he  provided  for  his  safety  by  ? 
timely  retreat,  he  had  some  reason  to  apprehend  the  fate  of 
Severus.  The  wealth  which  the  Romans  defended  against 
his  rapacious  tyranny,  they  freely  contributed  for  his  destruc- 
tion. The  name  of  Maximian,  the  popular  arts  of  his  son, 
the  secret  distribution  of  large  sums,  and  the  promise  of  still 
more  liberal  rewards,  checked  the  ardor  and  corrupted  the 
fidelity  of  the  Illyrian  legions ;  and  when  Galerius  at  length 
gave  the  signal  of  the  retreat,  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that 
he  could  prevail  on  his  veterans  not  to  desert  a  banner  which 
had  so  often  conducted  them  to  victory  and  honor.  A  con- 
temporary writer  assigns  two  other  causes  for  the  failure  of 
the  expedition ;  but  they  are  both  of  such  a  nature,  that  a 
cautious  historian  will  scarcely  venture  to  adopt  them.  We 
are  told  that  Galerius,  who  had  formed  a  very  imperfect  no- 
tion of  the  greatness  of  Rome  by  the  cities  of  the  East  with 
which  he  was  acquainted,  found  his  forces  inadequate  to  the 
siege  of  that  immense  capital.  But  the  extent  of  a  city  serves 
only  to  render  it  more  accessible  to  the  enemy :  Rome  had 
long  since  been  accustomed  to  submit  on  the  approach  of  a 
conqueror;  nor  could  the  temporary  enthusiasm  of  the  peo- 
ple have  long  contended  against  the  discipline  and  valor  of  the 
legions.  AVe  are  likewise  informed  that  the  legions  them- 
selves were  struck  with  horror  and  remorse,  and  that  those 
pious  sons  of  the  republic  refused  to  violate  the  sanctity  of 
their  venerable   parent."*      But  when  we  recollect   with  how 

'°  With  regard  to  this  negotiation,  see  the  fragments  of  an  ana  y 
BGoua  historian,  publisLf^d  hj  Valesius  at  the  end  of  his  edition  of 
Ammianus  Marcellinus.  p.  711.  These  fragments  have  furnislied  ui 
with  several  ciuuous,  and,  as  it  shoidd  seem,  au'.hentic  anecdotes. 

"°  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  28.  The  former  cf  these  reasons  is  prob- 
ably taken  from  Virgil's  Sliepherd :  "  lUam  *  *  *  ego  huic  nostra 
wimlem,  Mehboee,  putavi."  &c.  Lactantius  delights  in.  these  -ooetica] 
kllusions. 


A.  D.  SOT]  OP  THE  ROMAN  ENfprnE,  4BS 

much  ease,  in  the  more  aj.ciont  civil  wars,  the  zeal  of  partii 
and  the  habits  of  military  obedience  had  converted  the  native 
citizens  of  Rome  into  her  mo.<t  implacable  enemies,  we  shall 
be  inclined  to  distrust  this  extreme  delicacy  of  strans^'ers  and 
barbarians,  who  had  never  beheld  It;dy  till  they  entered  it  in 
a  hostile  manner.  Had  they  not  been  restrained  by  molivea 
of  a  more  interested  nature,  they  would  probably  have  an- 
swered Galerius  in  the  words  of  Ctesar's  veterans :  "  If  our 
general  wishes  to  lead  us  to  the  banks  of  the  Tyber,  we  are 
prepared  to  trace  out  his  camp.  "Whatsoever  walla  he  has 
doterruined  to  level  with  the  ground,  our  hands  are  ready  to 
work  the  engines :  nor  shall  we  hesitate,  should  the  name 
of  the  devoted  city  be  Rome  itself."  These  are  indeed  tho 
expressions  of  a  poet;  but  of  a  poet  who  has  been  disitin- 
guished,  and  even  censured,  for  his  strict  adherence  to  the 
truth  of  history.'" 

The  legions  of  Galerius  exhibited  a  very  molancholy  proof 
of  their  disposition,  by  the  ravages  which  they  committed  in 
their  retreat.  They  murdered,  they  ravished,  they  plundered, 
they  drove  away  the  flocks  ard  herds  of  the  Italians ;  they 
burnt  the  villages  through  which  they  passed,  and  they  en 
deavored  to  destroy  the  country  which  it  had  not  been  in  their 
power  to  subdue.  During  the  whole  march,  Maxcntius  hung 
on  their  rear,  but  he  very  prudently  declined  a  general 
engagement  w4h  those  brave  and  desperate  veterans.  His 
father  had  undertaken  a  second  journey  into  Gaul,  with  tho 
hope  of  persuading  Constantine,  who  had  assembled  an  army 
on  the  frontier,  to  join  in  the  pursuit,  and  to  complete  the  vic- 
tory. But  the  actions  of  Constantine  were  guided  by  reason, 
and  not  by  resentment.  He  persisted  in  the  wise  resolution 
of  maintaining  a  balance  of  power  in  the  divided  empire,  and 
he  no  longer  hated  Galerius,  when  that  aspiring  prince  had 
ceased  to  be  an  object  of  terror.'' 

The  mind  of  Galerius  was  the  most  susceptible  of  th* 
Bternei  passions,  but  it  was  not,  however,  incapable  of  a  sin- 

*'  Castra  super  Tusci  si  ponere  Tybridis  undas ;  {jubetu) 

Hesperios  audax  veniam  metator  in  agros. 
Tu  quoscunque  voles  in  planum  offundcie  muros, 
His  aries  actus  dispergct  saxa  lacertis ; 
ilia  licet  penitus  tolli  quam  jusseris  urbem 
Roma  sit.  Lucan.  Pharsal.  L  381. 

"  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  27.     Zosim.  1.  ii.  p.  82.     The  latter  iiMO 
tkit«8  that  Constantine,  in  his  interview  with  Maximiai,  had  proo> 
i««d  to  declare  war  against  Galerius. 
.,* 


466  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  308 

cere  and  lasting  friendship.  Licinius,  whose  manners  as  well 
as  diaracter,  were  not  unlike  his  own,  seems  to  have  engaged 
both  his  affection  and  esteem.  Their  intimacy  had  commenced 
in  the  happier  period  perhaps  of  their  youth  and  obscurity.  It 
had  been  cemented  by  the  freedom  and  dangers  of  a  military 
life ;  they  had  advanced  almost  by  equal  steps  througli  the 
successive  honors  of  the  service ;  and  as  soon  as  Galeriua 
was  invested  with  the  Imperial  dignity,  he  seems  to  have  con- 
ceived the  design  of  raising  his  companion  to  the  same  rank 
with  himself.  During  the  short  period  of  his  prosperity,  he 
considered  the  rank  of  Csesar  as  unworthy  of  the  age  and 
merit  of  Licinius,  and  rather  chose  to  reserve  for  him  the  place 
of  Constantius,  and  the  empire  of  the  West.  While  the  em- 
peror was  employed  in  the  Italian  war,  he  intrusted  his  frien:: 
with  the  defence  of  the  Danube ;  and  immediately  after  his 
return  from  that  unfortunate  expedition,  he  invested  Liciniiu 
with  the  vacant  purple  of  Severus,  resigning  to  his  immediate 
command  the  provinces  of  Elyricum.'"  The  news  of  his  pro- 
motion was  no  sooner  carried  into  the  East,  than  Maximin,  who 
governed,  or  rather  oppressed,  the  countries  of  Egypt  and 
Syria,  betrayed  his  envy  and  discontent,  disdained  the  inferior 
name  of  Caesar,  and,  notwithstanding  the  prayers  as  well  as 
arguments  of  Galerius,  exacted,  almost  by  violence,  the  equal 
title  of  Augustus.^"  For  the  first,  and  indeed  for  the  last  time, 
the  Roman  world  was  administered  by  six  emperors.  In  the 
West,  Constantine  and  Maxentius  affected  to  reverence  their 
father  Maximian.  In  the  East,  Licinius  and  Maximin  honored 
with  more  real  consideration  their  benefactor  Galerius.  The 
opposition  of  interest,  and  the  memory  of  a  recent  war,  divided 
the  empire  into  two  great  hostile  powei-s ;  but  their  mutual 
fears  produced  an  apparent  tranquillity,  and  even  a  feigned 
reconcihation,  till  the  death  of  the  elder  princes,  of  Maximian, 
and  more  particularly  of  Galerius,  gave  a  new  direction  to  tho 
views  and  passions  of  their  surviving  associates. 

'°  M.  de  Tillen'iont  (Hist,  des  Empereurs,  torn.  iv.  part  i.  p.  559) 
has  proved  that  Licinius,  without  passing  through  the  intermediate 
rank  of  Caesar,  was  declared  Augustus,  the  11th  of  November,  A.  D. 
BOY,  after  the  return  of  Galerius  from  Italy. 

'^  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  32.  When  Galerius  declared  Licinius 
Augustus  with  himself,  he  tried  to  satisfy  his  younger  associates,  bv 
inventing  for  Constantine  and  Maximin  (not  Maxentius  ;  see  Baluze,  p. 
81)  the  new  title  of  sons  of  the  Auguiti.  But  when  Maximin  ac- 
quainted him  that  he  had  been  saluted  Augustis  by  the  army,  Gale 
lius  wa&  obliged  to  acknowledge  hinr  &s  well  as  Constantine,  as  equal 
.i;o,on«;o+^.",  •'^.^'.•,.i.T-;jTv;<;ia!  dignity 


A.  D.  308.]  OF  riiE  roman  empire.  467 

When  Mdximian  had  reluctantly  abdicated  the  empire,  the 
venal  orators  of  the  times  appUiuded  his  philosophic  moder- 
ation. When  his  ambition  excited,  or  at  least  encourajyed, 
a  civil  war,  they  returned  thanks  to  his  generous  patriotism, 
and  gently  censured  that  love  of  ease  and  retirement  which 
had  withdrawn  him  from  the  public  service."  But  it  waa  im- 
possible that  minds  like  those  of  Maximian  and  his  son  could 
long  possess  in  harmony  an  undivided  power.  Maxentius  con- 
sidered himself  as  the  legal  sovereign  of  Italy,  elected  by  the 
Roman  senate  and  people ;  nor  would  he  endure  the  control 
of  his  father,  who  arrogantly  declared  that  by  his  name  and 
abilities  the  rash  youth  had  been  established  on  the  throne. 
The  cause  was  solemnly  pleaded  before  the  Prietorian  guards ; 
and  those  troops,  who  dreaded  the  severity  of  the  old  em- 
peror, espoused  the  party  of  JSIaxentius."  The  life  and  free- 
dom of  Maximian  were,  however,  respected,  and  he  retired 
from  Italy  into  Illyricum,  affecting  to  lament  his  past  conduct, 
and  secretly  contriving  new  mischiefs.  But  Galerius,  who 
was  well  acquainted  witli  his  character,  soon  obliged  him  to 
leave  his  dominions,  and  the  last  refuge  of  the  disappoiuted 
Maximian  was  the  court  of  his  son-in-law  Constantine.^^  lie 
was  received  with  respect  by  that  artful  prince,  and  with  the 
appearance  of  filial  tenderness  by  the  empress  Fausta.  That 
he  might  remove  every  suspicion,  he  resigned  the  Imperial 
purple  a  second  time,'*  professing  himself  at  length  convinced 
of  the  vanity  of  greatness  and  ambition.  Had  he  persevered 
in  this  resolution,  he  might  have  ended  his  life  with  less  dig- 
nity, indeed,  than  in  his  first  retirement,  yet,  however,  with 
comfort  and  reputation.  But  the  near  prospect  of  a  throne 
brought  back  to  his  remembrance  the  state  from  whence  he 


*'  See  Panegyr.  Vet.  vi.  9.  Audi  doloris  nostri  liberam  vocem,  <fec. 
The  whole  passage  is  imagined  with  artful  flattery,  and  expressed  with 
RD  easy  flow  of  eloquence. 

^^  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  28.  Zosim.  1.  ii.  p.  82.  A  report  waa 
spread,  that  Maxentius  was  the  son  of  some  obscure  Syrian,  and  liad 
been  substituted  by  the  wife  of  Maximian  as  her  own  child.  See 
Aurelius  Victor,  Anonym.  Valesian,  and  Panegyr.  Vet  ix.  3,  4. 

"^  Ab  urbe  pulsum,  ab  ItaUa  fugatum,  ab  Illyrico  roiiudiatum,  ixut 
provinciis,  tuis  copiis,  tuo  palatio  recepisti.  Eumen.  in  Panegyr 
V'et.  viL  14.^ 

"  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  29.  Yet,  after  the  resignation  of  the  pur- 
ple, Constantino  still  continued  to  Maximian  the  pomp  and  honors  of 
the  Imperial  dignity ;  and  on  all  public  occasions  gave  the  right-hacd 
place  to  his  father-in -la-i»'     Panegyr.  Vet.  viiL  16. 


i68  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.D.  310 

was  fallen,  and  lie  resolved,  by  a  desperate  tfFort.  either  to 
reign  or  to  perish.  An  incursion  of  the  Franks  had  sum- 
inop.ed  Constantine,  with  a  part  of  his  army,  to  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine  ;  the  remainder  of  the  troops  were  stationed  in  the 
souliisrn  provinces  of  Gaul,  which  lay  exposed  to  the  enter- 
prises of  the  Italian  emperor,  and  a  considerable  treasure  was 
deposited  in  the  city  of  Aries.  Maximian  either  craftily  in- 
vented, or  easily  credited,  a  vain  report  of  the  death  of  Con- 
stantine. Without  hesitation  he  ascended  the  throne,  seized 
the  treasure,  and  scattering  it  with  his  accustomed  profusion 
among  the  soldiers,  endeavored  to  awake  in  their  minds  the 
memory  of  his  ancient  dignity  and  exploits.  Before  he  could 
establish  his  authority,  or  finish  the  negotiation  which  he  ap 
pears  to  have  entered  into  with  his  son  Maxentius,  the  celerity 
of  Constantine  defeated  all  his  hopes.  On  the  first  news  of 
his  perfidy  and  ingratitude,  that  prince  returned  by  rapid 
marches  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Saone,  embarked  on  the  last 
mentioned  river  at  Chalons,  and  at  Lyons  trusting  himself  to 
the  rapidity  of  the  Rhone,  arrived  at  the  gates  of  Aries,  with 
a  military  force  which  it  was  impossible  for  Maximian  to  resist, 
and  which  scarcely  permitted  him  to  take  refuge  in  the  neigh- 
boring -city  of  Marseilles.  The  narrow  neck  of  land  which 
joined  that  place  to  the  continent  was  fortified  against  the 
besiegers,  whilst  the  sea  was  open,  either  for  the  escape  of 
Maximian,  or  for  the  succor  of  Maxentius,  if  the  latter  should 
choose  to  disguise  his  invasion  of  Gaul  under  the  honorable 
pretence  of  defending  a  distressed,  or,  as  he  might  allege,  an 
injured  father.  Apprehensive  of  the  fatal  consequences  of 
delay,  Constantine  gave  orders  for  an  immediate  assault ;  but 
the  scaling-ladders  were  found  too  short  for  the  height  of  the 
walls,  and  Marseilles  might  have  sustained  as  long  a  siege  as 
it  formerly  did  against  the  arms  of  Caesar,  if  the  garrison,  con- 
scious either  of  their  fault  or  of  their  danger,  had  not  pur- 
chased their  pardon  by  delivering  up  the  city  and  the  pei-son 
of  Maximian.  A  secret  but  irrevocable  sentence  of  death  was 
pronounced  against  the  usurper ;  he  obtained  only  the  same 
favor  which  he  had  indulged  to  Severus,  and  it  was  published 
to  the  world,  that,  oppressed  by  the  remorse  of  lis  repeated 
crimes,  he  strangled  himself  with  his  own  hands  After  he 
had  lost  the  assistance,  and  disdained  the  moderate  counsels 
of  Diocletian,  the  second  period  of  his  active  life  was  a  series 
of  public  calamities  and  personal  mortifications,  which  wer« 
terminated,  in  about   three   years,  by  an  ignomimrus  deatb 


A.D.  31].]  OF    THE    ROMAN     EMI'lRIt.  469 

He  deserved  his  fate ;  but  we  should  Hiid  more  i  ?;i.son  to 
applaud  the  humanity  of  Constantino,  if  he  had  spared  ao 
old  man,  the  benefactor  of  his  father,  and  the  father  of  hi» 
wife.  During  the  whole  of  this  melancholy  transaction,  it  aj>* 
pears  that  Fausta  sacrificed  the  sentiments  of  nature  to  bti 
conjugal  duties." 

The  last  years  of  Galerius  were  less  shameful  and  unfor- 
1  urate  ;  and  though  he  had  filled  with  more  glory  the  subor- 
dinate station  of  C?esar  than  the  superior  rank  of  Augustus, 
he  preserved,  till  the  moment  of  his  death,  the  first  jilac« 
among  the  princes  of  the  Roman  world.  lie  survived  his 
retreat  from  Italy  about  four  years  ;  and  wisely  relinquishing 
his  views  of  universal  empire,  he  devoted  the  remainder  of 
his  life  to  the  enjoyment  of  pleasure,  and  to  the  execution  of 
some  works  of  public  utility,  among  which  we  may  distinguish 
the  discharging  into  the  Danube  the  superfluous  waters  of  the 
Lake  Pelso,  and  the  cutting  down  the  immense  forests  tha» 
encompassed  it;  an  operation  worthy  of  a  monarch,  since  it 
gave  an  extensive  country  to  the  agriculture  of  his  Pannoniati 
subjects.^"     His   death  was  occasioned  by  a  very  painful  and 

="*  Zosim.  1.  ii.  p.  82.  Eumenius  in  Panegyr.  Vet.  vii.  16—21.  The 
latter  of  these  has  undoubtedly  represented  tlie  wliolc  affair  in  the 
most  favorable  light  for  his  sovereign.  Yet  even  from  this  partial 
narrative  vre  may  conclude,  that  tlie  repeated  clemency  of  Constan- 
tine,  and  the  reiterated  treasons  of  Maximian,  as  they  are  described 
by  Lactantius,  (de  M.  P.  c.  29,  30,)  and  copied  by  the  moderns,  are 
destitute  of  any  historical  foundation.* 

^°  Aurelius  Victor,  c.  40.  But  tliat  lake  was  .«ituated  on  the  upper 
Pannonia,  near  the  borders  of  Noricum  ;  and  the  province  of  Valeria 
(a  name  which  tlie  wife  of  Galerius  gave  to  the  ch-aiiied  country)  un- 
doubtedly lay  between  the  Drave  and  tiic  Danube,  (Se.vtus  Rufus,  c.  9.) 
I  should  therefore  suspect  that  Victor  has  confounded  the  Lake  Pelso 
with  the  Volocean  marshes,  or,  as  tliey  are  now  cjiUed,  the  Lake  Sa- 
baton.  It  is  placed  in  the  heart  of  Valeria,  and  its  present  extent  ia 
not  less  tlian  twelve  Hungarian  miles  (about  seventy  English)  in 
length,  and  two  in  breadth.     See  Severini  Pannonia,  I.  i.  c.  9. 


*  Yet  some  pagan  authors  relate  and  confirm  them.  Aurelius  Victor 
epeakiiif?  of  Maximin,  Bays,  cutiKiue  specie  oIKcii,  dolis  compbsitis,  Constau 
Linum  genenmi  tcnt.iret  acerbe,  jure  laiiieii  iiitericrat.  Aur.  Vict,  do  Citsar 
I.  p.  G23.  Kutropius  also  says,  indc  ad  Gallias  profoctns  est  (Maxinii!uius| 
llolo  coniposito  tamquam  a  tilio  e.sset  expulsns,  ut  Coiistaiitiuo  i;euero  jun 
(<erctur:  raoliens  taincii  Constantinum,  rcpertu  occasioiie,  intcrlicere.  puL'iia* 
dcdit  jnstissimo  cxitu.     Eulrop.  x.  p.  661.  {Anon.  Gent.)— G. 

These  writers  hardly  confirm  more  than  Gibbon  admits ;  he  di^uios  tlw 
repeated  clemency  of  Constantino,  and  the  reiierated  treasons  ol  Uaxizuiu) 
Oompare  Mauso,  p.  302.— M. 


470  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  306-312 

lingering  disorder.  His  body,  swelled  by  an  intemperate 
course  of  life  to  an  unwieldy  corpulence,  was  covered  with 
ulcers,  and  devoured  by  innumerable  swarms  of  those  insects 
which  have  given  their  name  to  a  most  loathsome  disease  ;  *' 
hut  as  Galerius  had  offended  a  very  zealous  and  powerful 
party  among  his  subjects,  his  sufierings,  instead  of  exciting 
their  compassion,  have  been  celebrated  as  the  visible  eflPecU 
of  divine  justice.^'  He  had  no  sooner  expired  in  his  palace 
of  Nicomedia,  than  the  two  emperors  who  were  indebted  for 
their  purple  to  his  favors,  began  to  collect  their  forces,  with 
the  intention  either  of  disputing,  or  of  dividing,  the  dominions 
which  he  had  left  without  a  master.  They  were  persuaded, 
however,  to  desist  from  the  former  design,  and  to  agree  in  the 
latter.  The  provinces  of  Asia  fell  to  the  share  of  Maximin, 
and  those  of  Europe  augmented  the  portion  of  Licinius. 
The  Hellespont  and  the  Thracian  Bosphorus  formed  their 
mutual  boundary,  and  the  banks  of  those  narrow  seas,  which 
flowed  in  the  midst  of  the  Roman  world,  were  covered  with 
soldiers,  with  arms,  and  with  fortilScations.  The  deaths  of 
Maximian  and  of  Galerius  reduced  the  number  of  emperors 
to  four.  The  sense  of  their  true  interest  soon  connected 
Licinius  and  Constantine ;  a  secret  alliance  was  concluded 
between  Maximin  and  Maxentlus,  and  their  unhappy  subjects 
expected  with  terror  the  bloody  consequences  of  their  inevi- 
table dissensions,  which  were  no  longer  restrained  by  the  fear 
or  the  respect  which  they  had  entertained  for  Galerius."' 

Among  so  many  crimes  and  misfortunes,  occasioned  by  the 
passions  of  the  Roman  princes,  there  is  some  pleasure  in  dis- 
covering a  single  action  which  may  be  ascribed  to  their  virtue. 
In  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign,  Constantine  visited  the  city  of 
Autun,  and  generously  remitted  the  arrears  of  tribute,  reducing 
at  the  same  time  the  proportion  of  their  assessment  from  twenty- 
five  to  eighteen  thousand  heads,  subject  to  the  real  and  per- 


"  Lactantius  (de  M.  P.  c.  33)  and  Eusobius  (1.  viii.  c.  16)  descrilie 
the  symptoms  and  progress  of  his  disorder  with  singular  accuracy  and 
Rjiparcnt  pleasure. 

'^^  If  any  (hke  the  late  Dr.  Jortin,  Remarks  on  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, vol.  ii.  p.  307 — 356)  still  delight  in  recording  the  wonderful  doatho 
of  the  persecutors,  I  would  recommend  to  their  perusal  an  admirable 
passage  of  Grotius  (Hist.  1.  vii.  p.  332)  concerning  the  last  illness  of 
Philip  XL  of  Spain. 

'"  See  Eusebius,  1.  ix.  6,  10.  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  36.  ZosimMH 
ta  less  exact,  and  evidently  coufourds  "Maximian  with  Maxiralr.. 


A*  D.  306-312.J       OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  -47) 

sonal  capitation."  Yet  aven  this  indulgxMico  atlurJs  the-  most 
unquestionable  proof  of  the  public  misery.  This  Ui\  was  sc 
extremely  oppressive,  either  in  itself  or  in  the  mode  of  coi 
lecting  it,  that  whilst  the  revenue  was  incre-ased  by  extortion, 
it  was  diminished  by  despair :  a  considerable  part  of  tho 
territory  of  Autuu  was  left  uncultivated  ;  and  great  numbers 
of  the  provincials  rather  chose  to  live  as  exiles  and  outlaws, 
than  to  support  the  weight  of  civil  society.  It  is  but  too 
probable,  that  the  bountiful  emperor  relieved,  by  a  i)artial  act 
gf  liberality,  one  among  the  many  evils  which  he  had  caused 
by  his  general  maxims  of  administration.  But  even  those 
maxims  were  less  the  effect  of  choice  than  of  necessity. 
And  if  we  except  the  death  of  Maximian,  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine  in  Gaul  seems  to  have  been  the  most  innocent  and 
even  virtuous  period  of  his  life.  The  provinces  were  protected 
by  his  presence  from  the  inroads  of  the  barbarians,  who  either 
dreaded  or  experienced  his  active  valor.  After  a  signal  vic- 
tory over  the  Franks  and  Alemanni,  several  of  their  princes 
were  exposed  by  his  order  to  the  wild  beasts  in  the  amphi- 
theatre of  Treves,  and  the  people  seem  to  have  enjoyed  the 
spectacle,  without  discovering,  in  such  a  treatment  of  royal 
captives,  any  thing  that  was  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  nations 
or  of  humanity.'*** 

The  virtues  of  Constantino  were  rendered  more  illustrious 
by  the  vices  of  Maxentius.  Whilst  the  Gallic  provinces 
enjoyed  as  much  happiness  as  the  condition  of  the  times  was 
capable  of  receiving,  Italy  and  Africa  groaned  under  the  do- 
minion of  a  tyrant,  as  contemptible  as  he  was  odious.  The 
zeal  of  flattery  and  faction  has  indeed  too  frequently  sacri- 
ficed the  reputation  of  the  vanquished  to  the  glory  of  their 
successful  rivals ;  but  even  those  writers  who  have  revealed, 
with  the  most  freedom  and- pleasure,  the  faults  of  Constantine, 
unanimously  confess  that  Maxentius  was  cruel,  rapacious,  and 

*°  See  the  viiith  Panegyr.,  in  which  Eumenivj)  displays,  iti  tht 
presence  of  Constantino,  the  misery  and  the  gratitjdc  of  the  city  of 
Autnn. 

*'  Euiropius,  x.  3.  Panegyr.  Vetcr.  vii.  10,  11.  12.  A  jreat  num- 
ber of  the  French  youth  -^ere  hkewise  exposed  to  the  same  cruel  and 
iguoraitious  death. 

"  Yet  the  panefryric  assumes  somethine:  of  an  apoloijetic  tom\  To  vcro 
Constantino,  quantumlibet  oderint  lies  «.s,  dum  pcrhoiTcscaiit.  Holm;  chI  ciiini 
vera  virtus,  ut  non  ament  et  quiesotnt.  The  orator  appeals  Ui  the  enciecii 
nuges  of  the  republic. — M 


472  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A    D.  SOG-312 

profligate."  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  suppress  a  slight 
rebellion  in  Africa.  The  governor  and  a  few  adherents  had 
been  guilty ;  the  province  suffered  for  their  crime.  The 
flourishing  cities  of  Cirtha  and  Carthage,  and  the  whole  extent 
of  that  fertile  country,  were  wasted  by  fire  and  sword.  Tho 
abuse  of  viciorv  was  followed  by  the  abuse  of  law  and  justice. 
A  formidable  army  of  sycophants  and  delators  invaded  Africa ; 
IbD  rich  and  the  noble  were  easily  convicted  of  a  connection 
wilh  the  rebels;  and  those  among  them  who  experienced  the 
emperor's  clemency,  were  only  punished  by  the  confiscation 
of  their  estates."  So  signal  a  victory  was  celebrated  by  a 
magnificent  triumph,  and  Maxentius  exposed  to  the  eyes  of 
the  people  the  spoils  and  captives  of  a  Roman  province.  The 
state  of  the  capital  was  no  less  deserving  of  compassion  than 
that  of  Africa.  The  wealth  of  Rome  supplied  an  inexhaust- 
ible fund  for  his  vain  and  prodigal  expenses,  and  the  minis 
ters  of  his  revenue  were  skilled  in  the  arts  of  rapine.  It  was 
under  his  reign  that  the  method  of  exacting  a  free  gift  from 
the  senators  was  first  invented ;  and  as  the  sum  was  insensibly 
increased,  the  pretences  of  levying  it,  a  victory,  a  birth,  a 
marriage,  or  an  imperial  consulship,  were  proportionably  multi- 
plied." Maxentius  had  imbibed  the  same  implacable  aver 
sion  to  the  senate,  which  had  characterized  most  of  the  former 
tyrants  of  Rome  ;  nor  was  it  possible  for  his  ungrateful  temper 
to  forgive  the  generous  fidelity  which  had  raised  him  to  the 
throne,  and  supported  him  against  all  his  enemies.  The  lives 
of  the  senators  were  exposed  to  his  jealous  suspicions,  the 
dishonor  of  their  wives  and  daughters  heightened  the  gratifica- 
tion of  his  sensual  passions."  It  may  be  presumed,  that  an 
Imperial  lover  was  seldom  reduced  to  sigh  in  vain ;  but  when, 
ever  persuasion  proved  ineffectual,  he  had  recourse  to  violence ; 

*^  Julian  excludes  Maxentius  from  the  banquet  of  the  Cajsars  with 
abhorrence  and  contempt;  and  Zosiraus  (1.  ii.  p.  85)  accuses  him  of  every 
kind  of  cruelty  and  profligacy. 

^^  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  83 — 85.     Aurelius  Victor. 

**  The  passage  of  Aurelius  Victor  should  be  read  in  the  following 
manner :  Primus  instituto  pessmio,  munerum  specie,  Patres  Oratores 
qiie  pecuniam  conferre  prodigenti  sibi  cogeret. 

*^  Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  3.  Euseb.  Hist  Eccles.  viii.  14,  et  in  Vit.  Con- 
itint  i.  33,  34.  Rufinus,  c.  17.  The  virtuous  matron  who  sJabbcl 
kersclf  to  escape  the  violence  of  Maxentius,  was  a  Cliristian,  wife  to  'Clm 
praefect  of  the  city,  and  her  name  was  Sophronia.  It  stiJl  reinairw  a 
luestion  among  the  cas'iista  whether,  ou  such  occasiojia^  suiciti«  if 
lastifiable. 


A-D  312.]         OF  TUE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  473 

and  there  remains  one  memorablo  exainj)lo  of  a  injble  matron, 
who  preserved  her  chastity  by  a  vokintary  deatli.  The  sol- 
diers were  the  only  order  of  men  whom  he  appeared  to 
respect,  or  studied  to  please.  lie  tilled  Rome  and  Italy  with 
armed  troops,  connived  at  their  tumults,  suffered  thorn  with 
impunity  to  plunder,  and  even  to  massacre,  the  defenceless 
people ;  ■"*  and  indulging  them  in  the  same  licentiousness  which 
their  emperor  enjoyed,  Maxentius  often  bestowed  on  his  military 
favorites  the  splendid  villa,  or  the  beautiful  wife,  of  a  senator. 
A.  prince  of  such  a  character,  alike  incapable  of  governing, 
either  in  peace  or  in  war,  might  purchase  the  support,  but  he 
could  never  obtain  the  esteem,  of  tbe  army.  Yet  his  j)ride  w;« 
equal  to  his  other  vices.  Whilst  he  passed  his  indolent  life 
cither  within  the  walls  of  his  palace,  or  in  the  neighboring  gar- 
dens of  Sallust,  he  was  repeatedly  heard  to  declare,  that  he  alone 
was  emperor,  and  that  the  other  princes  were  no  more  than  his 
lieutenants,  on  whom  he  had  devolved  the  defence  of  the  fron- 
tier provinces,  that  he  might  enjoy  without  interruption  the 
elegant  luxury  of  the  capital.  Rome,  which  had  so  long 
regretted  the  absence,  lamented,  during  the  six  years  of  his 
reign,  the  presence  of  her  sovereign."' 

Though  Constantine  might  \ne\v  the  conduct  of  Maxentius 
with  abhorrence,  and  the  situation  of  the  Romans  with  com- 
passion, we  have  no,  reason  to  presume  that  he  would  have  taken 
up  arms  to  punish  the  one  or  to  relieve  the  other.  But  the 
tyrant  of  Italy  rashly  ventured  to  provoke  a  formidable  enemy, 
whose  ambition  had  been  hitherto  restrained  by  considerations 
of  prudence,  rather  than  by  principles  of  justice."  After 
the  death  of  Maximian,  his  titles,  according  to  the  establisli- 
ed  custom,  had  been  erased,  and  his  statues  thrown  down 
with  ignominy.     His  son,  wlio  had  pei"secuted  and  deserted 


*'  Pr£Etorianis  casdein  vulgi  quondam  annueret,  is  the  vaguo  cx- 
jiression  of  Aurelius  Victor.  See  more  particular,  though  somewhat 
iliffereut,  accounts  of  a  tumult  and  massacre  wliich  liappened  at  Rome, 
in  Eusebius,  (1.  viii.  c.  14,)  and  in  Zosimus,  (1.  ii.  p.  84.) 

"  See,  in  the  Panegyrics,  (ix.  14,)  a  lively  description  of  the  indo- 
lecce  and  vain  pride  of  Maxentius.  In  anotlier  place  the  oratoi 
observes  that  the  riches  which  Rome  had  accumulated  in  a  period  of 
1000  years,  were  lavished  by  the  tyrant  on  liis  mercenary  bands; 
redomptis  ad  civile  latrociniiun  manibus  in  gesserat. 

**  After  the  victory  of  Constantine,  it  was  universally  .allowed,  that 
the  jaot'-e  of  delivering  the  republic  from  a  detested  tyrant,  would,  a* 
any  time,  have  justitied  his  expedition  into  Italy.  Euseb  in  Vi*.  Coo- 
■tactin.  I.  L  c.  26.     Panogyr.  Vet.  ix.  2. 


474  THE    DECLINE    AND    Fi.LL  [A.  D.  314 

him  wlieii  ali\e,  ..ftected  to  display  the  most  pious  regard  for 
liis  memory,  and  gave  orders  that  a  similar  treatment  should 
be  immediately  inflicted  on  all  the  statues  that  had  been  erected 
in  Italy  wd  Africa  to  the  honor  of  Constantine,  That  wise 
prince,  who  sincerely  wished  to  decline  a  war,  with  the  difficulty 
and  importance  of  which  he  was  sufficiently  acquainted,  at  first 
diss-smbled  the  insult,  and  sought  for  redress  by  the  milder  ex- 
pedient of  negotiation,  till  he  was  convinced  that  the  hostile  and 
ambitious  designs  of  the  Italian  emperor  made  it  necessary  for 
him  to  arm  in  his  own  defence.  Maxentius,  who  openly  avow- 
ed his  pretensions  to  the  whole  monarchy  of  the  West,  had 
already  prepared  a  very  considerable  force  to  invade  the  Gallic 
provinces  on  the  side  of  Rhtetia ;  and  though  he  could  not  ex- 
pect any  assistance  from  Licinius,  he  was  flattered  with  the 
hope  that  the  legions  of  Illyricum,  allured  by  his  presents  and 
promises,  would  desert  the  standard  of  that  prince,  and  unani- 
mously declare  themselves  his  soldiers  and  subjects.*"  Con- 
stantine no  longer  hesitated.  He  had  deliberated  with  caution, 
he  acted  with  vigor.  He  gave  a  private  audience  to  the  am- 
bassadors, who,  in  the  name  of  the  senate  and  people,  con- 
iured  him  to  deliver  Eome  from  a  detested  tyrant ;  and  with- 
out regarding  the  timid  remonstrances  of  his  council,  he  resolved 
to  prevent  the  enemy,  and  to  carry  the  war  into  the  heart  of 
Italy.'" 

The  enterprise  was  as  full  of  danger  as  of  glory ;  and  the 
unsuccessful  event  of  two  former  invasions  was  sufficient  to  in- 
spire the  most  serious  apprehensions.  The  veteran  troops,  who 
revered  the  name  of  Maximian,  had  embraced  in  both  those 
wars  the  party  of  his  son,  and  were  now  restrained  by  a  sense 
of  honor,  as  well  as  of  interest,  from  entertaining  an  idea 
of  a  second  desertion.  Maxentius,  who  considered  the  Prae- 
torian guards  as  the  firmest  defence  of  his  throne,  had  in- 
creased them  to  their  ancient  establishment ;  and  they  composed, 


*'  Zosunus,  1.  ii.  p.  84,  85.     Nazarius  in  Paneg^yr.  x.  7 — IS. 

*"  See  Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  2.  Omnibus  fere  tuis  Comitibus  et  Ducibus 
non  solum  tacite  mussantibas,  sed  etiam  aperte  timentibus ;  contra  con- 
silia  hominum,  contra  Haiuspicum  monita,  ipse  per  temet  liberandae 
arbis  tempus  venisse  sentires.  The  embassy  of  the  Romans  is  mentior- 
ed  only  by  Zonavas,  (1.  xiii.,)  and  by  Cedrenus,  (in  Compend.  Hist.  p. 
270 ;)  but  those  modern  Greeks  liad  the  opportunity  of  consulting  many 
writers  which  liavc  since  been  lost,  among  which  we  may  reckoa  the 
life  of  Constantino  by  Praxagoras.  Pliotius  (p.  03)  has  made  a  sboift 
1Mb  act  from  that  historical  work. 


A.D.  312.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIUB.  47fl 

including  the  roo^.  of  the  Itfilians  who  were  onhstod  into  hia 
service,  a  ff)rmidable  body  of  fourscore  thousand  men.  rorty 
thousand  Moors  and  Carthaginians  had  been  raised  since  the 
reduction  of  Africa.  Even  Sicily  furnished  its  propurtion  of 
troops  ;  and  the  armies  of  Maxentius  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  foot  and  eighteen  thousand  horse.  Tho 
wealth  of  Italy  supplied  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  and  tho  ad- 
jacent provinces  were  exhausted,  to  form  immense  magiizinca 
of  corn  and  every  other  kind  of  provisions. 

The  whole  force  of  Constantine  consisted  of  ninety  thousand 
foot  and  eight  thousand  horse ; "  and  as  the  defence  of  the 
Rhine  required  an  extraordinary  attention  during  the  absence 
of  the  emperor,  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  employ  above  half 
his  troops  in  the  Italian  expedition,  unless  he  sacrificed  tho 
public  safety  to  his  private  quarrel."  At  the  head  of  about 
forty  thousand  soldiers  he  marched  to  encounter  an  enemy 
whose  numbers  were  at  least  four  times  superior  to  his  own. 
But  the  armies  of  liome,  placed  at  a  secure  distance  from  dan- 
ger, were  enervated  by  indulgence  and  luxury.  Habituated  to 
the  baths  and  theatres  of  Rome,  they  took  tlie  lield  witli  re- 
luctance, and  were  chiefly  composed  of  veterans  who  bad 
almost  forgotten,  or  of  new  levies  who  had  never  acquired,  tho 
use  of  arms  and  the  practice  of  war.  The  hardy  legions  of 
Gaul  had  long  defended  the  frontiers  of  the  empire  against  the 
barbarians  of  the  North;  and  in  the  performance  of  thr; 
laborious  service,  their  valor  was  exercised  and  their  discipline 
confirmed.  There  appeared  the  same  difference  between  the 
leaders  as  between  the  armies.  Caprice  or  flattery  had  tempted 
Maxentius  with  the  hopes  of  conquest ;  but  these  aspiring 
hopes  soon  gave  way  to  the  habits  of  pleasure  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  inexperience.  The  intrepid  mind  of  Con- 
stantine had  been  trained  from  his  earliest  youth  to  war,  to 
action,  and  to  military  command. 

When  Hannibal    marched  from    Gaul  into  Italy,  he  was 


*^  Zosiinus  (1.  ii.  p.  86)  has  given  us  this  curious  account  of  the  forces 
on  both  sides.  He  makes  no  mention  of  any  naval  armaments,  though 
we  are  assured  (Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  '25)  tliat  the  war  was  carried  on  by 
sea  as  well  as  by  land ;  and  that  the  fleet  of  Constantine  took  pis- 
session  of  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  the  ports  of  Italy. 

^'^  Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  3.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  orator  should 
diminish  the  numbers  with  which  his  sovereign  achieved  the  conquest 
df  Italy ;  but  it  appears  somewhat  singular  that  he  should  estfiem  tlw 
tyrant's  army  at  no  more  than  100,000  men. 


476  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  SlSi 

oWigod,  first  to  discover,  and  then  to  opon.  a  way  ovei 
mountains,  and  through  savage  nations,  that  had  never  yielded 
a  passage  to  a  regular  army.^^  The  Alps  were  then  ^ruarded 
by  nature,  they  are  now  fortiOed  by  art.  Citadels,  constructed 
with  no  less  skill  than  labor  and  expense,  command  every 
avenue  into  the  plain,  and  on  that  side  render  Italy  alm^t 
inaccessible  to  the  enemies  of  the  king  of  Sardinia."  But  in 
the  course  of  the  intermediate  period,  the  generals,  who  have 
attemj^t^d  the  passage,  have  seldom  experienced  any  difficulty 
or  resistance.  In  the  age  of  Constantine,  the  peasants  of  the 
mountains  were  civilized  and  obedient  subjects ;  the  country 
was  plentifully  stocked  with  provisions,  and  the  stupendous 
highways,  which  the  Romans  had  carried  over  the  Alps, 
opened  several  communications  between  Gaul  and  Italy." 
Constantine  preferred  the  road  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  or,  as  it  is 
now  called,  of  Mount  Cenis,  and  led  his  troops  with  such  active 
diligence,  that  he  descended  into  the  plain  of  Piedmont  before 
the  court  of  Maxentius  had  received  any  certain  intelligence 
of  his  departure  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  The  city  of 
Susa,  however,  which  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cenis, 
was  surrounded  with  walls,  and  provided  with  a  garrison 
sufficiently  numerous  to  check  the  progress  of  an  invader; 
but  the  impatience  of  Constantine's  troops  disdained  the  tedious 
forms  of  a  siege.  The  same  day  that  they  appeared  before 
Susa,  they  applied  fire  to  the  gates,  and  ladders  to  the  walls ; 
and  mounting  to  the  assault  amidst  a  shower  of  stones  and 
arrows,  they  entered  the  place  sword  in    hand,  and  cut  in 

*'  The  three  principal  passages  of  the  Alps  between  Gaul  and 
Italy,  are  those  of  Mount  St.  Bernard,  Mount  Cenis,  and  Mount 
Genevre.  Tradition,  and  a  resemblance  of  names,  {Alpcs  PcnnvncB,) 
had  assigned  the  first  of  these  for  the  march  of  Hannibal,  (see  Simler 
de  Alpibus.)  The  Chevalier  de  Folard  (Polyp,  torn,  iv.)  and  K 
d'Anville  have  led  him  over  Mount  Genevre.  But  notwithstanding 
the  authority  of  an  experienced  officer  and  a  learned  goograpiier,  the 
pretensions  "of  Mount  Cenis  are  supported  in  a  specious,  not  to  say 
a  convincing,  manner,  by  M.  Grosley.  Observations  sur  ITtalie,  torn. 
L  p.  40,  (fee* 

^*  La  Brunette  near  Suse,  Demont,  Exiles,  FcnestrcUes,  Coni,  &c. 

**  See  Ammian.  Marcellin.  xv.  10.  His  description  of  the  roada 
'Ker  the  Alps  is  clear,  lively,  and  accurate. 


•  The  dissertation  of  Messrs.  Cramer  aiid  Wiclvham  has  clearly  shown 
ihat  the  Little  St.  Bernard  must  claim  the  honor  of  Hannibal's  passege.  A 
ln»ot  by  Mr.  Long  (London,  1831)  has  added  some  sensible  con-cctioiu  'f 
Hiuiuibars  march  to  the  Alps. — M 


A.D.   312.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIKE,  47^ 

pieces  tlie  greatest  part  of  the  garrison.  Tlie  flames  wer« 
extinguished  by  the  care  of  Constantine,  and  the  remains  of 
Susa  preserve.i  from  total  destruction.  About  forty  milea 
from  thence,  a  more  severe  contest  awaited  him.  A  numer- 
ous army  of  ItaHans  was  assembled  under  the  lii-utenanLs  of 
Maxentius,  in  the  plains  of  Turin.  Its  principal  strength  con- 
sisted in  a  species  of  heavy  cavalry,  which  the  Romans,  since 
the  decline  of  their  discipline,  had  borrowed  from  the  nations 
of  the  East.  The  horses,  as  well  as  the  men,  were  clothed  in 
comjy^ete  armor,  the  joints  of  which  were  artfully  adapted  to 
the  motions  of  their  bodies.  Tlie  aspect  of  this  cavalry  wjw 
formidable,  their  weight  almost  irresistible ;  and  as,  on  this 
occasion,  their  generals  had  drawn  them  up  in  a  compact 
column  or  -wedge,  with  a  sharp  point,  and  with  spreading 
flanks,  they  flattered  themselves  that  they  could  easily  break 
and  trample  down  the  army  of  Constantine.  They  might, 
perhaps,  have  succeeded  in  their  design,  had  not  their  expe- 
rienced adversary  embraced  the  same  method  of  defence, 
which  in  similar  circumstances  had  been  practised  by  Aurelian. 
The  skilful  evolutions  of  Constantine  divided  and  baffled  this 
massy  column  of  cavalry.  The  troops  of  Maxentius  fled  in 
confusion  towards  Turin ;  and  as  the  gates  of  the  city  wero 
shut  against  them,  very  few  escaped  the  sword  of  the  victo- 
rious pursuei-s.  By  this  important  service,  Turin  deserved  to 
experience  the  clemency  and  even  favor  of  the  conqueror.  He 
made  his  entry  into  the  Imperial  palace  of  Milan,  and  almost 
all  the  cities  of  Italy  between  the  Alps  and  the  Po  not  only 
acknowledged  the  power,  but  embraced  with  zeal  the  party,  of 
Constantine." 

From  Milan  to  Rome,  the  ^Emilian  and  Flaminian  highways 
offered  an  easy  march  of  about  four  hundred  miles ;  but 
though  Constantine  was  impatient  to  encounter  the  tyrant,  he 
prudently  directed  his  operations  against  another  army  of  Ital- 
ians, who,  by  their  strength  and  position,  might  either  oppose 
his  progi-ess,  or,  in  case  of  a  misfortune,  might  intercept  his 
retieat.  Ruricius  Pompeianus,  a  genei-al  distinguished  by  hia 
valor  f.nd  ability,  had  under  his  command  the  city  of  Verona, 
and  all  the  troops  that  were  stationed  in  the  province  of 
Venetia.     As  soon  as  he  was  informed  tliat  Constantino  was 


"  Zosimiis  as  ■well  as  Eusebius  hasten  from  the  pasjas^c  of  the  Alpt 
{,':  tbfc  decisive  action  near  Rome.  We  must  apply  to  the  two  Paii» 
gvrirs  for  the  intermediate  actions  of  Constantine. 


478  THE   DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  r.  312 

advancing  towards  him,  he  detached  a  largo  body  of  cavalry 
which  was  defeated  in  an  engagement  near  Brescia,  and  pur- 
sued by  the  GaUic  legions  as  far  as  the  gates  of  Verona.  The 
necessity,  the  importance,  and  the  difficulties  cf  the  siege  of 
Verona,  immediately  presented  themselves  to  tha  sagacious 
mind  of  Constantine.*'  The  city  was  accessible  cnly  by  a 
narrow  peninsula  towards  the  west,  as  the  other  three  sidef 
were  surrounded  by  the  xidige,  a  rapid  river,  which  covered 
the  province  of  Venetia,  from  whence  the  besieged  derived 
an  inexhaustible  supply  of  men  and  provisions.  It  was  not 
without  great  difficulty,  and  after  several  fruitless  attempts, 
that  Constantine  found  means  to  pass  the  river  at  some  distance 
above  the  city,  and  in  a  place  where  the  torrent  was  less 
violent.  He  then  encompassed  Verona  with  strong  lijies, 
pushed  his  attacks  with  prudent  vigor,  and  repelled  a  desperate 
sally  of  Pompeianus.  That  intrepid  general,  when  he  had 
used  every  means  of  defence  that  the  strength  of  the  place  or 
that  of  the  garrison  could  afford,  secretly  escaped  from  Verona, 
anxious  not  for  his  own,  but  for  the  public  safety.  With  inde- 
fatigable diligence  he  soon  collected  an  army  sufficient  either 
to  meet  Constantine  in  the  field,  or  to  attack  him  if  he  obsti 
nately  remained  within  his  lines  The  emperor,  attentive  to 
the  motions,  and  informed  of  the  approach  of  so  formidable 
an  enemy,  left  a  part  of  his  legions  to  continue  the  operations 
of  the  siege,  whilst,  at  the  head  of  those  troops  on  whose  valor 
and  fidelity  he  more  particularly  depended,  he  advanced  in 
person  to  engage  the  general  of  Maxentius.  The  array  ol 
Gaul  was  drawn  up  in  two  lines,  according  to  the  usual  prac- 
tice of  war ;  but  their  experienced  leader,  perceiving  that  the 
numbers  of  the  Italians  far  exceeded  his  own,  suddenly 
changed  his  disposition,  and,  reducing  the  second,  extended 
the  front  of  his  first  line  to  a  just  proportion  with  that  of  the 
enemy.  Such  evolutions,  which  only  veteran  troops  can 
execute  without  confusion  in  a  moment  of  danger,  commonly 
prove  decisive ;  but  as  this  engagement  began  towards  tho 
close  of  the  day,  and  was  contested  with  great  obstinacy  during 
the  whole  night,  there  was  less  room  for  the  conduct  of  the 

"  The  Marquis  MafFei  has  examined  the  siege  and  battle  of  Verona 
witJi  that  degree  of  attention  and  accuracy  which  was  due  to  a  memo- 
rable action  that  happened  in  liis  native  country.  The  fortificat'i>na 
of  that  city,  constructed  by  Gallienus,  were  less  cxtensirii  tlian  the 
modern  walls,  and  the  amphitheatre  was  not  i?]cliided  within  their  df 
eumfcrence.     See  Verona  IlliHtiata,  jiart  i.  p.  142    150. 


A.  D.  312.]         OF  TKE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  479 

generals  than  for  the  courage  of  the  soldioi-s.  The  rotuni 
of  hght  displayed  the  victory  of  Constatitine,  and  a  field  of 
carnage  covered  with  many  thousands  of  the  vanquished  Ital 
ians.  Their  general,  Ponipeianus,  was  found  among  the  slain; 
Verona  immediately  surrendered  at  discretion,  and  the  garrison 
was  made  prisoners  of  war.'*  When  the  officers  of  the  victo- 
rious army  congratulated  their  master  on  this  important  sue- 
50SS,  they  ventured  to  add  some  respectful  complaints,  of  such 
i  nature,  however,  as  the  most  jealous  monarchs  will  listen  to 
without  displeasure.  They  represented  to  Constantinc,  that, 
not  contented  with  all  the  duties  of  a  commandei',  he  had  ex- 
posed his  own  person  with  an  excess  of  valor  which  almost  de- 
generated into  rashness :  and  they  conjured  him  for  the  future 
to.pay  more  regard  to  the  preservation  of  a  life  in  which  th(> 
safet}'  of  Rome  and  of  the  empire  was  involved.'" 

While  Constantine  signalized  his  conduct  and  valor  in  the 
field,  the  sovereign  of  Italy  appeared  insensible  of  the  calam- 
ities and  danger  of  a  civil  war  which  reigned  in  the  heart  of  hia 
dominions.  Pleasure  was  still  the  only  business  of  Maxentius. 
Concealing,  or  at  least  attempting  to  conceal,  from  the  public 
knowledge  the  misfoitunes  of  his  arms,""  he  indulged  himself 
in  a  vain  confidence  which  deferred  the  remedies  of  the  ap- 
proaching evil,  without  deferring  the  evil  itself"'  The  rapid 
progress  of  Constantine"^  was  scarcely  sufficient  to  awaken 
him  from  his  fatal  security;  he  flattered  himself,  that  his 
well-known  liberality,  and  tiie  majesty  of  the  Roman  name, 
which  had  already  delivered  him  from  two  invasions,  would 
dissipate  with  the  same  facility  the  rebellious  army  of  Gaul. 
The  officers  of  experience  and  ability,  who  had  served  un(h.'t 
the  banners  of  Maximian,  were  at  length  compelled  to  inform 
his  effeminate  son  of  the  imminent  clanger  to  which  he  w;\* 

• "  They  wanted  chains  for  so  great  a  multitude  of  captives ;  ajid  th« 
whole  council  was  at  a  loss  •,  but  the  sagacious  conqueror  iinagiued  the 
happy  expedient  of  converting  into  fetters  the  swords  of  the  vanquLsb- 
cd.     Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  11. 

"  Tanegyr.  Vet.  ix.  10. 

*"  Literas  culamitatum  suaruin  indices  supprimebat.  Panegyr  Vet 
ix.  16. 

*'  Remedia  malorum  potius  quani  mala  difFcrebat,  is  the  fineccnsar* 
which  Tacitus  passes  on  tlie  supine  indolonco  of  Vitellius. 

"  The  Marquis  Maflei  lias  made  it  extremely  probable  tha'-  Coo- 
etantine  was  still  at  Verona,  the  1st  of  Sejjtemt  er,  A.  D.  £1"2.  and  tlia« 
the  memorable  tera  of  th(!  indications  was  dated  from  liL-  couque^t  o/ 
ihe  CLf alpine  Gaul. 


480  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  31S 

redaced ;  and,  with  a  freedom  that  at  onco  sjurprised  and 
convinced  liini,  to  urge  the  necessity  of  pre\enting  his  ruinj 
by  a  vigorous  exertion  of  his  remaining  power.  The  resources 
of  Maxentius,  botli  of  men  and  money,  were  still  considerable. 
The  Praetorian  guards  felt  how  strongly  their  own  interest  a/id 
safety  were  connected  with  his  cause ;  and  a  third  army  was 
loon  collected,  more  numerous  than  those  which  had  been 
lost  in  the  battles  of  Turin  and  Verona.  It  was  far  from  the 
intention  of  the  emperoi  to  lead  his  troops  in  person.  A 
stranger  to  the  exercises  of  war,  he  trembled  at  the  appre- 
hension of  so  dangerous  a  contest ;  and  as  fear  is  commonly 
superstitious,  he  listened  with  melancholy  attention  to  the 
rumors  of  omens  and  presages  which  seemed  to  menace  his 
life  and  empire.  Shame  at  length  supplied  the  place  of 
courage,  and  forced  him  to  take  the  field.  He  was  unable  to 
sustain  the  contempt  of  the  Roman  people.  The  circus 
resounded  with  their  indignant  clamors,  and  they  tumultuously 
besieged  the  gates  of  the  palace,  reproaching  the  pusilla- 
nimity of  their  indolent  sovereign,  and  celebrating  the  heroic 
spirit  of  Constantine."^  Before  Maxentius  left  Rome,  he 
consulted  the  Sibylline  books.  The  guardians  of  these  ancient 
oracles  were  as  well  versed  in  the  arts  of  this  world  as  they 
were  ignorant  of  the  secrets  of  fate ;  and  they  returned  him 
a  very  prudent  answer,  which  might  adapt  itself  to  the  event, 
and  secure  their  reputation,  whatever  should  be  the  chance  of 
urms."^ 

The  celerity  of  Constantino's  march  has  been  compared  to 
the  rapid  conquest  of  Italy  by  the  first  of  the  Caesars  ;  nor  is 
the  flattering  parallel  repugnant  to  the  truth  of  history,  since 
no  more  than  fifty-eight  days  elapsed  between  the  surrender 
of  Verona  and  the  final  decision  of  the  war.  Constantine 
had  always  apprehended  that  the  tyrant  would  consult  the 
dictates  of  fear,  and  perhaps  of  prudence ;  and  that,  instead 
of  risking  his  last  hopes  in  a  geoeral  engagement,  he  would 
shut  himself  up  within  the  walls  of  Rome.  His  ample  mag- 
azines secured  him  against  the  danger  of  famine ;  and  as  the 
situation  of  Constantine  admitted  not  of  delay,  he  might  have 
been  reduced  to  the  sad  necessity  of  destroying  with  fire  and 
iword  the  Imperial  city,   the  noblest  reward  of  his  victory^ 

"  See  PaDSgyr  Vat  xi.  Ifi.     Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  44. 
•*  Bio  die  liostpni   Ronianoruni  esse  periturrm.     The  vaaquiahsd 
^SiCe  l>ecanie  oi"  course  the  enemy  of  Rome. 


A.D.  312.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  181 

and  the  deliverance  of  wliich  had  been  the  raciive,  or  rither 
indeed  the  pretence,  of  the  civil  Nvar,"  It  was  with  equal 
surprise  and  pleasure,  that  on  his  arrival  at  a  place  called 
Saxa  Rubra,  about  nine  miles  from  Rome,*"  he  discovered 
the  army  of  Maxentius  prepared  to  give  him  battle."  Their 
long  front  filled  a  very  spacious  plain,  and  their  deep  array 
reached  to  the  banks  of  the  Tyber,  which  covered  their  rear, 
and  forbade  their  retreat.  We  are  informed,  and  we  may 
believe,  that  Constantine  disposed  his  troops  with  consummate 
skill,  and  that  he  chose  for  himself  the  post  of  honor  and 
danger.  Distinguished  by  the  splendor  of  his  arms,  he 
charged  in  person  the  cavalry  of  his  rival ;  and  his  irresist 
ible  attack  determined  the  fortune  of  the  day.  The  cavalry 
of  Maxentius  was  principally  composed  either  of  unwieldy 
cuirassiers,  or  of  light  Moors  and  Numidians.  They  yielded 
t.o  the  viffor  of  the  Gallic  horse,  which  possessed  more  activ- 
ity than  the  one,  more  firmness  than  the  other.  The  defeat 
of  the  two  wings  left  the  infantry  without  any  protection  on  its 
flanks,  and  the  undisciplined  Italians  fled  without  reluctance 
from  the  standard  of  a  tyrant  whom  they  had  always  hated, 
and  whom  they  no  longer  feared.  Tiie  Prjctorians,  conscious 
that  their  offences  were  beyond  the  reach  of  mercy,  were 
animated  by  revenge  and  despair.  Notwithstanding  their 
repeated  efforts,  those  brave  veterans  were  unable  to  recover 
the  victory :  they  obtained,  however,  an  honorable  death ; 
and  it  was  observed  that  their  bodies  covered  the  same  ground 
which  had  been  occupied  by  their  ranks."  The  confusion 
then  became  general,  and  the  dismayed  troops  of  Maxentius, 
pursued  by  an  implacable  enemy,  rushed  by  thousands  into 


"  See  Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  16,  x.  27.  The  former  of  these  onitors 
magnifies  the  hoards  of  corn,  which  Maxentius  had  collected  from  Africa 
h'.  i  the  Isknds.  And  yet,  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the  scarcity  men- 
tioned by  Eusebius,  (in  Vit.  Constantin.  1.  i._  c.  36,)  the  Imperi.tl 
granaries  must  have  been  open  only  to  the  soldiers. 

*"  Maxentius  .  .  .  tandem  urbe  in  Saxa  Rubra,  millia  ferme  novem 
ffigerrime  progressus.  Aurelius  Victor.  See  Cellarius  Geograpli. 
Antiq.  torn.  i.  p.  463.  Saxa  Rubra  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Cremera,  a  trifling  rivulet,  illustrated  by  tlie  valor  and  glorious  death 
of  the  three  hundred  Fabii. 

"  The  post  which  Maxentius  had  taken,  with  the  Tyber  in  his  rear 
is  very  clearly  described  by  tlie  two  Panegyrists,  ix.  16,  x  28.  ^ 

•*  Exceptis  latrocinii  ilHus  primis  auctoribus,  qui  desperata  WPtiA 
•cum   quem  pugnaj   sumpscrant   texere   corporibus.     Panegyr.  Ve* 

n. 

VOL.    1. X 


482  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  312. 

the  deep  and  rapid  stream  of  the  Tyber.  The  emperor  him- 
self  attempted  to  escape  back  into  the  city  over  the  Milvian 
bridge ;  but  the  crowds  which  pressed  together  through  that 
narrow  passage  forced  him  into  the  river,  where  he  was  im- 
mediately drowned  by  the  weight  of  his  armor.*"  His  body, 
which  had  sunk  very  deep  into  the  mud,  was  found  with  some 
'Jifficulty  the  next  day.  The  sight  of  his  head,  when  it  was 
exposed  to  the  eyes  of  the  people,  convinced  them  of  their 
deliverance,  and  admonished  them  to  receive  with  acclamations 
of  loyalty  and  gratitude  the  fortunate  Constantine,  who  thus 
achieved  by  his  valor  and  ability  the  most  splendid  enterprise 
of  his  life." 

In  the  use  of  victory,  Constantine  neither  deserved  the 
praise  of  clemency,  nor  incurred  the  censure  of  immoderate 
rigor."  He  inflicted  the  same  treatment  to  which  a  defeat 
would  have  exposed  his  own  person  and  family,  put  to  death 
the  two  sons  of  the  tyrant,  and  carefully  e.Ktirpated  his  whole 

*'  A  very  idle  rumor  soon  prevailed,  that  Maxentius,  who  had  not 
taken  any  precaution  for  his  own  retreat,  had  contrived  a  very  artful 
snare  to  destroy  the  army  of  the  pursuers  ;  but  that  the  wooden  bridge, 
which  was  to  have  been  loosened  on  the  approach  of  Constantine, 
unluckily  broke  down  mider  the  weight  of  the  flying  Italians.  M.  de 
Tilleraont  (Hist,  des  Empcreurs,  torn.  iv.  part  i.  p.  5*76)  very  seriously 
examines  whether,  in  contradiction  to  common  sense,  the  testimony  of 
Eusebius  and  Zosimus  ought  to  prevail  over  the  silence  of  Lactantius, 
Nazarius,  and  the  anonymous,  but  contemporary  orator,  who  composed 
the  ninth  Panegyric* 

'°  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  86 — 88,  and  the  two  Panegyrics,  the  former  of 
which  was  pronounced  a  few  months  afterwards,  afford  the  clearesi 
notion  of  this  great  battle.  Lactantius,  Eusebius,  and  even  the  Epit 
omes,  supply  several  useful  hints. 

"  Zosimus,  the  enemy  of  Constantine,  allows  (1.  ii.  p.  88)  that 
only  a  few  of  the  friends  of  Maxentius  were  put  to  death ;  but  we  may 
remark  the  expressive  passage  of  Nazarius,  (Panegyr.  Vet.  x.  6,) 
Omnibus  qui  labefactari  statum  ejus  poterant  cum  stirpe  deletis.f 
The  other  orator  (Panegyr.  Vet.  ix.  20,  21)  contents  himself  with 
observing,  that  Constantine,  when  he  entered  Rome,  did  not  imitate  the 
ciuel  massacres  of  Cinna,  of  Marius,  c  of  Sylla. 


*  Manso  (Beylage,  vi.)  examines  the  question,  and  adduces  two  mani- 
fest allusions  to  the  bridge,  from  the  Life  of  Constantine  by  Praxagoras, 
and  from  Libanius.  Is  it  not  very  probable  that  such  a  bridge  was  thrown 
over  the  river  to  facilitate  the  advance,  and  to  secure  the  retreat,  of  the 
army  of  Maxentius  ?  In  case  of  defeat,  orders  were  given  for  destroying  it, 
in  order  to  check  the  pursuit :  it  broke  down  accidentally,  or  in  tlie  coufosioT 
was  destroyed,  as  has  rot  unfrequently  been  tl\c  case,  before  the  pro^ei 
time. — M. 

t  This  may  refer  to  the  son  or  sons  of  Maxentius. — M. 


A.D.  312.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    KMPIRE.  48J1 

race.  The  most  distinguished  adlicrents  of  Maxentiiis  mua 
have  expected  to  share  his  fate,  as  they  had  sliared  his  pro* 
perity  and  his  crimes ;  but  when  the  Roman  people  loudly 
demanded  a  greater  number  of  victims,  the  conqueror  resisted, 
with  firmness  and  humanity,  those  servile  clamors,  which  were 
dictated  by  flattery  as  well  as  by  resentment.  Iiiformei's  were 
punished  and  discouraged ;  the  innocent,  who  had  suftcred 
under  the  late  tyranny,  were  recalled  from  exile,  and  restored 
to  their  estates.  A  general  act  of  oblivion  quieted  the  miiuU 
and  settled  the  property  of  the  people,  both  in  Italy  and  in 
Africa.'"  The  first  time  that  Constantine  honored  the  senate 
with  his  presence,  he  recapitulated  his  own  services  and  ex- 
ploits in  a  modest  oration,  assured  that  illustrious  order  of  his 
sincere  regard,  and  promised  to  reestablish  its  ancient  dignity 
and  privileges.  The  grateful  senate  repaid  these  unmeaning 
professions  by  the  empty  titles  of  honor,  which  it  was  yet  in 
their  power  to  bestow  ;  and  without  presuming  to  ratity  the 
authority  of  Constantine,  they  passed  a  decree  to  assign  him 
the  fii-fet  rank  among  the  three  Augusti  who  governed  the  Ro- 
man world."  Games  and  festivals  were  instituted  to  preserve 
the  &me  of  his  victory,  and  several  edifices,  raised  at  the  ex- 
pense of  Maxentius,  were  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  his  suc- 
cessful rival.  The  triumphal  arch  of  Constantine  still  remains 
a  melancholy  proof  of  the  decline  of  the  arts,  and  a  c^uigular 
testimony  of  the  meanest  vanity.  As  it  was  not  pussible  to 
find  in  the  capital  of  the  empire  a  sculptor  who  was  capable 
of  adorning  that  public  monument,  the  arch  of  Trajan,  with- 
out any  respect  either  for  his  memory  or  for  the  rules  of  pro- 
priety, was  stripped  of  its  most  elegant  figures.  Ihe  differ- 
ence of  times  and  persons,  of  actions  and  characters,  was 
totally  disregarded.  The  Parthian  captives  appear  prostrate  at 
the  feet  of  a  prince  who  never  carried  his  arms  beyond  the 
Euphrates;  and  curious  antiquarians  can  still  discover  the  head 
of  Trajan  on  the  trophies  of  Constantine.  The  new  ornaments 
which  it  was  necessary  to  introduce  between  the  vacancies  of 
ancient  sculpture  are  executed  in  the  rudest  and  most  unskilful 
manner.''* 

"  See  the  two  Tanegyrics,  and  the  laws  of  this  and  the  ensuing  year, 
ill  the  Theodosian  Code. 

"  Pancgyr.  Vet.  ix.  20.  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  44.  Mswirjin,  who 
was  confessedly  the  eldest  CiEsar,  claimed,  with  some  show  of  reasoB, 
Uie  first  rank  among  the  Augusti. 

'•  Adhiic  cuncta  opera  quje  raagnifice  construxerat,  uibiB  fkn-im 


i84  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  312. 

The  filial  abolition  of  the  Praetorian  guards  was  a  measure 
of  prudence  as  well  as  of  revenge.  Those  haughty  troops, 
whose  numbers  and  privileges  had  been  restored,  and  even 
augmented,  by  Maxantius,  were  forever  suppressed  by  Con- 
stantine.  Tueir  fortified  camp  was  destroyed,  and  the  few 
Praetorians  who  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the  sword  were  dis- 
persed among  the  legions,  and  banished  to  the  frontiers  of  the 
3mpire,  where  they  might  be  serviceable  without  again  becom- 
fflg  dangerous.''*  By  suppressing  the  troops  which  wer<s 
usually  stationed  in  Rome,  Constautine  gave  the  fatal  blow  to 
the  dignity  of  the  senate  and  people,  and  the  disarmed  capital 
was  exposed  without  protection  to  the  insults  or  neglect  of  its 
distant  master.  We  may  observe,  that  in  this  last  effort  to 
preserve  their  expiring  freedom,  the  Romans,  from  the  appre- 
hension of  a  tribute,  had  raised  Maxentius  to  the  throne.  He 
exacted  that  tribute  from  the  senate  under  the  name  of  a  free 
gift.  They  implored  the  assistance  of  Constantine.  He  van- 
quished the  tyrant,  and  converted  the  free  gift  into  a  perpetual 
tax.  The  senators,  according  to  the  declaration  which  was 
required  of  their  property,  were  divided  into  several  classes. 
The  most  opulent  paid  annually  eight  pounds  of  gold,  the 
next  class  paid  four,  the  last  two,  and  those  whose  poverty 
might  have  claimed  an  exemption,  were  assessed,  however,  at 
seven  pieces  of  gold.  Besides  the  regular  members  of  the 
senate,  their  sons,  their  descendants,  and  even  their  relations, 
enjoyed  the  vain  privileges,  and  supported  the  heavy  burdens, 
of  the  senatorial  order ;  nor  will  it  any  longer  excite  our  sur- 
prise, that  Constantine  should  be  attentive  to  increase  the 
number  of  persons  who  were  included  under  so  useful  a  de- 
scription."     After   the    defeat   of    Maxentius,   the    victorious 

atque  basilicam,  Flavii  meritis  patres  sacravere.  AureLius  Victor. 
With  regard  to  the  theft  of  'lYajan's  trophies,  consult  Flaminiua 
Vacca,  apud  Montfaucon,  Diarium  Italicum,  p.  250,  and  TAntiquita 
Exphquee  of  the  latter,  torn.  iv.  p.  171. 

'^  Prsetoriae  legiones  ac  subsidia  factionibus  aptiora  quam  urbi 
Romae,  sublata  pcnitus ;  simul  arma  atque  usus  indumenti  militaris. 
Aureliua  Victor.  Zosimus  (1.  iL  p.  89)  mentions  this  fact  as  an  histo- 
rian, and  it  is  very  pompously  celebrated  in  the  ninth  Panegyric. 

'^  Ex  omnibus  provinciis  optimates  viros  Curiae  tuaa  pigneraveris 
ut  Senatus  digaitas  ....  ex  totius  Orbis  flore  consisteret.  Naza 
tius  in  Panegyr.  Vet  x.  35.  The  word  pigneraveris  might  almost 
Beem  maliciously  chosen.  Concerning  the  senatorial  tax,  see  Zosi- 
mus, 1.  ii.  ]).  115,  the  second  title  of  the  sixth  book  of  the  Tbeodo 
uan  Code,  with  Godsfroy's  Commentary,  aud  MOmoirea  de  TAcaJs- 
mie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xxviii.  p.  726. 


A.  D.  313.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  48i 

emperor  passed  no  more  than  two  or  three  months  in  Rome, 
which  he  visited  twice  during  the  remain  Jei  of  his  life,  t<i 
celebrate  the  solemn  festivals  of  the  tenth  and  of  the  twontietli 
years  of  his  reign.  Constantine  was  almost  perpetually  in 
motion,  to  exercise  the  legions,  or  to  inspect  the  state  of  tho 
provinces.  Treves,  Milan,  Aquileia,  Sirmium,  Naissius,  and 
Thessalonica,  were  the  occasional  places  of  his  residence,  till 
be  founded  a  new  Rome  on  the  confines  of  Europe  and  Asia." 
Before  Constantine  marched  into  Italy,  he  had  secured  the 
.  .endship,  or  at  least  the  neutrality,  of  Licinius,  the  Illyriau 
emperor.  He  had  promised  his  sister  Constantia  in  marriage 
to  that  prince ;  but  the  celebration  of  the  nuptials  was  deferred 
till  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  and  the  interview  of  the 
two  emperors  at  Milan,  which  was  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
appeared  to  cement  the  union  of  their  families  and  interests." 
In  the  midst  of  the  public  festivity  they  were  suddenly  obliged 
to  take  leave  of  each  other.  An  inroad  of  the  Franks  sum- 
moned Constantine  to  the  Rhine,  and  the  hostile  approach  of 
the  sovereign  of  Asia  demanded  the  immediate  presence  of 
Licinius.  Maximin  had  been  the  secret  ally  of  Maxentius, 
and  without  being  discouraged  by  his  fate,  he  resolved  to  try 
the  fortune  of  a  civil  war.  He  moved  out  of  Syria,  towards 
the  frontiers  of  Bithynia,  in  the  depth  of  winter.  The  season 
was  severe  and  tempestuous ;  great  numbers  of  men  as  well 
as  horses  perished  in  the  snow ;  and  as  the  roads  were  broken 
up  by  incessant  rains,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  him  a 
considerable  part  of  the  heavy  baggage,  which  was  unable  to 
follow  the  rapidity  of  his  forced  marches.  By  this  ^xtraor- 
iinary  effort  of  diligence,  he  arrived  with  a  harassed  but  for- 
midable array,  on  the  banks  of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus  before 
the  lieutenants  of  Licinius  wero  apprised  of  his  hostile  inten- 
tions. Byzantium  surrendered  to  the  power  of  Maximin,  after 
a  siege  of  eleven  days.  He  was  detained  some  days  under 
the  walls  of  Heraclea ;  and  he  had  no  sooner  taken  possession 


''"'  From  the  Theodosian  Code,  we  may  now  begin  to  trace  tlvo 
motions  of  the  emperors ;  but  the  dates  both  of  time  an(>  place  have 
frequently  been  altered  by  the  larelessness  of  transcribers. 

■"^  Zosimus  (  1.  ii.  p.  89)  obser\'es,  that  before  tlie  war  the  sister  of 
Constantine  had  been  betrothed  t.>  Lieu  jus.  Accordinjj  to  the  younger 
Victor,  Diocletian  was  invited  to  the  nuptials ;  but  liaving  ventured 
to  plead  his  age  and  infirmities,  he  received  a  second  letter,  filled  with 
reproaches  for  his  suj^posed  partiality  to  the  cause  of  Maxcntius  aftJ 
Maximin. 


486  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  313, 

of  lliat  city,  than  he  was  alarmed  by  the  intelligence,  that 
Licinius  had  pitched  his  camp  at  the  distance  of  only  eighteen 
miles.  After  a  fruitless  negotiation,  in  which  the  two  princes 
attempted  to  seduce  the  fidelity  of  each  other's  adherents, 
they  had  recourse  to  arms.  The  emperor  of  the  East  com- 
manded a  disciplined  and  veteran  army  of  above  seventy 
thoasand  men ;  and  Licinius,  who  had  collected  about  thirty 
thousand  Illyrians,  was  at  first  oppressed  by  the  superiority  of 
numbers.  His  military  skill,  and  the  firmness  of  his  troops, 
restored  the  day,  and  obtained  a  decisive  victory.  The  incred- 
ible speed  which  Maxirain  exerted  in  his  flight  is  much  more 
celebrated  than  his  prowess  in  the  battle.  Twenty-four  hours 
afterwards  he  was  seen,  pale,  trembling,  and  without  his  Im- 
perial ornaments,  at  Nicomedia,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
from  the  place  of  his  defeat.  The  wealth  of  Asia  was  yet 
unexhausted ;  and  though  the  flower  of  his  veterans  had  fallen 
in  the  late  action,  he  had  still  power,  if  he  could  obtain  time, 
to  draw  very  numerous  levies  from  Syria  and  Egypt.  But 
he  survived  his  misfortune  only  three  or  four  months.  Hix^ 
def  ^h,  which  happened  at  Tarsus,  was  variously  ascribed  to 
despair,  to  poison,  and  to  the  divine  justice.  As  Maximin 
was  ahke  destitute  of  abilities  and  of  virtue,  he  was  lamented 
neither  by  the  people  nor  by  the  soldiers.  The  provinces  of 
the  East,  delivered  from  the  terrors  of  civil  war,  cheerfully 
acknowledged  the  authority  of  Licinius." 

The  vanquished  emperor  left  behind  him  two  children,  a  boy 
of  about  eight,  and  a  girl  of  about  seven,  years  old.  Their 
inofl["3nsive  age  might  have  excited  compassion ;  but  the  com- 
passion of  Licinius  was  a  very  feeble  resource,  nor  did  it 
restrain  hira  from  extinguishing  the  name  and  memory  of  his 
adversary.  The  death  of  Seve. nanus  will  admit  of  less  excuse, 
as  it  was  dictated  neither  by  revenge  nor  by  policy.  The 
conqueror  had  never  received  any  injury  from  the  father  of 
that  unhappy  youth,  and  the  short  and  obscure  reign  of  Sew 
rus,  in  a  distant  part  of  the  empire,  was  already  forgotter 
But  the  execution  of  Candidianus  was  an  act  of  the  blacker- 
cruelty  and  ingratitude.  He  was  the  natural  son  of  Galerius, 
the  friend  and  benefactor   of  Licinius.     The   prudent  father 


''^  Z-Dsimus  mentions  the  defeat  and  death  of  Maximin  as  ordinary 
events;  but  Lactantius  expatiates  on  them,  (de  M.  P.  c.  46— :50,)  as- 
cribing them  to  the  miraculous  interposition  of  Heaven.  Licinius  a< 
that  time  was  one  of  the  protectors  of  the  church. 


A.  D.  313.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  487 

had  judged  hiin  too  young  to  sustain  tlie  weight  of  a  diadem; 
but  he  hoped  that,  under  the  protection  of  princes  who  were 
indebted  to  his  fiivor  for  the  Imperial  purple,  Candidianua 
might  p;iss  a  secure  and  honorable  life,  lie  was  now  ad- 
vancing towards  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  royalty 
of  his  birth,  though  unsupported  either  by  merit  or  ambition, 
was  sufficient  to  exasperate  the  jealous  mind  of  Licinius.** 
To  these  innocent  and  illustrious  victims  of  his  tyranny,  we 
must  add  the  wife  and  daughter  of  the  emperor  Diocletian. 
When  that  prince  conferred  on  Galerius  the  title  of  Cajsar,  ho 
had  given  him  in  marriage  his  daughter  Valeria,  whose  melan- 
choly adventures  might  furnish  a  very  singular  subject  for 
tragedy.  She  had  fulfilled  and  even  surpassed  the  duties  of  a 
wife.  As  she  had  not  any  children  herself,  she  condescended 
to  adopt  the  illegitimate  son  of  her  husband,  and  invariably 
displayed  towards  the  unhappy  Candidianus  the  tenderness 
and  anxiety  of  a  real  mother.  After  the  death  of  Galerius 
her  ample  possessions  provoked  the  avarice,  and  her  personal 
attractions  excited  the  desires,  of  his  successor,  Maximin." 
He  had  a  wife  still  ahve ;  but  divorce  was  permitted  by  the 
Roman  law,  and  the  fierce  passions  of  the  tyrant  demanded 
an  immediate  gratification.  The  answer  of  Valeria  was  such 
as  became  the  daughter  and  widow  of  emperors;  but  it  was 
tempered  by  the  prudence  which  her  defenceless  condition 
compelled  her  to  observe.  She  represented  to  the  persons 
whom  Maximin  had  employed  on  this  occasion,  "  that  even  it 
honor  could  permit  a  woman  of  her  character  and  dignity  to 
entertain  a  thought  of  second  nuptials,  decency  at  least  must 
forbid  her  to  listen  to  his  addresses  at  a  time  when  the  a.shes 
of  her  husband,  and  his  benefactor  were  still  warm,  and  wliik 
the  sorrows  of  her  mind  were  still  expressed  by  her  mourning 
garments.     She  ventured  to  declare,  that  she  could  place  very 

*"  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  50.  Aurelius  Victor  touches  on  the 
different  conduct  of  Licinius,  and  of  Constantine,  in  the  use  ol 
▼ictory. 

*'  The  sensual  appetites  of  Maximin  were  gratified  at  the  expense 
of  his  subjects.  His  eunuchs,  who  forced  away  wives  and  virgins, 
examined  their  naked  chaims  with  anxious  curiosity,  lest  any  part  of 
their  body  should  be  found  unworthy  of  the  royal  enibraccs.  Coy- 
ness and  disdain  were  con^^idered  as  treason,  and  the  obstinate  fair 
one  was  condemned  to  be  drowned.  A  custom  was  gradually  intro- 
duced, that  no  person  should  marry  a  wife  without  the  pcrmisaion  of 
the  emperor,  "ut  ipse  in  omnibus  nuptiis  pracgustator  eseet."  Lao 
tantius  de  M.  V  r..  38. 


488  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  31S 

little  confidence  in  the  professions  of  a  man  whose  cruel 
nconstancy  was  capable  of  repudiating  a  faithful  and  affec- 
tionate wife.""^  On  this  repulse,  the  love  of  Maximin  was 
converted  into  fury ;  and  as  witnesses  and  judges  were  always 
at  his  disposal,  it  was  easy  for  him  to  cover  his  fury  with  an 
appearance  of  legal  proceedings,  and  to  assault  the  reputation 
tts  well  as  the  happiness  of  Valeria.  Her  estates  were  confis- 
•■ated,  her  eunuchs  and  domestics  devoted  to  the  most  inhumau 
ortures ;  and  several  innocent  and  respectable  matrons,  who 
were  honored  with  her  friendship,  suffered  death,  on  a  false 
accusation  of  adultery.  The  empress  herself,  together  with 
her  mother  Prisca,  was  condemned  to  exile;  and  as  they 
were  ignominiously  hurried  from  place  to  place  before  they 
were  confined  to  a  sequestered  village  in  the  deserts  of  Syria, 
they  exposed  their  shame  and  distress  to  the  provinces  of  the 
Eas%  which,  during  thirty  years,  had  respected  their  august 
dignity.  Diocletian  made  several  ineffectual  eflforts  to  allevi- 
ate the  misfortunes  of  his  daughter ;  and,  as  the  last  return 
that  he  expected  for  the  Imperial  purple,  which  he  had  con- 
ferred upon  Maximin,  he  entreated  that  Valeria  might  be 
permitted  to  share  his  retirement  of  Salona,  and  to  close  the 
eyes  of  her  afflicted  father.*^  He  entreated ;  but  as  he  could 
no  longer  threaten,  his  prayers  were  received  with  coldness 
and  disdain ;  and  the  pride  of  Maximin  was  gratified,  in  treat- 
ing Diocletian  as  a  suppliant,  and  his  daughter  as  a  criminal. 
The  death  of  Maximin  seemed  to  assure  the  empresses  of  a 
favorable  alteration  in  their  fortune.  The  public  disorders 
relaxed  the  vigilance  of  their  guard,  and  they  easily  found 
means  to  escape  from  the  place  of  their  exile,  and  to  repair, 
though  with  some  precaution,  and  in  disguise,  to  the  court  of 
Licinius.  His  behavior,  in  the  first  days  of  his  reign,  and  the 
honorable  reception  which  he  gave  to  young  Candidianus, 
inspired  Valeria  with  a  secret  satisfaction,  both  on  her  own 
account  and  on  that  of  her  adopted  son.  But  these  grateful 
prospects  were  soon  succeeded  by  horror  and  astonishment ; 
and  the  bloody  executions  which  stained  the  palace  of  Nico 
media  sufficiently  convinced  her  that  the  throne  of  Maximin 


"  LactantiuB  de  M.  P.  c.  39. 

"  Diocletian  at  last  sent  cognatura  suum,  quendam  militarem  a« 
potcntem  virum,  to  intercede  in  favor  of  his  daughter,  (Lactantius  d« 
of.  P.  c.  41.)  We  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  tlie  history  of 
tlkeso  times  to  point  out  tlie  oerson  who  was  employed. 


A,  D.  314.J        OF  THE  RCMAN  EMPIRE.  489 

was  filled  by  a  tyi'ant  moro  iiiliuniaii  than  himself.  Valeria 
consulted  her  safety  by  a  ba.sty  tiight,  and,  still  accompanied 
by  her  mother  Prisca,  they  wandered  above  fifteen  months** 
through  the  provinces,  concealed  in  the  disguise  of  pk-beian 
habits.  They  were  at  length  discovered  at  Thessalonica  ;  and 
as  the  sentence  of  their  death  w;us  already  pronounced,  they 
were  immediately  beheaded,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  tho 
lea.  The  people  gazed  on  the  melancholy  spectacle ;  but 
their  grief  and  indignation  were  suppressed  by  the  terrors  of  a 
military  guard.  Such  was  the  unworthy  fate  of  the  wife  and 
d^iughter  of  Diocletian.  We  lament  their  misfortunes,  wo 
cannot  discover  their  crimes ;  and  whatever  idea  wc  may 
justly  entertain  of  the  cruelty  of  Licinius,  it  remains  a  matter 
of  surprise  that  he  was  not  contented  with  some  more  secret 
and  decent  method  of  revenge.*^ 

The  Roman  world  was  now  divided  between  Constantino 
and  Licinius,  the  former  of  whom  was  master  of  the  West, 
and  the  latter  of  the  East.  It  might  perhaps  have  been  ex- 
pected that  the  conquerors,  fatigued  with  civil  war,  and  con- 
nected by  a  private  as  well  as  public  alliance,  would  have 
renounced,  or  at  least  would  have  suspended,  any  further 
designs  of  ambition.  And  yet  a  year  had  scarcely  elapsed 
after  the  death  of  Maximin,  before  the  victorious  emperora 
turned  their  arras  against  each  other.  The  genius,  the  suc- 
cess, and  the  aspiring  temper  of  Constantine,  may  seem  to 
mark  him  out  as  the  aggressor ;  but  the  perfidious  character 
of  Licinius  justifies  the  most  unfavorable  suspicions,  and  by 
the  faint  light  which  history  reflects  on  this  transaction,"  wo 
may  discover  a  conspiracy  fomented  by  his  arts  against  the 
authority  of  his  colleague.     Constantine  had  lately  given  his 

**  Valeria  quoque  per  varias  provincias  quindecim  raensibus  plebeio 
cultu  pervagata.  Lactantius  de  M.  P.  c.  51.  There  is  some  doubt 
whether  we  should  compute  the  fifteen  months  from  the  moment  of 
her  exile,  or  from  that  of  her  escape.  Tiie  expression  of  parvagata 
seems  to  denote  the  latter ;  but  in  that  case  we  must  suppose  that  the 
treatise  of  Lactantius  was  written  after  the  first  civil  war  betwcec 
licinius  and  Constantine.     See  Cuper,  p.  254. 

*'  Ita  illis  pudicitia  et  conditio  exitio  fuit.  Lactantius  dc  M.  P.  C 
6L  He  relates  the  misfortunes  of  tlie  innocent  wife  and  daughter  of 
DiiCietian  with  a  very  natural  mixture  of  pity  and  exultation. 

*'  The  curious  reader,  who  consults  the  Videsian  fnigment,  p.  718, 
will  iirobably  accuse  me  of  giving  a  bold  and  licentious  p:iraphrat>e; 
bat  if  he  considers  it  with  attention,  lie  will  acknowledge  that  ia| 
katerpretation  is  probable  and  consistent 


190  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  315 

sister  Anasla'jid,  in  marriage  to  Bassianus,  a  man  of  a  consider 
able  family  and  fortune,  acd  had  elevated  his  new  kinsman 
to  the  rank  oi  Caesar,  According  to  the  system  of  govern- 
ment instituted  by  Diocletian,  Italy,  and  perhaps  Africa,  vk'ero 
designed  for  his  department  in  the  empire.  But  the  perform- 
ance of  the  promised  favor  was  either  attended  with  so  jnuch 
delay,  or  accompanied  with  so  many  unequal  conditions,  that 
the  Mehiy  of  Bassianus  was  alienated  rather  than  secured  by 
'ie  honorable  distinction  which  he  had  obtained.  Ilis  nomi- 
nation had  been  ratified  by  the  conseut  of  Licinius  ;  and  that 
artful  prince,  by  the  means  of  his  emissaries,  soon  contrived 
to  enter  into  a  secret  ana  dangerous  correspondence  with  the 
new  Caesar,  to  irritate  his  discontents,  and  to  urge  him  to  the 
rash  enterprise  of  extorting  by  violence  what  he  might  in 
vain  solicit  from  the  justice  of  Constantine.  But  the  vigilant 
emperor  discovered  the  conspiracy  before  it  was  ripe  for  exe- 
cution ;  and  after  solemnly  renouncing  the  alliance  of  Bassi- 
anus, despoiled  him  of  the  purple,  and  inflicted  the  deserved 
punishment  on  his  treason  and  ingratitude.  The  haughty 
refusal  of  Licinius,  when  he  was  required  to  deliver  up  the 
criminals  who  had  taken  refuge  in  his  dominions,  confirmed 
the  suspicions  already  entertained  of  his  perfidy ;  and  the 
indignities  offered  at  ^mona,  on  the  frontiers  of  Italy,  to  the 
statues  of  Constantine,  became  the  signal  of  discord  between 
the  two  princes.*' 

The  first  battle  was  fought  near  Cibalis,  a  city  of  Pannonia, 
situated  on  the  River  Save,  about  fifty  miles  above  Sirmi- 
um.**  From  the  inconsiderable  forces  which  in  this  impor- 
tant contest  two  such  powerful  monarchs  brought  into  the  field, 
it  may  be  inferred  that  the  one  was  suddenly  provoked,  and 
that  the  other  was  unexpectedly  surprised.  The  emperor  of 
the  West  had  only  twenty  thousand,  and  the  sovereign  of  the 


*'  The  situat'on  of  Mmona,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  Laybach,  in 
Carniola,  (D'Auville,  Gcographie  Ancienne,  torn.  i.  p.  187,)  may  sug- 
gest a  conjecture.  As  it  lay  to  the  north-east  of  the  Julian  Alps,  tliat 
important  territory  became  a  natural  object  of  dispute  between  the 
sovereigns  of  Italy  and  of  Ulyricura. 

**  Cibalis  or  Cibalte  (whose  name  is  still  preserved  in  the  obscure 
ruins  of  Swilei)  was  situated  about  fifty  miles  from  Sirmium,  the  cap 
ital  of  Illyricum,  and  about  one  hundred  from  Taurunum,  or  Belgradcj 
and  the  conflux  of  the  Danube  and  tlie  Save.  The  Roman  gari  isona 
•nd  cities  on  those  rivers  are  finely  illustrated  by  M.  d'Anville  in  a 
■Miinoir  mserted  in  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xxviii 


\-D.315.J  OP    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  491 

East  no  raoic  tlian  five  and  thirty  thousand,  nv-ii.  Tho  infii- 
riority  of  number  was,  however,  compensated  by  tho  advan- 
tage of  the  ground.  Constantino  had  taken  ]iost  in  a  defile 
about  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  between  a  steep  hill  and  a  deep 
raorass,  and  in  that  situation  he  steadily  expected  and  repulsed 
ihe  first  attjick  of  the  enemy,  lie  pursued  his  success,  and 
advanced  into  the  plain.  But  the  veteran  legions  of  Illvricura 
rallied  under  the  standard  of  a  leader  who  had  been  trained  to 
arms  in  the  school  of  Probus  and  Diocletian.  The  missile 
weapons  on  both  sides  were  soon  exhausted ;  the  two  armies, 
with  eipal  valor,  rushed  to  a  closer  engagement  of  swords 
and  spears,  and  the  doubtful  contest  had  already  lasted  from 
the  dawn  of  the  day  to  a  late  hour  of  the  evening,  when  the 
right  ^\^ng,  which  Constantine  led  in  person,  made  a  vigorous 
and  decisive  charge.  The  judicious  retreat  of  Licinius  saved 
the  remainder  of  his  troops  from  a  total  defeat ;  but  when  ho 
computed  his  loss,  which  amounted  to  more  than  twenty  thou 
sand  men,  he  thought  it  unsafe  to  pass  the  night  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  active  and  victorious  enemy.  Abandoning  his 
camp  and  magazines,  he  marched  away  with  secrecy  and  dil- 
igence at  the  head  of  the  greatest  part  of  his  cavalry,  and  was 
soon  removed  beyond  the  danger  of  a  pursuit.  His  diligence 
preserved  his  wife,  his  son,  and  his  treasures,  which  he  had 
deposited  at  Sirniium.  Licinius  passed  through  that  city,  and 
breaking  oown  tue  bridge  on  the  Save,  hastened  to  collect  a 
new  army  in  Dacia  and  Thrace.  In  his  flight  he  bestowed  tho 
precarious  title  ot  Csesav  on  Valens,  his  general  of  the  lUyrian 
frontier." 

The  plain  of  Mardia  in  Thrace  was  the  theatre  of  a  second 
battle  no  less  obstinate  and  bloody  than  the  former.  The 
troops  on  both  sides  displayed  the  same  valor  and  discipline ; 
and  the  victory  was  once  more  decided  by  the  superior  abili- 
ties of  Constantine,  who  directed  a  body  of  five  thousand  men 
to  gain  an  advantageous  height,  from  whence,  during  the  heat 
of  the  action,  they  attacked  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  made 
a  very  considerable  slaughter.  The  troops  of  Licinius,  how- 
ever, pr'isenting  a  double  front,  still  maintained  their  ground, 
till  the   approach  of  night  put  an  end  to  the  combat,  and 


••  Zosim'^  (L  ii.  p.  90,  91)  gives  a  very  particular  account  of  (hia 
battle ;  but  ♦he  descriotions  of  Zosimus  are  rhetorical  ratlier  thaa 
militarj 


492  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  815 

secured  tbeir  retreat  towards  the  mountains  of  Macedonia.* 
The  loss  of  two  battles,  and  of  his  bravest  veterans,  reduced 
the  fierce  spirit  of  Licinius  to  sue  fur  peace.  His  ambassador 
Mistrianus  was  admitted  to  the  audience  of  Constantine :  he 
3xpatii-.ted  on  the  common  topics  of  moderation  and  humanity, 
which  are  so  familiar  to  the  eloquence  of  the  vanquished ;  rep- 
resented in  the  most  insinuating  language,  that  the  event  of 
the  war  was  still  doubtful,  whilst  its  inevitable  calamities  were 
alike  pernicious  to  both  the  contending  parties ;  and  declared 
tiiat  he  was  authorized  to  propose  a  lasting  and  honorable 
peace  in  the  name  of  the  tv)o  emperors  his  masters.  Constan- 
tine received  the  mention  of  Valens  with  indignation  and  con- 
tempt. "  It  was  not  for  such  a  purpose,"  he  sternly  replied, 
"  that  we  have  advanced  from  the  shores  of  the  western  ocean 
in  an  uninterrupted  course  of  combats  and  victories,  that,  after 
rejecting  an  ungrateful  kinsman,  we  should  accept  for  our 
colleague  a  contemptible  slave.  The  abdication  of  Valens  ia 
the  first  article  of  the  treaty.""  It  was  necessary  to  accept 
this  humiliating  condition ;  and  the  unhappy  Valens,  after  a 
reign  of  a  few  days,  was  deprived  of  the  purple  and  of  his  life. 
As  soon  as  this  obstacle  was  remo/ed,  the  tranquillity  of  the 
Roman  world  was  easily  restored.  The  successive  defeats  of 
Licinius  had  ruined  his  forces,  but  they  had  displayed  his 
courage  and  abilities.  His  situation  was  almost  desperate,  but 
the  efforts  of  desjoair  are  sometimes  formidable,  and  the  good 
sftnse  of  Constantine  preferi-ed  a  great  and  certain  advantage 
t<)  a  third  trial  of  the  chance  of  arms.  He  consented  to  leave 
his  rival,  or,  as  he  again  styled  Licinius,  his  friend  and  brother, 
m  the  possession  of  Thrace,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt; 
'^ut  the  provinces  of  Paunonia,  Dalmatia,  Dacia,  Macedonia, 
a-nd  Greece,  were  yielded  to  the  Western  empire,  and  the 
dominions  of  Constantine  now  extended  from  the  confines  of 
Caledonia  to  the  extremity  of  Peloponnesus.     It  was  stipulated 


•"  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  92,  93.  Anonym.  Valesian.  p.  '713.  The  Epit- 
omes furnish  some  cirumstances ;  but  they  frequently  confound  the 
two  wars  between  Licinius  and  Constantine. 

®^  Petrus  Patricius  in  Excerpt.  Legat.  p.  27.  If  it  should  be  thought 
that  ycLjiBpoi  signifies  more  properly  a  son-ij-law,  we  might  conjec- 
ture that  Constantine,  assuming  the  name  as  •well  as  the  duties  of  a 
fetl  er,  had  adopted  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  the  children  of 
Theodora.  But  iu  the  best  authors  yri/</?pTS  sometimes  signifies  a  hns- 
band,  sometimes  a  father-in-law,  and  sometimes  a  kinsman  in  geneial 
See  Spanheim,  Observat.  ad  Julian.  Orat.  i.  p.  72. 


A.  D.  315-323.]     of  the  roman  EMPmE  49S 

by  the  same  treaty,  that  three  royal  youths,  the-  sons  of  em- 
perors, should  be  called  to  the  hopes  of  the  succession.  Oris- 
pus  and  the  young  Constantine  were  soon  afterwards  declared 
Caesars  in  the  West,  while  the  younirin-  Liciiiius  w;us  invested 
witli  the  same  dio-nity  in  the  East.  In  '.his  double  proportion 
Df  1  onoi-s,  the  conqueror  a-sserted  the  superiority  of  his  arms 
ind  power.'^ 

']  ho  reconciliation  of  Constantine  and  Liciuius,  though  il 
saa  imbittered  by  resentment  and  jealousy,  by  the  reraem- 
Dfance  of  recent  injuries,  and  by  the  apprehension  of  future 
dangers,  maintained,  however,  above  eight  years,  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  Roman  world.  As  a  very  regular  series  of  the 
Imperial  laws  commences  about  this  period,  it  would  not  bo 
difficult  to  transcribe  the  civil  regulations  which  employed  tho 
leisure  of  Constantine.  But  the  most  important  of  his  insti- 
tutions are  intimately  connected  with  the  new  system  of  pol- 
icy and  religion,  which  was  not  perfectly  established  till  the 
last  and  peaceful  years  of  his  reign.  There  are  many  of  his 
laws,  which,  as  for  as  they  concern  the  rights  and  property 
of  individuals,  and  the  practice  of  the  bar,  are  more  properly 
referred  to  the  private  than  to  the  public  jurisprudence  of  the 
empire ;  and  he  published  many  edicts  of  so  local  and  tempo- 
rary a  nature,  that  they  would  ill  deserve  the  notice  of  a  gen- 
eral history.  Two  laws,  however,  may  be  selected  from  the 
crowd ;  the  one  for  its  importance,  the  other  for  its  singular- 
ity; the  former  for  its  remarkable  benevolence,  the  latter  for 
its  excessive  severity.  1.  The  horrid  practice,  so  familiar  to 
the  ancients,  of  exposing  or  murdering  their  new-born  infants, 
was  become  every  day  more  frequent  in  the  provinces,  and 
especially  in  Italy.  It  was  the  effect  of  distress ;  and  the  dis- 
tress was  principally  occasioned  by  the  intolerant  burden  of 
taxes,  and  by  the  vexatious  as  well  as  cruel  prosecutions  of 
the  officers  of  the  revenue  against  their  insolvent  debtors. 
The  less  opulent  or  less  industrious  part  of  mankind,  instead 

*^  Zosimus,  1.  i\  p.  93.  Anonym.  Valesiar.  p.  713.  Eutropius,  x.  v. 
Anrclius  Victor,  L'jseb.  in  Chron.  Sozomen,  1.  i.  c.  2.  Four  of  the«a 
writers  affirm  1/jat  the  promotion  of  the  Caesars  was  an  article  of  the 
tr6at3'.  It  i?,  however,  certain,  that  tlie  younn^er  Constintine  and 
Licinins  were  Bnt  yet  born  ;  and  it  is  iiighly  probable  that  tlie  ]iromo 
iion  was  uiaJe  the  1st  of  March,  A.  D.  317.  Tho  treaty  had  jirobablj 
anpulated  thut  the  two  Cajsars  might  be  created  by  tlie  westtrn,  and 
one  only  by  the  eastern  emperor ;  but  each  of  them  reserved  to  aim 
self  tbi  clioice  of  the  persone 


494  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL        [A.  D.  315-S2S 

of  rejoicing  in  an  increase  of  family,  deemed  it  an  act  of 
paternal  tenderness  to  release  their  children  from  the  impend- 
ing miseries  of  a  life  which  they  themselves  were  unable  to 
support.  The  humanity  of  Constantine,  moved,  perhaps,  by 
some  recent  and  extraordinary  instances  of  despair,*  engaged 
him  to  address  an  edict  to  all  the  cities  of  Italy,  and  afterwards 
of  Africa,  directing  immediate  and  sufficient  relief  to  be  given 
to  those  parents  who  should  produce  before  the  magistrates 
the  children  whom  their  own  poverty  would  not  allow  them  to 
educate.  But  the  promise  was  too  liberal,  and  the  provision 
too  vague,  to  effect  any  general  or  permanent  benefit.''  The 
law,  though  it  may  merit  some  praise,  served  rather  to  display 
than  to  alleviate  the  pubhc  disti-ess.  It  still  remains  an 
authentic  monument  to  contradict  and  confound  those  venal 


"  Codex  Theodosian.  1.  xi.  tit.  27,  torn.  iv.  p.  188,  with  GodefroyB 
observations.     See  likewise  1.  v.  tit.  7,  8. 


*  This  explanatiou  appears  to  me  little  probable.  Godefroy  has  made  a 
much  more  happy  conjecture,  supported  by  all  the  historical  circumstances 
which  relate  to  this  edict.  It  was  pubhshed  the  12th  of  Maj',  A.  D.  315,  at 
Naissus  in  Pannonia,  the  birthplace  of  Constantine.  Tlie  8th  of  October,  in 
tliat  year,  Constantine  gained  the  victory  of  Cibalis  over  Liciuius.  He  was 
yet  uncertain  as  to  the  fate  of  the  war  :  the  Christians,  no  doubt,  wliom  he 
ifavored,  had  prophesied  his  victoi-y.  Lactantius,  then  preceptor  of  Crispus, 
had  .just  written  his  work  upon  Christianity,  (his  Divine  Institutes  ;)  he  had 
dedicated  it  to  Constantine.  Iii  this  book  he  had  inveighed  with  great  force 
against  infanticide,  and  the  e.Kposure  of  infants,  (1.  vi.  c.  20.)  Is  it  not  prob- 
able that  Constantine  had  read  this  work,  that  he  had  conversed  on  the 
subject  %vith  Lactantius,  that  he  was  moved,  among  other  things,  by  the 
passage  to  wliich  I  have  refen-ed,  and  in  the  first  transport  of  his  enthusi- 
asm, he  published  the  edict  in  question  ?  The  whole  of  the  edict  bears  the 
character  of  precipitation,  of  excitement,  (entrainement,)  rather  than  of 
deliberate  reilection — the  extent  of  the  promises,  the  indefiniteness  of  the 
means,  of  the  conditions,  and  of  the  time  during  which  the  parents  rright 
have  a  right  to  the  succor  of  the  state.  Is  there  not  reason  to  beiieve  tnat 
the  humanity  of  Constantine  was  excited  by  the  influence  of  Lactantius.  by 
that  of  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  of  the  Christians  themselves,  al- 
ready in  higli  esteem  with  the  emperor,  rather  than  by  some  "  extraordi 
nary  instances  of  despair"?  *  *  *  gee  Hegewisch,  Essai  Hist,  sur  les  Fi 
nances  Romaines 

The  edict  for  Afnca  was  not  published  till  322 :  of  that  we  may  say  in 
truth  that  its  origin  was  in  the  misery  of  the  times.  Africa  had  suflered 
much  from  the  cruelty  of  Maxentius.  Constantine  says  expressly,  that  he 
had  learned  that  parents,  under  the  pressure  of  distress,  were  there  selliflg 
liieir  children.  This  decree  is  more  distinct,  more  matarely  deliberated,  than 
tlie  former ;  the  succor  which  was  to  be  given  to  the  parents,  and  the  •iourco 
from  which  it  was  to  be  derived,  are  determined.  (Code  Theod.  1.  xi.  tit.  27, 
a.  2.)  If  the  direct  utility  of  these  laws  may  not  have  been  very  extensive, 
they  had  at  least  tlie  great  and  happy  effect  of  establishing  a  decisive  oppo- 
■ilion  between  the  principles  of  the  government  and  tliose  which,  at  Uu* 
^ime,  had  prevailed  among  the  subjects  of  the  empire. — G. 


A.  D.  315-323.]       OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  49S 

orators,  mIio  were  too  well  satisfied  with  their  own  sitiuiticii  to 
discover  either  vice  or  misery  under  the  government  of  a 
generous  sovereign.'*  2  The  laws  of  Co"st:intino  against 
rapes  were  dictated  with  very  little  indulgence  for  the  most 
amiable  weaknesses  of  human  nature;  since  the  descrijition 
of  that  crime  was  applied  not  only  to  the  brutal  violence  which 
compelled,  but  even  to  the  gentle  seduction  which  might  per- 
suade, an  unmarried  woman,  under  the  age  of  twenty-five,  to 
leave  the  house  of  her  parents.  "  The  successful  ravislier 
was  punished  with  death ;  and  as  if  simple  death  was  inade- 
quate to  the  enormity  of  his  guilt,  he  was  either  burnt  alive, 
or  torn  in  pieces  by  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre.  The 
virgin's  declaration,  that  slie  had  been  carried  away  wilh  hor 
own  consent,  instead  of  saving  her  lover,  exposed  her  to  share 
his  fate.  The  duty  of  a  public  prosecution  was  intrusted  to 
the  parents  of  the  guilty  or  unfortunate  maid ;  and  if  the  sen- 
timents of  nature  prevailed  on  them  to  dissemble  the  injury, 
and  to  repair  by  a  subsequent  marriage  the  honor  of  their 
family,  they  were  themselves  punished  by  exile  and  confisca- 
tion. The  slaves,  whether  male  or  female,  who  were  con- 
victed of  having  been  accessory  to  rape  or  seduction,  were 
burnt  alive,  or  put  to  death  by  tlie  ingenious  torture  of  pouring 
down  their  throats  a  quantity  of  melted  lead.  As  the  crime 
was  of  a  public  kind,  the  accusation  was  permitted  even  to 
strangers.  The  commencement  of  the  action  was  not  limited 
to  any  term  of  years,  and  the  consequences  of  the  sentence 
were  extended  to  the  innocent  oflspring  of  such  an  irregular 
union." '^  But  whenever  the  oSence  inspires  less  horror  than 
the  punishment,  the  rigor  of  penal  law  is  obliged  to  give  way 
to  the  common  feelings  of  mankind.  The  most  odious  parts 
of  this  edict  were  softened  or  repealed  in  the  subsequent 
reigns;"'  and  even  Constantine  himself  very  frequently  alle- 
viated, by  partial  acts  of  mercy,  the  stern  temper  of  his  gen- 
eral institutions.     Such,  indeed,  was  the  singular  humor  of 

"*  Omnia  foris  placita,  domi  prospera,  aiinon;6  ubertate,  fnictuum 
coria,  Ac.  Panegyr.  Vet.  x.  38.  This  oration  of  Nazariu.^  was  pro- 
nounced on  the  day  of  the  QuinqueiiiiaJa  of  the  Ca;sars,  the  1st  of 
March,  A.  D.  321. 

"  See  the  edict  of  Constantine,  addfKsed  to  the  Roman  peojile,  ic 
the  Theodosian  Code,  1.  ix.  tit.  24,  torn.  si.  p.  189. 

••  His  son  very  fairly  assigns  the  true  reason  of  the  rejxal :  •  N"* 
sub  specie  atrocioris  judieii  aliqua  in  ulcisccudo  crimine  dilatio  tt&0 
ceretur."     Cod.  Theod.  torn.  iii.  p.  193 


496  THE    DECLINE    AW    FALi.  [A..D.  322L 

that  emperor,  who  showed  Limself  as  iudulgent,  and  ever 
remiss,  in  the  execution  of  his  laws,  as  he  was  severe,  and 
even  cruel,  in  the  enacting  of  them.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
observe  a  more  decisive  symptom  of  weakness,  either  in  the 
character  of  the  prince,  or  in  the  coi.stitution  of  the  govern- 
ment." 

The  civil  administration  was  sometimes  interrupted  by  the 
aailitary  defence  of  the  empire.  Crispus,  a  youth  of  the  most 
imiable  character,  who  had  received  with  the  title  of  Caesar 
the  command  of  the  Rhine,  distinguished  his  conduct,  as  well 
as  valor,  in  several  victories  over  the  Franks  and  Alemanni, 
and  taught  the  barbarians  of  that  frontier  to  dread  the  eldest 
son  of  Constantine,  and  the  grandson  of  Constantius.'"  The 
emperor  himself  had  assumed  the  more  difficult  and  important 
province  of  the  Danube.  The  Goths,  who  in  the  time  of 
Claudius  and  Aurelian  had  felt  the  weight  of  the  Roman 
arms,  respected  the  power  of  the  empire,  even  in  the  midst  of 
its  intestine  divisions.  But  the  strength  of  that  warUke 
nation  was  now  restored  by  a  peace  of  near  fifty  years  ;  a  new 
generation  had  arisen,  who  no  longer  remembered  the  mis- 
fortunes of  ancient  days ;  the  Sarmatians  of  the  Lake  Ma3o- 
tis  followed  the  Gothic  standard  either  as  subjects  or  as  al- 
lies, and  their  united  force  was  poured  upon  the  countries 
of  Illyricum.  Campona,  Margus,  and  Benonia,  f  appear  to 
have  been  the  scenes  of  several  memorable  sieges  and  bat- 
tles ; "  and  though  Constantine  encountered  a  very  obstinate 


'"  Eusebius  (in  Vita  Constant.  1.  iii.  c.  1)  chooses  to  affirm,  that  in  the 
reign  of  this  hero,  the  sword  of  justice  hung  idle  in  the  hands  of  the 
magistrates.  Eusebius  himself,  (1.  iv.  c.  29,  54,)  and  the  Theodosian 
Code,  will  inform  us  that  this  excessive  lenity  was  not  owing  to  the 
want  either  of  atrocious  criminals  or  of  penal  laws. 

•*  Nazarius  in  Panegyr.  Vet.  x.  The  victory  of  Crispus  over  the 
Alemanni  is  expressed  on  some  medals.* 

"^  See  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  93,  94 ;  though  the  narrative  of  that  historian 
is  neither  clear  nor  consistent.  The  Panegyric  of  Optatianus  (c.  23) 
mentions  the  aUiance  of  the  Sarmatians  with  the  Carpi  and  Getae, 
and  points   out   the   several   fields   of  battle.     It  is   supposed   that 


*  Other  medals  are  extant,  the  legends  of  which  commemorate  the  sao 
cess  of  Constantine  over  the  Sarmatians  and  other  barbarous  nations,  Bar- 

■  ATIA   DEVICTA.       VICTORIA    Goi  HICA.       DeEELLATORI     GENTIU.M    BAUDA^ 

KOKUM.    ExvPERATOK  OMNIUM  GENTIUM.    St.  Martin-  note  on  Le  Beau,  i 
HI8.--M. 

t  Cainpona,  Old  Buda  \a  Hungary;  Margus,  tu-tGl»*iZ  <3r  'Collacc&    B« 
BOOM.  Widdin,  in  Maesia  ■  G   ind  M. 


A.  D.  823.J  OF    THK    ROMAN    EMPinB.  49) 

resistance,  he  prevailed  at  longtli  in  the  contest,  am!  tlio  Gothi 
were  compelled  to  purchased  an  iifiioniinious  retreat,  bv  restor- 
ing the  booty  and  ])risoners  which  they  had  taken.  Nor  wai 
tllis  advantage  sufficient  to  satisfy  the   iiulignatiun  of  the  em 

i)eror.  lie  resolved  to  chastise  as  well  tus  to  repulse  the  inso 
ent  barbarians  who  had  dared  to  invade  the  territories  of 
Rome.  At  the  head  of  his  legions  he  passed  the  Danube 
after  repairing  the  bridge  which  had  been  constructed  by  Trn- 
jan,  penetrated  into  the  strongest  recesses  of  Dacia,""  and 
when  he  had  inflicted  a  severe  revenge,  condescended  to  give 
peace  to  the  suppliant  Goths,  on  condition  that,  as  often  aa 
they  were  required,  they  should  supply  his  armies  with  a  body 
of  forty  thousand  soldiers."*  Exploits  like  these  were  no  doubt 
honorable  to  Constantine,  and  beneficial  to  the  state  ;  but  it  may 
surely  be  questioned,  whether  they  can  justify  the  exaggerated 
assertion  of  Eusebius,  that  all  Scytuia,  as  far  as  the  extremity 
of  the  North,  divided  as  it  was  into  so  many  names  and  nations 
of  the  most  various  and  savage  manners,  had  been  added  by 
his  victorious  arms  to  the  Roman  empire."* 

In  this  exalted  state  of  glory,  it  was  impossible  that  Con  • 
stantine  should  any  longer  endure  a  partner  in  the  empire. 
Confiding  in  the  superiority  of  his  genius  and  military  power, 
he  determined,  without  any  ])revious  injury,  to  exert  them  for 
the  destruction  of  Liciuius,  whose  advanced  age  and  unpopu- 
lar vices  seemed  to  offer  a  very  easy  conquest."'  But  the 
old  emperor,  awakened  by  the  approaching  danger,  deceived 
the  expectations  of  his  friends,  as  well  as  of  his  energies. 
Calling  forth  that  spirit  and  those  abilities  by  which  he  had 

the  Snrmatian  games,  celebrated  in  the  month  of  November,  derived 
their  origin  from  the  success  of  tliis  war. 

"°  In  the  CfEsars  of  Julian,  (p.  329.  Commentaire  de  Spanheim,  p. 
252.)  Constantine  boasts,  that  he  had  recovered  the  province  (Dacia) 
which  Trajan  had  subdued.  But  it  is  insinuated  by  Silenus,  that  tho 
conquests*  of  Constantine  were  like  the  gardens  of  Adonis,  which  fade 
and  wither  almost  the  moment  they  appear. 

"*  Jornandes  de  Rebus  Geticis,  c.  21.  I  know  not  whether  we  may 
entirely  depend  on  his  authority.  Such  an  alliance  has  a  very  recent 
air,  and  scarcely  is  suited  to  the  maxuns  of  th^i  beginning  of  tlie  fourth 
century. 

'"  Eusebius  in  Vit.  Constantin.  1.  i.  c.  8.  Tliis  passage,  however,  ia 
tak.'.n  from  a  general  declamation  on  the  greatness  of  Constantine,  and 
aot  from  any  particular  account  of  the  Gothic  war. 

"'  Constantinus  tamen,  vir  ingens,  et  omnia  efficere  nitcns  (}u« 
animo  pra^parasset,  simul  principatum  totius  urbis  atfectans,  Lianio 
bellum  inluht    Kutropius,  x.  5.     Zosimus,  1.  iL  p   89.     The  reasom 


498  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  32J, 

deserved  the  friendship  of  Galerius  and  the  Imperial  purple,  Lij 
prepared  himself  for  the  contest,  collected  the  forces  of  tho 
East,  and  s:)on  filled  the  plains  of  Iladrianople  with  his  troops, 
and  the  Straits  of  the  Hellespont  with  his  fleet.  The  army 
consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  foot,  and  fifteen 
thousand  horse ;  and  as  the  cavalry  was  drawn,  for  the  most 
part,  from  Phrygia  and  Cappadocia,  we  may  conceive  a  more 
favorable  opinion  of  the  beauty  of  the  horses,  than  of  the 
■eourage  and  dexterity  of  their  riders.  The  fleet  was  composed 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  galleys  of  three  ranks  of  oars.  A 
hundred  and  thirty  of  these  were  furnished  by  Egypt  and  the 
adjacent  coast  of  Africa.  A  hundred  and  ten  sailed  from 
the  ports  of  Phoenicia  and  the  Isle  of  Cyprus ;  and  the 
maritime  countries  of  Bithynia,  Ionia,  and  Caria,  were  likewise 
obliged  to  provide  a  hundred  and  ten  galleys.  The  troops  of 
Constantine  were  ordered  to  a  rendezvous  at  Thessalonica ; 
they  amounted  to  above  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
horse  and  foot."*  Their  emperor  was  satisfied  with  their 
martial  appearance,  and  his  army  contained  more  soldiers, 
though  fewer  men,  than  that  of  his  eastern  competitor. 
The  legions  of  Constantine  were  levied  in  the  warlike  provinces 
of  Europe ;  action  had  confirmed  their  discipline,  victory  had 
elevated  their  hopes,  and  there  were  among  them  a  great  num 
ber  of  veterans,  who,  after  seventeen  glorious  campaigns  under 
the  same  leader,  prepared  themselves  to  deserve  an  honorable 
dismission  by  a  last  effort  of  their  valor."*  But  the  naval 
preparations  of  Constantine  were  in  every  respect  much  inferior 
\o  those  of  Licinius.  The  maritime  cities  of  Greece  sent  their 
respective  quotas  of  men  and  ships  to  the  celebrated  har- 
bor of  Piraeus,  and  their  united  forces  consisted  of  no  more 
than  two  hundred  small  vessels — a  very  feeble  armament, 
if  it  is  compared  with  those  formidable  fleets  which  were 
equipped  and  maintained  by  the  republic  of  Athens  dur- 
ing the  Peloponnesian  war."°  Since  Italy  was  no  longer 
the  seat  of  government,  the  naval  establishments  of  Misenum 

which  they  have  assigned  for  the  first  civil  war,  may,  with  more  pro- 
priety, be  applied  to  the  second. 

"*.  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p  94,  95. 

***  Constantine  v.'as  very  attentive  to  the  privileges  and  comforta  of 
liis  fellow-veterans,  (Conveterfini,)  as  he  now  began  to  style  them.  See 
the  Theodosian  Code,  1.  vii.  tit.  10,  torn.  ii.  p.  419,  429. 

106  "Whilst  the  Athenians  maintained  the  empire  of  the  sea,  thejr 
fleet  consisted  of  three,  and  afterwards  of  four,  hundred  galleys  of 


A.  D.  323.]  OF   THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  4M 

and  Ravenna  bad  been  gradually  neglected  ;  and  as  tlie  ship- 
ping and  mariners  of  tlie  empire  wore  sup|)orted  by  conmiorce 
rather  than  by  war,  it  was  natural  that  tlioy  shouM  the  most 
abound  in  the  industrious  proviiiC(>s  ot"  Kgypt  and  Asia.  It  is 
only  surprising  that  the  eastern  emperor,  who  possessed  so 
great  a  superiority  at  sea,  should  have  neglected  the  oppor- 
tunity of  carrying  an  offensive  war  into  the  centre  of  his  rival's 
dominions. 

Instead  of  embracing  such  an  active  resolution,  which  might 
have  changed  the  whole  face  of  the  war,  the  prudent  Liciniua 
expected  the  approach  of  his  rival  in  a  camp  near  Iladriano- 
■ple,  which  he  had  fortified  with  an  anxious  care,  that  betrayed 
iiis  apprehension  of  the  event.  Constantine  directed  his 
march  from  Thessalonica  towards  that  part  of  Thrace,  till  ho 
found  himself  stopped  by  the  broad  and  rapid  stream  of  the 
Hebrus,  and  discovered  the  numerous  army  of  Licinius,  nhich 
tilled  the  steep  ascent  of  the  hill,  from  the  river  to  the  city  of 
Hadrianople.  Many  days  were  spent  in  doubtful  and  distant 
skirmishes  ;  but  at  length  the  obstacles  of  the  passage  and  of 
the  attack  were  removed  by  the  intrepid  conduct  of  Constan- 
tine. In  this  place  we  might  relate  a  wonderful  exploit  of 
Constantine,  which,  though  it  can  scarcely  be  paralleled  either 
in  poetry  or  romance,  is  celebrated,  not  by  a  venal  orator 
devoted  to  his  fortune,  but  by  an  historian,  the  partial  enemy 
of  his  fame.  We  are  assured  that  the  valiant  emperor  threw 
himself  into  the  River  Hebrus,  accompanied  only  by  twelve 
horsemen,  and  that  by  the  effort  or  terror  of  his  invincible 
arm,  he  broke,  slaughtered,  and  put  to  flight  a  host  of  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  men.  The  credulity  of  Zosimus  pre- 
vailed so  strongly  over  his  passion,  that  among  the  events  of  the 
memorable  battle  of  Hadrianople,  he  seems  to  have  selected  and 
embellished,  not  the  most  important,  but  the  most  marvellous. 
The  valor  and  danger  of  Constantine  are  attested  by  a  slight 
wound  which  he  received  in  the  thigh  ;  but  it  may  be  discov- 
ered even  from  an  imperfect  narration,  and  perhaps  a  corrupted 
text,  that  the  victory  was  obtained  no  less  by  the  conduct  of 
the  general  than  by  the  courage  of  the  hero ;  that  a  body  of 
five  thousand  archers  marched  round  to  occupy  a  thick  wood 

tlu-ee  lanKs  of  oars,  all  completely  equipped  and  ready  for  iirtnedi&te 
service.  The  arsennl  in  the  port  of  Pira;us  h;id  cost  the  icpublica 
thousand  talents,  about  two  hundred  and  sLxteen  thousand  poundc. 
Bee  Thiicydides  de  Bel.  I'elopon.  1.  ii.  c.  13,  and  Meursius  de  ForluM 
Attica,  c' 19. 


500  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALl        [A.D.  323 

m  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  whose  attention  was  diverted  by  Ihd 
oonstiuction  of  a  bridge,  and  that  Licinius,  perplexed  by  so 
many  artful  evolutions,  was  reluctantly  drawn  from  his  advan- 
tageous post  to  combat  on  equal  ground  on  the  plain.  The 
contest  was  no  longer  equal.  His  confused  multitude  of  new 
ievies  was  easily  vanquished  by  the  experienced  veterans  of 
the  West.  Thirty-four  thojsand  men  are  reported  to  have 
been  slain.  The  fortified  camp  of  Licinius  was  taken  by 
assault  the  evening  of  the  battle ;  the  greater  part  of  the 
fugitives,  who  had  retired  to  the  mountains,  surrendered  them- 
selves the  next  day  to  the  discretion  of  the  conqueror ;  and  his 
rival,  who  could  no  longer  keep  the  field,  confined  himself 
within  the  walls  of  Byzantium."' 

The  siege  of  Byzantium,  which  was  immediately  undertaken 
by  Constantine,  was  attended  with  great  labor  and  uncertainty. 
In  the  late  civil  wars,  the  fortifications  of  that  place,  so  justly 
considered  as  the  key  of  Europe  and  Asia,  had  been  repaired 
and  strengthened ;  and  as  long  as  Licinius  remained  master 
of  the  sea,  the  garrison  was  much  less  exposed  to  the  danger 
of  famine  than  the  army  of  the  besiegers.  The  naval  com- 
manders of  Constantine  were  summoned  to  his  camp,  and 
received  his  positive  orders  to  force  the  passage  of  the  Helles- 
pont, as  the  fleet  of  Licinius,  instead  of  seeking  and  destroying 
their  feeble  enemy,  continued  inactive  in  those  narrow  straits, 
where  its  superiority  of  numbers  was  of  little  use  or  advantage. 
Crispus,  the  emperor's  eldest  son,  was  intrusted  with  the  exe- 
cution of  this  daring  enterprise,  which  he  performed  with  so 
much  courage  and  success,  that  he  deserved  the  esteem,  and 
most  pi'obably  excited  the  jealousy,  of  his  father.  The  engage- 
ment lasted  two  days ;  and  in  the  evening  of  the  first,  the 
iontending  fleets,  after  a  considerable  and  mutual  loss,  retired 
'.nto  their  respective  harbors  of  Europe  and  Asia.  The  second 
day,  about  noon,  a  strong  south   wind""  sprang    up,  which 


^*'  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  95.  96.  This  great  battle  is  described  in  the 
Valesian  fragment,  (p.  714,)  in  a  clear  though  concise  manner. 
"Licinius  rero  circum  Hadrianopolin  maximo  exercltu  latera  ardui 
mentis  impleverat ;  illuc  toto  agiuine  Constantinus  inflexit.  Cum 
helium  terra  marique  traheretur,  quamvis  per  arduum  suis  nitentibus, 
attamen  disciplina  militari  et  fehcitate,  Constantinus  Licimi  confu- 
Bum  et  sine  ordine  agentem  vicit  exercitum;  leriter  femore  sau 
ciatus." 

'"*  Zosimus,  1.  ii.  p.  97,  98.  The  current  always  sets  out  of  the 
Bellespont ;  and  when  it  is  assisted  by  a  north  wind,  no  vessel  cas 


A..  D.  323.J        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIHK.  501 

earned  the  vessels  of  Ciispus  against  tlie  enemy  ;  and  as  the 
casual  advantage  was  improved  by  his  skilful  intrei)idity,  he 
soon  obtained  a  complete  victory.  A  hundred  and  thirty 
vessels  were  destroyed,  five  thousand  men  were  slain,  and 
Amandu!^,  the  admiral  of  the  Asiatic  fleet,  escaped  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  to  the  shores  of  Chalcedon.  As  soon  as  the 
Hellespont  was  open,  a  plentiful  convoy  of  provisions  flowed 
into  the  camp  of  Constantine,  who  had  already  advanced  the 
operations  of  the  siege.  He  constructed  artificial  mounds  of 
earth  of  an  equal  height  with  the  ramjiarts  of  Byzantium. 
The  lofty  towers  which  were  erected  on  that  foundation  galled 
the  besieged  with  large  stones  and  darts  from  the  military 
engines,  and  the  battering  rams  had  shaken  the  walls  in  sev- 
eral places.  If  Licinius  persisted  much  longer  in  the  defence, 
he  exposed  himself  to  be  involved  in  the  ruin  of  the  place. 
Before  he  was  surrounded,  he  prudently  removed  his  person 
and  treasures  to  Chalcedon  in  Asia ;  and  as  he  was  always 
desirous  of  associating  companions  to  the  hopes  and  dangers 
of  his  fortune,  he  now  bestowed  the  title  of  Caesar  on  Martini- 
anus,  who  exercised  one  of  the  most  important  offices  of  the 
empire."" 

Such  were  still  the  resources,  and  such  the  abilities,  of 
Licinius,  that,  after  so  many  successive  defeats,  he  collected 
in  Bithynia  a  new  army  of  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  men,  while 
the  activity  of  Constantino  was  employed  in  the  siege  of 
Byzantium.  The  vigilant  emperor  did  not,  however,  neglect 
the  last  struggles  of  his  antagonist.  A  considerable  part  of  his 
victorious  army  was  transported  over  the  Bosphorus  in  small 
vessels,  and  the  decisive  engagement  was  fc»ught  soon  after 
their  landing  on  the  heights  of  Chrysopolis,  or,  as  it  is  now 
called,  of  Scutari.  The  troops  of  Licinius,  though  they  were 
lately  raised,  ill  armed,  and  worse  disciplined,  made  head 
against  their  conquerors  with  fruitless  but  desperate  valor,  till 
a  total  defeat,  and  a  slaughter  of  five  and  twenty  thousand 
men,  irretrievably  determined  the  fate  of  their  leader.'"     He 

uttempt  the  passage.  A  south  wind  renders  the  force  of  the  current 
ahnost  unperceptible.     See  Tournefort's  Voyage  au  Levant,  Let.  xL 

"^  AureUus  Victor.  Zosimus,  1.  il  p.  93.  According  to  the  hitter, 
Martlnianus  was  Magister  Officiorum,  (he  uses  the  Latin  appellation 
in  Greek.)  Some  medals  seem  to  intimate,  that  during  his  short  reign 
he  received  the  title  of  Augustus. 

""  Eusebius  (in  Vita  Coiistantin.  1.  ii.  c.  16,  17)  ascribes  this  deci- 
sive victory  to  tiie  pious  prayers  of  tiie  emperor.     Tho  Videsian  frag 


602  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  323i 

retir<jd  to  Is'icomedia,  rather  witli  the  view  of  gaining  soma 
time  for  negotiation,  than  with  the  hope  of  any  effectual 
defence.  Constantia,  his  wife,  and  the  sister  of  Constantine, 
interceded  with  her  brother  in  favor  of  her  husband,  and  ob- 
tained from  liis  policy,  rather  than  from  his  compassion,  a 
solemn  promise,  confirmed  by  an  oath,  that  after  the  sacrifice 
of  Martinianus,  and  the  resignation  of  the  purple,  Licinius 
himself  should  be  permitted  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life 
in  peace  and  affluence.  The  behavior  of  Constantia,  and  her 
relation  to  the  contending  parties,  naturally  recalls  the  remem- 
brauce  of  that  virtuous  matron  who  was  the  sister  of  Augus- 
tus, and  the  wife  of  Antony.  But  the  temper  of  mankind  was 
altered,  and  it  was  no  longer  esteemed  infamous  for  a  Roman 
to  survive  his  honor  and  independence.  Licinius  solicited  and 
accepted  the  pardon  of  his  offences,  laid  himself  and  his  pur- 
ple at  the  feet  of  his  lord  and  master,  was  raised  from  the 
ground  with  insulting  pity,  was  admitted  the  same  day  to  the 
Imperial  banquet,  and  soon  afterwards  was  sent  away  to  Thes- 
salonica,  which  had  been  chosen  for  the  place  of  his  confine- 
ment.'" His  confinement  Wcos  soon  terminated  by  death,  and 
it  is  doubtful  whether  a  tumult  of  the  soldiers,  or  a  decree  of 
the  senate,  was  suggested  as  the  motive  for  his  execution. 
According  to  the  rules  of  tyranny,  he  was  accused  of  forming 
a  conspiracy,  and  of  holding  a  treasonable  correspondence 
with  the  barbarians;  but  as  he  was  never  convicted,  either  by 
his  own  conduct  or  by  any  legal  evidence,  we  may  perhaps 
be  allowed,  from  his  weakness,  to  presume  his  innocence."' 
The  memory  of  Licinius  was  branded  with  infamy,  his  statues 
were  thrown  down,  and  by  a  hasty  edict,  of  such  mischievous 
tendency  that  it  was  almost  immediately  corrected,  all  his 
laws,  and  all  the  judicial  proceedings  of  his  reign,  were  at 
once  abolished."^     By  this   victory  of  Constantine,  the   Ro- 

meat  (p.  714)  mentions  a  body  of  Gotliic  auxiliaries,  under  their  cliief 
Aliquaca,  who  adhered  to  the  party  of  Licinius. 

"'  Zosimus,  L  ii.  p.  102.  Victor  Junior  in  Epitome.  Anonym. 
Valesian.  p.  714. 

"^  Contra  religionem  sacramenti  Thessalonicas  pi'ivatus  occisus  est. 
Eutropius,  X.  6 ;  and  his  evidence  is  confirmed  by  Jerome  (in  Chronic.) 
as  well  as  by  Zosfmus,  1.  ii.  p.  102.  The  Valesi.an  writer  is  the  only 
one  who  mentions  the  soldiers,  and  it  is  Zonaras  alone  who  calls  in  the 
assistance  of  the  senate.  Eusebius  prudently  shdes  over  this  delicate 
transaction.  But  Sozomen,  a  century  afterwaids,  ventures  to  assert 
the  treasonable  practices  of  Licinius. 

"»  Sfte   the   Theodosian  Code,  1.   xv.  tit.    15,  torn.   v.   p  404,  40S, 


Jk.  I*   323.1  OF    THE    UOMAK    EV/PIRB.  501 

man  world  WcOs  again  united  under  the  authority  of  ono  cn> 
peror,  thirty-seven  years  after  Diocletian  had  divided  his  powej 
and  provinces  with  his  associate  Maximian. 

The  successive  steps  of  the  ehnation  of  Constantino,  fron^ 
his  first  assuming-  the  purple  at  York,  to  the  resignation  of 
Licinius,  at  Nicouiedia,  have  been  related  with  some  minute- 
ness and  precision,  not  only  as  the  events  are  in  themselves 
both  interesting  and  important,  but  still  more,  as  they  contrib- 
uted to  the  decline  of  the  empire  by  the  expense  of  blood  and 
treasure,  and  by  the  perpetual  increjvse,  ivs  well  of  the  taxes,  as 
of  the  military  establishment.  The  foundation  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  the  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion,  were 
the  immediate  and  memorable  consequences  of  this  revolution. 

These  edicts  of  Constantine  betray  a  degree,  of  passion  siad  precipi 
taim  J  yery  unb^jcoming  the  character  of  a  lawgiver. 


M^  THE    DECLINK    AND    FALL  [A.  J),  329. 


\CHAPTEIl   XV. 

THtB  VROGRESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  AND  THE  SBSTj!- 
MENIS,  MANNERS,  NUMBERS,  AND  CONDITION  OF  TUE  PRIMI- 
TIVE   CHRISTIANS.* 

A.  CANDID  but  rational  inquiry  into  the  progress  and  estab- 
lishment of  Christianity  may  be  considered  as  a  very  essen- 
tial part  of  the  history  of  the  Roman  empire.  While  that 
great  body  was  invaded  by  open  violence,  or  undermined  by 
Blow  decay,  a  pure  and  humble  religion  gently  insinuated 
itself  into  the  minds  cf  men,  grew  up  in  silence  and  obscurity, 
derived  new  vigor  from  opposition,  and  finally  erected  the 
triumphant  banner  of  the  Cross  on  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol.,^ 
Nor  was  the  influence  of  Christianity  confined  to  the  period  oi 
to  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire.  After  a  revolution  of 
thirteen  or  fourteen  centuries,  that  religion  is  still  professed  by 
the  nations  of  Europe,  the  most  distinguished  portion  of  human 
kind  in  arts  and  learning  as  well  as  in  arms.  By  the  industiy 
and  zeal  of  the  Europeans,  it  has  been  widely  diffused  to  the 
most  distant  shores  of  Asia  and  Africa ;  and  by  the  means  of 
their  colonies  has  been  firmly  established  from  Canada  to 
Chili,  in  a  world  unknown  to  the  ancients. 

But  this  inquiry,  however  useful  or  entertaining,  is  attended 
with  two  peculiar  difficulties.  The  scanty  and  suspicious 
materials  of  ecclesiastical  history  seldom  enable  us  to  dispel  '^ 
the  dark  cloud  that  hangs  over  the  first  age  of  the  church. 
The  great  law  of  impartiality  too  often  obliges  us  to  reveal  the 
imperfections  of  the  uninspired  teachers  and  believers  of  the 
gospel ;  and,  to  a  careless  observer,  thei7-  faults  may  seem  to 
cast  a  shade  on  the  faith  Avhich  they  professed.  But  the 
Bcandal  of  the  pious  Christian,  and  the  fallacious  triumph  of 

*  In  spite  of  my  resolution,  Lardner  led  me  to  look  through  the  famous 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  chapters  of  Gibbon  I  could  not  lay  them  dovnTi 
•without  fiuishinET  them.  The  causes  assig^ned,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter,  for 
the  ditfusion  of  Christianity,  must,  no  doubt,  have  contributed  to  it  material 
ly  ;  but  I  doubt  whether  he  saw  them  all.  Perhaps  those  which  he  enumer- 
ates are  among  the  most  obvious.  They  might  all  be  safely  adopted  by  i 
Christian  wriier,  with  some  change  in  the  language  and  manner.  Mnciitt 
tosA    see  life,  i.  p.  24*. — M. 


A.  D.  323.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  506 

the  InfiJt:!,  should  cease  as  soon  as  tlicy  recolKct  not  only  b(f 
whom,  but  hkewise  to  whom,  the  Diviiia  llevolatiou  was  ;^iven. 
The  theologian  may  iinluli^e  the  l)M^^kt<i^l^  <-'t  clescribiiii» 
Religion  as  she  descendeo  from  IXgj^^^^Bfe^d  in  lu'i*  nat've 
purity.  A  more  melancholy  d^^^^H|^Von  the  iiisloiiaii. 
lie  must  discover  the  inovita^^^BP^^Hf^error  and  corrup- 
tion, which  she  contr.n  !■  d..il!ia<T^^^Rsid('nce  uj)on  earth, 
among  a  weak  and  di'^i.-uefaite  i*;!.-.'  i^i^^ngs.* 

Our  curiosity  i>  uatuValty  ■jii'omiited  to  inquire  by  wh;it 
moans  the  ('Ini-ti^ii  CilLli  ol.iairii'l  so  remarkable  a  vi<;tory 
over  the  e.-;  it'  the  earth.     To  this  inquiry, 

an  obvi""^  \\  er   may  be  returned ;  that  it 

was  0 V  ■  vidence  of  the  doctrine  itself, 

and  to  t.MnuiH.-  of  its  great  Author.     But  as 

truth,.;-  lom  find  so  favorable  a  reception  in  the 

woi'1  Mio   wisdom  of   Providence  frequently  conde 

sc<  passions  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  general 

^ciruiA»wi;iii\ieai'  <-'t  mankind,  as  instruments  to  execute  its  pur- 
p(^J^W<V  wrfjiy  still  be  permitted,  though  with  becoming  sub- 
'Al§»uW.''ii''Ili^^  ^sk,  not  indeed  what  were  the  first,  but  what 
wftH*  the  secondary^ causes  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Christian 
^feif^tC^  will,  perhaps," appear;  that  it  was  niost  effectually 
ffu'ovcl  and  assisted  by  the  five  following  causes :  I.  The 
^Jlex'iHle;  and  if  we  may  use  the  expression,  the  intolerant 
f<3i^.(  fi'tl.  ■  Christians,  derived,  it  is  true,  from  the  Jewish 
peiiffioiif  I 'lit  purified  from  the  narrow  and  unsocial  spirit, 
^^■'^'iii^tead  of  inviting,  had  deterred  the  Gentiles  from 
«^Hai)fl««iii4  the  law  of  Moses.f  II.  The  doctrine  of  a  future 
HU'L^'imijroved   by  every  additional  circumstance   which   could 

B'dmt  If ■ — —  ' 

,  art  of  Gibbon,  or  at  least  the  unfair  impression  produced  by  theso 

.niorablc  chapters,  consists  in  conlbundinq   toi^etlier,   in  one    iindis 

.lable  mass,  the  orii(in  and   npoxlolic   projiaiialion  of   the   Clliristiaa 

!ii  with  its  later  progress.     The  main  (luoslion,  tlie  divine  origin  of 

gion,  is  dexterously  eluded  or  speciously  conceded  ;  his  ])laii  enablts 

commence  his  account,  in  most  parts,  bclnw  the.  apostolic  limes  ;  and 

it  is'Viiily  by  the  strength  of  the  dark  coloring  with  which  he  has  brought 
out  till'  failings  and  the  follies  of  succeeding  ages,  that  a  shadow  of  doubt 
spicion  is  thrown  back  on  the  primitive  period  of  Christijuiity.  l)i- 
is  whole  passage  of  the  latent  sarcasm  betrayed  by  tiie  subs«;f|ueiit 
.'  the  whole  ilisquisition,  and  it  might  commence  a  Cliristian  history. 
71  in  the  most  Christian  spirit  of  candor. — M. 

lough  we  are  thus  far  agreed  witii  respect  to  Uic  inlle.sid.dity  and 
nnce  of  Christian  zeal,  yet  as  to  the  principle  from  which  it  v.m 
.1,  we  are,  toto  coolo,  divided  in  opinion.  You  deduce  it  from  inp 
I /religion-  I  would  '•'"fer  it  to  a  more  ade<iuale  and  a  more  ouvi^ap 
,  a  full  persuasieu  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  Watson,  if.uc^*  U 
n.   \.  0.--M, 


606  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A..  D,  323 

give  weight  and  efficacy  to  that  important  truth.  III.  The 
miraculous  powers  ascr^Jjed  to  the  primitive  church.  IV.  The 
pure  and  austere  uiorals-  of  the  Christians.  V.  The  union 
and  disciphne  of-  the^KiJhristian  republic,  which  gradually 
formed  an  independe]rf|*aj^i>i|icrc;isiiig  state  in  the  heart  of  the 
Iloraan  empire.        H  ait'-wfi  u 

I.  We  have  already  djB«tvril>6.1<!th(!  rili<4-ious  harmony  of  the 

ancient  world,  and  the'  'tUiSiity)lf'i  4\tith-.\vliich  the  most  difleren* 

•  m^iq^^^Hni^^  

*  This  facility  haa  not  always  prcrrerMid  TnfrflrrMlci'. -Aliif-l)  SRerus  inbe- 
renl  iuthe  religious  spirit,  when  aimed  asililJtiailxiilJU.  Tin-  separation  of 
the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  power,  appears'iil^jUtJ^jw^i^yjii'^iiis  of  at  once 
maintaining  religion  and  tolenuice  :  bni  »fa|^,n^-(a(t'wya¥''''^  notion. 
The  passions,  which  mingle  themselves  winyft^i^iKftfti' )WJ<lft  i1m>  Pagans 
very  often  intolerant  and  persecutors;  witness  t'S^'fr^nis^li^pi  !U)]l;^>^yptian8. 


)raans.  ^.^  VI 

Cambyses,  conqueror  of  the  EJcV' 
3S  of   Memphis,   because   theyvjli 


1st.     The  Persians.- 
to   death  the  magistrates  of   Memphi 
liouors  to  their   god.  Apis:  he   caused  the   god  to  be  b 
struck  him  with  his  dagger,  commanded  the  priests  it 
ordered  a  general  massacre  of  all  the  Egj'ptians  who  should 
ebrating  the  festival  of  Apis :  he  caused  all  the  statues  of  1 
burnt.     Not  content  with  this  intolerance,  he  sent  an  army" 
Anmionians  to  slavery,  and   to   set  on   fire  the  temple  in 
delivered  his  oracles.     See  Herod,  iii.  25 — 29,  37. 

Xerxes,  during  his  invasion  of  Greece,  acted  on  the  same 
destroyed   all  the  temples  of  Greece  and  Ionia,  except  that 
Sec  Pans.  1.  vii.  p.  533,  and  x.  ji.  887.     Strabo,  1.  xiv.  b.  941. 

2d.     7'lce  Egyplians. — They  thought  themselves  delilcd  when'Sil 
drunk  from  the  same  cup  or  eaten  at  the   same  table  with  a  maul 
ferent  belief  from  their  own.     "He   who  has  voluntarily  killed   an 
animal  is  punished  with  death;  but  if   any  one,   even  involuiiiari)>;;  iffM 
killed  a  cat  or  an  ibis,  he  cannot  escape  the  e.xtrenie  penalty:  ihc  Jftyif 
drag  him  away,  treat  him  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  sometinK  s,  wU'lv- 
waiting  for  a. judicial  .sentence.  *  *  *  Even  at  the  time  when  King  Ptf-Utftj* 
was  not  yet  the  acknowledged  friend  of  the  Roman  people,  while  tbfe  hi(jl»j 
titude  were  paying  court  with  all  possible  attention  to  the  strangers    '  .:■' 
came  from  Italy  *  *  a  Roman  having  killed  a  cat.  the  people  nish(;(i 
•vDuse,    and    neither  the  entreaties  of  the  nobles,  whom  the   king  m 
r.hem,  nor  the  teiTor   of  the    Roman  name,   were    sufficiently  jiow 
rescue  the  man    from   punishment,  though   he   had   committed    tin 
involuntarily."     Uiod.  Sic.  i  83.    Juvenal,  in  his  13lh  Satire,  de.scrib 
nangumai-y  conflict  between   the  inhabitants  of    Ombos    and   of  Tei 
from  religious  animosity.     The  fury  was  carried  so  far,  that  the  conqi 
tore  and  devoured  the  quivering  limbs  of  the  conquered. 

Ardet  adhuc  Ombos  et  Tentyra,  summus  utrinque 
Imle  furor  vulgo,  quod  numiiia  vicinoritni 
flilit  uterque  locus;  quuin  solos  credat  hahendos 
Esse  Deos  quos  ipse  colit.  Sat.  xv.  v.  85. 

3d.  The  fi  recks. — "  Let  us  not  here,"  says  the  Abbe  Guenee,  '•  rm 
the  cities  of  Peloponnesus  and  their  severity  against  atheism;  the  E- 
siajis  prosecuting  Heraclitus  for  impiet;';  the  Greeks  armed  one  a 
U.K.  Other  by  religious  zeal,  in  the  Amphictyonic  war.  Let  us  say  n( 
Ci.^<tf  of  the  frightful  cruelties  inflicted  by  three  successors  of  Alex 
upon  me  .iews,  to  force  them  to  abandon  their  leligicn,  nor  of  Anti 
E.xpelling  tlie  philosophers  from  his  states      Let   us   not  sieek  our  proo) 


■^^a^^ 


,008 


A.D. 323.]  OF  THE  koman  emi-ihe.  607 

»nd  even  hostile  nations  embraced,  or  at  least  rcspcctod,  each 
other's  supei-stitions.     A  single  pooplc   refused  to  join  in  the 

intolerance  so  far  off.  Athens,  the  polite  and  learned  Athens,  will  supply 
Ds  with  snfKcicut  examples.  Every  citizen  made  a  public  and  solcniii  vow 
to  confbi-m  to  the  religion  of  liis  country,  to  defend  it.  and  to  cause  it  to 
be  respected.  An  cxi)rcss  law  severely  puni.«hed  ,all  discourses  against  llie 
gods ,  and  a  rigid  decree  ordered  the  denuucialion  of  all  who  .should  deny 
ihei''  existence.  '  »  *  The  practice  -wan  in  unison  with  the  severity  of  tbo 
iaw.  The  proceedings  commenced  againtit  Protagoras ;  a  ])rice  set  upon 
Ihe  head  of  Diagoras;  the  danger  of  AlciTjiades :  Aristotle  obliged  to  lly; 
Btjlpo  bani.shed ;  Anaxagoras  hardly  escaping  dvath ;  Pericles  himself, 
after  all  liis  sorviccs  to  his  country,  mul  all  the  glorv  he  had  acquired, 
compelled  to  appear  before  tha  tribunals  and  make  liis  defence;  •  "  a 
priestess  executed  for  having  introduced  strange  gods ;  Socrates  con- 
demned and  drinking  the  hemlock,  because  he  was  accused  of  not  recog- 
nizing tbose  of  his  country,  &c. ;  these  facts  attest  loo  loudly,  to  be  called 
in  question, 'tlie  religious  intolerance  of  the  most  humane  and  enlightened 
people  in  Greece."  Lettres  do  quclques  Juifs  d  Mens.  Voltaire,  i.  p.  221. 
(Compai-e  Bentlcy  on  Freethinking,  from  which  much  of  this  is  derived.) 
— M.  ' 

4th.  The  Romans. — The  laws  of  Rome  were  not  less  express  and  ecvcrc. 
The  intolerance  of  foreign  religions  reaches,  with  the  Romans,  as  high  as 
the  laws  of  the  twelve  tables ;  the  prohibitions  were  afterwards  renewed 
at  different  times.  Intolenuice  did  not  discontinue  under  the  emperors; 
witness  the  coun.sel  of  Maecenas  to  Augustus.  This  counsel  is  so  remark- 
able, that  I  think  it  right  to  insert  it  entire.  "Honor  the  gods  yonr.seff," 
says  Majcenas  to  Angu.stus,  "  in  every  way  according  to  the  usage  of  your 
ancestors,  and  compel  (dvdyKa^c)  others  to  worship  them.  Hale  and  [lun 
i.sh  tho.sc  who  introduce  strange  god.s,  [tovs  H  Hi  itvi^ovraf  n'laci  koX  A«Aa.<'f,) 
not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  gods,  (he  who  despises  them  will  respect  no 
one,)  but  because  those  who  introduce  new  gods  engage  a  multitude  of  per- 
sons in  foreign  laws  and  customs.  From  hence  arise  unions  hound  by 
oaths  and  confederacies,  and  associations,  things  dangerous  to  a  nionarchj'." 
Dion  Ca.ss.  1.  ii.  c.  36.  (But,  though  some  may  ditler  from  it,  see  Gibbon's 
just  ob.servation  on  this  passage  in  Dion  Cassius,  ch.  xvi.  note  117;  im- 
pugned, indeed,  by  M.  Guizot,  note  in  loc.) — M. 

EJ^en  the  laws  which  the  philosophers  of  Athens  and  of  Rome  wrote  for 
their  imaginary  rei)uhlics  are  intolerant.  Plato  does  not  leave  to  his  citi- 
zens freedom  of  religious  wor.-^hip  ;  and  Cicero  expressly  proliibits  tliem 
from  having  other  gods  than  those  of  the  slate.  Lettres  do  quelques  Juifa 
a  Mons.  Voltaire,  i.  p.  22t;. — G. 

According  to  M.  Guizot's  just  remarks,  religious  intolerance  will  always 
ally  itself  with  the  passions  of  man,  however  different  those  passions  may 
be!  In  the  instances  quoted  above,  with  the  Persiims  it  was  the  pride  of 
despotism  ;  to  conquer  the  gods  of  a  country  was  the  last  mark  of  subju- 
gation. With  the  Egjptians,  it  was  the  gross  Fetichisra  of  the  super- 
stitious populace,  and  "liie  local  jealou.sy  of  neighboring  towns.  In  Greece, 
pereeculion  was  in  general  connected  with  political  party  ;  in  Rome,  with 
the  stem  supremacy  of  the  law  and  the  interests  of  the  state.  Gibbon  has 
been  mi-staken  in  attributing  to  the  tolerant  spirit  of  Paganism  that  which 
arose  out  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  limes.  Isl.  The  decay  o\ 
the  old  Polytheism,  through  ihe  progress  of  reason  and  intelligence,  and 
the  prevalence  of  iihilosophical  opinions  among  the  higher  orders.  2d 
The  Roiii;in  cbar.-ictir,  in  which  the  political  al\\  ays  predominated  over  llw 
reli"ious  jiarty.  The  lloniaus  were  contented  wilh  having  Ixnsed  the  world 
toa°uiiifi)ruiity  of  suhiiction  to  their  power,  and  car.d  not  for  eslobliHhit| 
tlio  {t.3  thciu)  ies.s  imiiorlanl  iii:ilijiini'y  of  leligion.-W. 


608  THE    DECLINE    AND    JTALL-  [A.D.  323, 

cx)mmou  intercourse  of  mankind.  The  Jews,  who,  under  tho 
Assyrian  and  Persian  raonavcliies,  had  languished  for  many 
ages  the  most  despised  portion  of  their  slaves,'  emerged  from 
obscurity  under  the  successors  of  Alexander ;  and  as  they 
multiplied  to  a  surprising  degree  in  the  East,  and  afterwards 
in  the  West,  they  soon  excited  the  curiosity  and  wonder  of 
other  nations.*  The  sullen  obstinacy  with  which  they  main- 
cained  their  peculiar  rites  and  unsocial  manners,  seemed  to 
mark  them  out  as  a  distinct  species  of  men,  who  boldly  pro- 
fessed, or  who  faintly  disguised,  their  implacable  habits  to 
the  rest  of  human  kind.'  Neither  the  violence  of  Antiochus, 
nor  the  arts  of  Herod,  nor  the  example  of  the  circumjacent 
nations,  could  ever  persuade  the  Jews  to  associate  with  the 
institutions  of  ]\Ioses  the  elegant  mythology  of  the ,  Greeks.* 


'  Dum  Assyrios  penes,  Medosque,  et  Pcrsas  Oriens  fuit,  despectis- 
sima  pars  servientium.  Tacit.  Hist.  v.  8.  Herodotus,  who  visited 
Asia  whilst  it  obeyed  the  last  of  those  empires,  slightly  mentiona 
the  Syrians  of  Palestine,  who,  according  to  their  own  confession,  had 
received  from  Egypt  the  rite  of  circumcision.     See  1.  ii.  c.  104. 

*  Diodorus  Siculus,  1.  x\.  Dion  Cassius,  1.  xxxvii.  p.  121.  Tacit 
Hist.  V.  1 — 9.     Justin,  xxxvi.  2,  3. 

^  Tradidit  arcano  qua3cunque  volumine  Moses, 

Non  monstrare  vias  eadem  nisi  sacra  colenti, 
Quresitum  ad  fontem  solos  deducere  verpas. 
The  letter  of  this  law  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  present  volume  of 
Moses.      But  the  wise,  the  humane  Maimonides  openly  teaches  that 
if  an  idolater  fall  into  the  water,  a  Jew  ought  not  to  save  him  from 
instant  death.     See  Basnage,  Histoire  des  Juifs,  1.  vi.  c.  28.* 

*  A  Jewish  sect,  Avhich  indulged  themselves  in  a  sort  of  occasional 
conformity,  derived  from  Herod,  by  whose  example  and  authojity 
they  had  been  seduced,  the  name  of  Herodians.  But  their  numbers 
were  so  inconsiderable,  and  their  duration  so  short,  that  Josephus  haa 
not  thought  them  worthy  of  his  notice.  See  Prideaux's  Connection, 
vol.  ii.  p.  28.5. f 

*  It  is  diametrically  opposed  to  its  spiiit  and  to  its  lette.  ,  see,  among 
other  passages,  Deut.  v.  18.  19,  (God)  "  lovelb  the  stranger  in  giving  him  food 
and  raiment.  Love  ye,  therefore,  the  stranger  :  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the 
land  of  Egypt."  Corap.  Lev.  xxiii.  25.  Juvenal  is  a  satirist,  who.se  strong 
expressions  can  hardly  be  received  as  historic  evidence  ;  and  he  wrote  after 
the  horrible  cruelties  of  the  Romans,  -whicli,  during  and  after  the  war, 
might  give  some  cause  for  the  complete  isolation  of  the  Jew  from  tbe  rest 
of  the  world.  The  Jew  was  a  bigot,  but  his  religion  was  not  the  only 
source  of  his  bigotry.  After  how  many  centuries  of  mutual  wrong  and 
hatred,  which  had  stiU  further  estranged  the  Jew  from  mankind,  did  Mai- 
monides write  ? — M. 

t  The  Herodians  were  probably  more  of  a  political  party  than  a  religious 
«ect,  though  Gibbon  is  most  likely  right  as  to  their  occasional  confoimity. 
See  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  ii.  1U8.— M.' 


A.D.  323.]      OF  THE  roman  kmiirk.  605 

According  to  the  maxims  of  universal  toleration,  the   Uoiuana 
protected  a  superstition    wliich    they   despised.*      The    politu 
Augustus  condescended   to  give  ordei-s,  that  sacrifices  should 
be  offered  for  his  pros])ority   in   the  temple  of  Jenisalein  ; 
whilst  the  meanest  of  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  who  should 
have  paid  the  same  hoir-^go  to  the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol, 
would  have  been  an  object  of  abhorrence  to  himself  and  to  ]ii» 
brethren.     But  the  moderation  of  the  conquerors  w;is  insuffi- 
cient to  appease  the  jealous  prejudices  of  their  subjects,  who 
were  alarmed   and  scandalized  at  the  ensigns  of  paganisni,-<v 
which  necessarily  introduced  themselves  into  a  Roman  prov-  i 
ince.'     The  mad  attempt  of  Caligula  to  place  his  own  statuo/   ^p  ^ 
in   the  temple  of  Jerusalem  was  defeated  by  the  unanimous  /   (-  ^ 
resolution  of  a  people  who  dreaded  death  much  less  than  such  V    ^ 
an  idolatrous  profanation.*     Their  att;ichment  to   the   law  of   j 
Moses  was  equal  to  their  destestation  of  foreign  religions.   Tho 
current  of  zeal  and  devotion,  as  it  was  contracted  into  a  nar- 
row channel,  ran  with  the  strength,  and  sometimes  with  the 
fur}'',  of  a  torrent. 

This  inflexible  perseverance,  which  appeared  so  odious  or  so-» — " 
ridiculous  to  the  ancient  world,  assumes  a  more  awful  charac- 
ter, since  Providence  has  deigned  to  reveal  to  us  the  mys- 
terious history  of  the  chosen  people.  But  the  devout  and 
even  scrupulous  attachment  to  the  Mosaic  religion,  so  conspic- 
uous among  the  Jews  who  lived  under  the  second  t-jniple, 
becomes   still   more   surprising,  if  it  is   compared   with    the 

*  Cicero  pro  Flacco,  c.  28.* 

*  Philo  de  Legatione.  Augustus  left  a  foundation  for  a  perpetual 
sacrifice.  Yet  he  approved  of  tlie  neglect  wliich  liis  grandson  Caius 
expressed  towards  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Sec  Sueton.  in  August 
c.  93,  and  Casaubon's  notes  on  that  passage. 

'  See,  in  particular,  Joseph.  Antiquitat.  xvii.  6,  xviii.  3 ;  and  do 
Bell.  Judiac.  i.  33,  and  ii.  9,  edit.  Havercamp.f 

*  Jussi  a  Caio  Csesare,  efiigieni  ejus  in  templo  locare,  arma  potitis 
sumpsere.  Tacit.  Hist.  v.  9.  Philo  and  Josephus  gave  a  very  cir- 
cumstantial, but  a  very  rhetorical,  account  of  this  tnmsaction,  which 
exceedingly  perplexed  the  governor  of  Syri;x.  At  the  first  montioo 
of  this  idolatrous  proposal.  King  Agrippa  fainted  away ;  and  did  iiol 
recover  his  senses  until  the  third  day.     (Uist.  of  Jews,  ii.  181,  A-c) 

*  The  edicts  of  Julius  CaHsar.  and  of  eomc  of  tlie  cities  in  Asia  Miuct 

iKrebs.  Decret.  pro  Juclneis.)  in  favor  of  the  nation  iu  geiieril,  or  of  tlie  Asialit 
ews,  speak  a  different  laiigua^je. — M. 
t  This  was  during  the  government  of  Pontius  Pilate.     (Hist,  of  Jews,  51 
156.)     Probably  iu  part  to  avoid  '.his  collision,  the  Uoinan  governor,  in  gen 
snl,  resided  at  Ca;sarca. — M. 


610  I'HE    DECIINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323, 

stubborn  incredulity  of  their  forefathers.  When  the  law  was 
given  in  thunder  from  Mount  Sinai,  when  the  tides  of  the 
ocean  and  the  course  of  the  planets  were  suspended  for  the 
convenience  of  the  Israelites,  and  when  temporal  rewards 
and  punishments  were  the  immediate  consequences  of  their 
piety  or  disobedience,  they  perpetually  relapsed  into  rebellion 
against  the  visible  majesty  of  their  Divine  King,  placed  the 
idols  of  the  nations  in  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah,  and  imitated 
every  fantastic  ceremony  that  was  practised  in  the  tents  of 
the  Arabs,  or  in  the  cities  of  Phcenicia.'  As  the  protection 
of  Heaven  was,  deservedly  withdrawn  from  the  ungrateful 
race,  their  faith  acquired  a  proportionable  degree  of  vigor  and 
purity.  The  contemporaries  of  Moses  and  Joshua  had  beheld 
with  careless  indifference  the  most  amazing  miracles.  Under 
the  pressure  of  every  calamity,  the  belief  of  those  miracles 
has  preserved  the  Jews  of  a  later  period  from  the  universal 
contagion  of  idolatry ;  and  in  contradiction  to  every  known 
principle  of  the  human  mind,  that  singular  people  seems  to 
have  yielded  a  stronger  and  more  ready  assent  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  their  remote  ancestors,  than  to  the  evidence  of  their 
own  senses." 

The  Jewish  religion  was  admirably  fitted  for  defence,  but  it 


*  For  the  enumeration  of  the  Syrian  and  Arabian  deities,  it  may  be 
observed,  tliat  Milton  has  comprised  in  one  hundred  and  thirty  very 
■peautiful  hues  the  two  large  and  learned  syntagmas  which  Selden 
had  composed  on  that  abstruse  subject. 

^°  "How  long  will  this  people  provoke  me?  and  how  long  will  it 
be  ere  they  believe  me,  for  all  the  signs  which  I  have  shown  among 
them?"  (Numbers  xiv.  11.)  It  would  be  easy,  but  it  would  be  unbe- 
coming, to  justify  the  complaint  of  tlie  Deity  from  the  whole  tenor  of 
the  Mosaic  history.* 


*  Among  a  rude  and  bai-baroiis  people,  religious  impressions  are  easily 
made,  and  arc  as  soon  effaced.  The  ignorance  which  multiplies  imaginary 
wonders,  would  weaken  and  destroy  the  effect  of  real  miracle.  At  the  pe- 
riod of  the  Jewish  liistory,  referred  to  in  the  passage  from  Numbers,  their 
fears  predominated  over  their  faith, — the  fears  of  an  unwarlikc  people,  just 
rescued  from  debasing  slavery,  and  commanded  to  attack  a  iierce,  a  ■well- 
armed,  a  gigantic,  and  a  far  more  numerous  race,  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan. 
As  to  the  frequent  apostasy  of  the  Jews,  tlieir  religion  was  beyond  their  state 
of  civilization.  Nor  is  it  uncommon  for  a  peoy)le  to  cling  with  passionate 
tttachment  to  that  of  which,  at  first,  they  could  not  appreciate  the  value. 
Patriotism  and  national  pride  vvili  contend,  even  to  death,  for  political  rights 
which  have  been  forced  upon  a  reluctant  people.  The  Christian  may  at 
least  retort,  with  justice,  that  the  great  sign  of  his  religion,  the  resurrection 
cf  Jesus,  was  most  ardently  beUeved,  and  most  resoldtely  asserted,  by  the 
eyo-witnesses  of  the  fact. — M. 


A.D,  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    KMI'IRK.  911 

was  never  designed  for  conquest ;  and  it  seems  jirobablo  that 
the  number  of  proselytes  was  never  much  superior  to  that  of 
apostates.  The  divine  promises  were  originally  niaili-,  and 
the  distinguishing  rite  of  circumcision  w;us  enjoined,  to  a 
single  family.  When  the  posterity  of  Abraham  ha<l  multi- 
plied like  the  sands  of  the  sea,  the  Deity,  from  whose  muuth 
they  received  a  system  of  laws  and  ceremonies,  doclan-d 
himself  the  proper  and  as  it  were  the  national  God  of  Israel 
and  with  the  most  jealous  care  separated  his  favorite  peoplo 
from  the  rest  of  mankind.  The  conquest  of  the  land  of 
Canaan  was  accompanied  with  so  many  wonderful  and  with 
BO  many  bloody  circumstances,  that  the  victorious  Jews  were 
left  in  a  state  of  irreconcilable  hostility  with  all  their  neigh- 
bors. They  had  been  commanded  to  extirpate  some  of  tho 
most  idolatrous  tribes,  and  the  execution  of  the  divine  will 
had  seldom  been  retarded  by  the  weakness  of  humanity. 
With  the  other  nations  they  were  forbidden  to  contract  any 
marriages  or  alliances ;  and  the  prohibition  of  receiving  them 
into  the  congregation,  which  in  some  cases  was  perpi-tuai, 
almost  always  extended  to  the  third,  to  the  seventh,  or  even  to 
the  tenth  generation.  The  obligation  of  preaching  to  tlu; 
Gentiles  the  faith  of  Moses  had  never  been  inculcated  as  a 
precept  of  the  law,  nor  were  the  Jews  inclined  to  impose  it  on 
themselves  as  a  voluntary  duty. 

In  the  admission  of  new  citizens,  that  unsocial  peoplo  w.is 
actuated  by  the  selfish  vanity  of  the  Greeks,  rather  than  by 
the  generous  policy  of  Rome.  The  descendants  of  Abraham 
were  flattered  by  tlae  opinion  that  they  alone  were  the  heirs  of 
the  covenant,  and  they  were  apprehensive  of  diminishing  tho 
value  of  their  inheritance  by  sharing  it  too  easily  witii  the 
strangers  of  the  earth.  A  larger  acquaintance  Vith  mankind 
extended  their  knowledge  without  correcting  their  prejudices ; 
and  whenever  the  God  of  Israel  acquired  any  new  votaries, 
he  w^as  much  more  indebted  to  the  inconstant  humor  of  poly- 
theism than  to  the  active  zeal  of  his  own  missionaries."  Tho 
religion  of  Moses  seems  to  be  instituted  for  a  particular  coun- 
try as  well  as  for  a  single  nation ;  and  if  a  strict  obedience 
had  been  paid  to  the  order,  that  every  male,  three  times  in  tho 
year,  should  present  himself  before  the  Lord  Jehovah,  it  would 
liavo  been  impossible  that  the  Jews   could  ever  have  spread 

"  All  that  relates  to  the  Jewish  proselytes  hits  lieec  rpry  M} 
k«ftted  by  Basnage,  Hist,  des  Juifs.  I.  vi.  c.  6.  7. 


512  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  328. 

Iheiiistlves  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  tlie  promised  land. 
That  obstacle  was  indeed  removed  by  the  destruction  of  tha 
teraj>le  of  Jerusalem ;  but  the  most  considerable  part  of  the 
Jewish  religion  was  iuvolved  in  its  destruction ;  and  the 
Pagans,  who  had  long  wondered  at  the  strange  report  of  au 
empty  sanctuary,"  were  at  a  loss  to  discover  what  could  be 
the  object,  or  what  could  be  the  instruments,  of  a  woi-ship 
wlikh  was  destitute  of  temples  and  of  altars,  of  priests  and 
©f  sacrifices.  Yet  even  in  their  fallen  state,  the  Jews,  still 
asserting  theii  lofty  and  exclusive  privileges,  shunned,  instead 
of  courting,  the  society  of  strangers.  They  still  insisted  with 
inflexible  rigor  on  those  parts  of  the  law  which  it  was  in  their 
power  to  practise.  Their  peculiar  distinctions  of  days,  of 
meats,  and  a  variety  of  trivial  though  burdensome  obser- 
vances, were  so  many  objects  of  disgust  and  aversion  for  tlo 
other  nations,  to  whose  habits  and  prejudices  they  were  dia- 
metrically opposite.  The  painful  and  even  dangerous  rite  of 
circumcision  was  alone  capable  of  repelling  a  willing  proselyte 
from  the  door  of  the  synagogue." 
y/y  Under  these  circumstances,  Christianity  offered  itself  to  tha 
world,  armed  with  the  strength  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  deliv- 
ered from  the  weight  of  its  fetters.  An  exclusive  zeal  for 
the  truth  of  religion,  and  the  unity  of  God,  was  as  carefully 
inculcated  in  the  new  as  in  the  ancient  system  :  and  whatever 
was  now  revealed  to  mankind  concerning  the  nature  and  de- 
signs  of  the  Supreme  Being,  was  fitted  to  increase  their  rev- 
(  erence  for  that  mysterious  doctrine.  The  divine  authority  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets  was  admitted,  and  even  established, 
as  the  firmest  basis  of  Christianity.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  world,  an  uninterrupted  series  of  predictions  had  an- 
nounced and  prepared  the  long-expected  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah, who,  in  compliance  with  the  gross  apprehensions  of  the 


^'  See  Exod.  xxiv.  23,  Deut.  xvi.  16,  the  commentators,  and  a  very 
ecnsible  note  in  the  Universal  History,  vol.  i.  p.  6U3,  edit  fol. 

'^  When   Pompey,  using  or  abusmg  the  right  of  conquest,  entered 
into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  it  -was  observed   with  amazement,  "NulU 
intiis  Deum  effigio,  vacuam  sedem  et  inania  arcana."     Tacit  Hist,  r, 
9.     It  was  a  popular  saying,  with  regard  to  the  Jews, 
Nil  pi'aster  nubes  et  ccbU  iiumen  adorant, 

'*  A  second  kind  of  circumcision  was  inflicted  on  a  Samaritan  oi 
'EyyiAian  proselyte.  The  sullen  indifference  of  the  Talmudists,  witk 
respect  to  the  conversion  of  strangers,  may  be  seen  in  Basnage 
Histoirc  des  Juifs,  1.  ^'\.  c.  G. 


A- D.  323.]  OF  THE  roman  emi'Ttie.  AIS 

Jews,  hat!  been  more  frequently  represented  under  the  cbar- 
acter  of  a  King  and  Conqueror,  than  under  tbat  of  a  Prophet, 
a  ]\Iartyr,  and  the  Son  of  God,     By  his  expiatory  sacritic.',  the 
imperfect  sacrifice^  of  the  temple  were  at  once  consunmiated 
and  abolished.     The  ceremonial  law,  which  consisted  only  of 
types  and  figures,  was  succeeded  by  a  j^ure  and  spiritual  wor-  V 
%hip,  equally  adapted  to  all  climates,  as  well  as  to  every  con- 
dition  of  mankind ;  and  to  the  initiation   of  blood  was  substi- 
tuted a  more   harmless  initiation  of  water.     The   promise  of 
divine  fiivor,  instead   of  being  partially  confined   to   the  pos- 
terity of  Abraham,  w;is  universally  proposed   to  the  freeman 
and  the  slave,  to  the  Greek  and  to  the  barliarian,  to  the  Jew 
and  to  the  Gentile.)    Every  privilege  that  could  raise  the  prose- 
lyte from  earth  to  heaven,  that  could  exalt  his  devotion,  secure 
his  happiness,  or  even   gratify  that  secret  pride   which,  luider 
the  semblance  of  devotion,   insinuates   itself  into  the  human 
heart,  was  still  reserved    for    the    membei-s    of  the  Christian 
church ;  but  at  the  same  time  all  mankind   was  permitted, 
and   even  solicited,   to  accept  the  glorious   distinction,  which 
was   npt  only  proffered  as  a  favor,  but  imposed  as  an   obliga- 
tion. ClV became  the  most  sacred   duty  of  a  new  convert  to  'i 
diffuse  among  his  friends  and   relations  the  inestimable  bless-  ) 
ing  which  he  had  received,  and  to  warn  them  against  a  refusal  /    y 
that  Avould  be  severely  punished  as  a  criminal  disobedience  \oll^ 
the  will  of  a  benevolent  but  all-powerful  Deity.i./^  ' 

The  enfranchisement  of  the  church  from  the  bonds  of  the 
synagogue  was  a  work,  however,  of  some  time  and  of  some 
difficulty.  The  Jewish  converts,  who  acknowledged  Jesus  in 
the  character  of  the  Messiah  foretold  by  their  ancient  oracles, 
respected  him  as  a  prophetic  teacher  of  virtue  and  religion  ; 
but  they  obstinately  adhered  to  the  ceremonies  of  their  ances- 
tors, and  w^ere  desirous  of  imposing  them  on  the  Gentiles, 
who  continually  augmented  the  number  of  believers.  Tlifse 
Judaizing  Christians  seem  to  have  argued  with  some  degree  of 
plausibilfty  from  the  divine  origin  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  from 
the  immutable  perfections  of  its  great  Author.  They  affirmed, 
thai  if  the  Being,  who  is  the  same  through  all  eternity,  had 
designed  to  abolish  those  sacred  rites  which  had  served  to 
distinguish  his  chosen  people,  the  repeal  of  them  would  have 
been  no  less  clear  and  solemn  than  their  first  promulgation : 
that,  instead  of  those  frequent  declarations,  which  either  8ui>- 
pose  or  assert  the  perpetuity  of  the  Mosaic  rehgion,  it  would 
£avs  been   represented  as  a  provisionary  scheme  intended  to 


S14  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  LA.D.328 

last  only  to  tlie  aoming  of  the  Messiah,  who  should  instrucl 
mankind  in  a  more  perfect  mode  of  faith  and  of  worship  :" 
that  the  Messiah  himself,  and  his  disciples  who  conversed  with 
him  on  earth,  instead  of  authorizing  by  their  example  the  most 
minute  observances  of  the  Mosaic  law,*'  would  have  published 
to  the  world  the  abolition  of  those  useless  and  obsolete  cere- 
monies, without  suffering  Christianity  to  remain  during  so 
many  years  obscurely  confounded  among  the  sects  of  the 
Jewish  church.  Arguments  like  those  appear  to  have  been 
used  in  the  defence  of  the  expiring  cause  of  the  Mosaic  law ; 
but  the  industry  of  our  learned  divines  has  abundantly  ex- 
plained the  ambiguous  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  ambiguous  conduct  of  the  apostolic  teachers.  It  was 
proper  gradually  to  unfold  the  system  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
pronounce,  with  the  utmost  caution  and  tenderness,  a  sentence 
of  condemnation  so  repugnant  to  the  inchnation  and  prejudices 
of  the  believing  Jews. 

The  history  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem  affords  a  lively 
proof  of  the  necessity  of  those  precautions,  and  of  the  deep 
impression  which  the  Jewish  religion  had  made  on  the  minds 
of  its  sectaries.  The  first  fifteen  bishops  of  Jerusalem  were 
all  circumcised  Jews ;  and  the  congregation  over  which  they 
presided  united  the  law  of  Moses  with  the  doctrine  of  Christ." 
It  was  natural  that  the  primitive  tradition  of  a  church  which 
was  founded  only  forty  days  after  the  death  of  Christ,  and 
was  governed  almost  as  many  years  under  the  immediate 
inspection  of  his  apostle,  should  be  received  as  the  standard  of 
orthodoxy.'*     The  distant  churches  very  frequently  appealed 

'*  These  arguments  were  urged  with  great  ingenuity  by  the  Jew 
Orobio,  and  refuted  with  equal  ingenuity  and  candor  by  the  Christian 
Limborch.  See  the  Arnica  Collatio,  (it  well  deserves  that  name,)  or 
account  of  the  dispute  between  them. 

"  Jesus  .  .  .  circumcisus  erat;  cibis  utebatur  Judaicis ;  vestitu 
BimiU ;  purgatos  scabie  mittebat  ad  sacerdotes ;  Pascliata  et  ahos  dies 
festos  religiose  observabat:  Si  quos  sanavit  sabbatho,  osteniht  noa 
tantum  ex  lege,  sed  et  exceptis  sententiis,  talia  opera  sabbatho  non 
interdicta.  Grotius  do  Veritate  Religionis  Christianaa,  L  v.  c.  7.  A 
little  afterwards,  (c.  12,)  he  expatiates  on  the  condescension  of  the 
opostles. 

"  Psene  omnes  Christum  Deura  sub  legis  observatione  credebant 
Snlpicius  Severus,  ii.  31.     See  Eusebius,  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  1.  iv.  c.  5. 

'•  Moshciiii  dc  Eebus  Christianis  ante  Constantinum  Magnum,  p. 
153.  la  thi'j  p>{)v''tflrly  performance,  which  I  shall  often  have  occasion 
to  quotw  ho  antora  much  more  ful)^  into  the  state  of  the  primitive 
Aurclx  tUan  he  /las  an  opportunity  of  doing  in  hie  General  History 


A.LV223.|  OF  THE  uoman  empire.  615 

to  the  authoritj  of  their  venerable  l*areiit,  and  r.-lieved  hei 
distresses  by  a  Hberal  contribution  of  ahiis.  IJut  when  nuniftr- 
ous  and  opulent  societies  were  established  in  tho  great  eitiei 
of  the  empire,  in  Antioeh,  Alexandria,  Ephcsus,  (Jorinth,  a>id 
Rome,  the  reverence  which  JerusaK:m  had  inspired  to  all  the 
Christian  colonies  insensibly  diminished.  'J"hc  Jewish  con- 
verts, or,  as  they  were  afterwards  called,  the  Nazarenes,  who 
had  laid  the  foundations  of  the  church,  soon  found  themselves 
overwhelmed  by  the  increasing  multitudes,  that  from  all  the 
various  religions  of  ])olytheisra  enlisted  under  the  banner  of 
Christ :  and  the  Gentiles,  who,  with  tho  approbation  of  theif 
peculiar  apostle,  had  rejected  the  intolerable  weight  of  tho 
Mosaic  cei-emouies,  at  length  refused  to  their  more  scrupuloiu* 
brethren  the  same  toleration  which  at  lirst  they  had  huml,»ly 
solicited  for  their  own  jiractice.  The  ruin  of  the  temple  of 
the  city,  and  of  the  public  religion  of  the  Jews,  w:us  severely 
felt  by  the  Nazarenes;  as  in  their  manners,  though  not  in 
their  faith,  they  maintained  so  intimate  a  connection  with  their 
impious  countrymen,  whose  misfortunes  were  attributed  by  the 
Pagans  to  the  contempt,  and  more  justly  ;\scribed  by  the  Chris- 
tians to  the  wrath,  of  the  Supreme  Deity.  The  Nazarenes 
retired  from  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem*  to  the  little  town  of  Telia 
beyond  the  Jordan,  where  that  ancient  church  languished  above 
sixty  years  in  solitude  and  obscurity.'"  They  still  enjoyed 
the  comfort  of  making  frequent  and  d('vout  visits  to  the  Jloli/ 
City,  and  the  hope  of  being  one  day  restored  to  those  seat* 
which  both  nature  and  religion  taught  them  to  love  as  well  aa 
to  revere.  But  at  length,  under  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  tho 
desperate  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  filled  up  the  measure  of  their 
calamities ;  and  the  Romans,  exasperated  by  their  repeated 
rebellions,  exercised  the  riglits  of  victory  with  unusual  rigor. 
The  emperor  founded,  under  the  name  of  yElia  Capitc)lina,  a 
new  city  on  Mount  Sion,'°  to  which  he  gave  the  privileges  of 

'^  Eusebius,  1.  iii.  c.  5.  Le  Clerc,  Hist.  EcclcsLost.  p.  fi05.  During 
tliis  occasional -absence,  the  bishop  and  church  of  Pclla  still  rctainod  tho 
title  of  Jerusalem.  In  the  same  manner,  the  Roman  pontiffs  resided 
seventy  jears  at  Avignon;  and  the  patriarchs  of  Ale.\uiidri.i  haro 
long  since  transferred  their  episcopal  seat  to  Cairo. 

""  Dion  Cassius,  1.  Ixix.  The  exile  of  the  Jewisli  nation  from 
Jerusalem  is  attested  by  Aristo  of  Pella,  (apud  Euseb.  1.  iv.  c  0,)  and 

*  This  is  incorrect :  all  the  traditiona  concur  in  plocint?  the  abanilonmonl 
of  the  city  by  the  Christians,  not  on.y  before  it  was  in  niiiia,  but  before  Um 
lieg^  had  commenced.    Euseb.  loc.  cit.,  and  Le  Clerc. — M. 


516  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  D.   328 

a  colony  ;  find  denouncing  the  severest  pp.nalties  against  an} 
of  the  Jewish  people  who  should  dare  to  approach  its  pre- 
ciiiot>,  he  lixed  a  vigilant  garrison  of  a  Roman  cohort  tc 
enforce  the  execution  of  his  orders.  The  Nazarenea  had  only 
one  way  left  to  escape  the  common  proscription,  and  the  force 
of  truth  was  on  this  occasion  assisted  by  the  influence  of  tem- 
|Kjral  advantages.  They  elected  Mai'cus  for  their  bishop,  a 
prelalo  of  the  race  of  the  Gentiles,  and  most  probably  a  native 
'jither  of  Italy  or  of  some  of  the  Latin  provinces.  At  his 
persuasion,  the  most  considerable  part  of  the  congregation 
renounced  the  Mosaic  law,  in  the  practice  of  which  they  had 
persevered  above  a  century.  By  this  sacrifice  of  their  habits 
and  prejudices,  they  purchased  a  free  admission  into  the  colony 
of  Hadrian,  and  more  firmly  cemented  their  union  with  the 
Catholic  church.^' 

When  the  name  and  honors  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem  had 
been  restored  to  Mount  Sion,  the  crimes  of  heresy  and  schism 
were  imputed  to  the  obscure  remnant  of  the  Nazarenes,  which 
refused  to  accompany  their  Latin  bishop.  They  still  preserved 
their  former  habitation  of  Pella,  spread  themselves  into  the 
villages  adjacent  to  Damascus,  and  formed  an  inconsiderable 
church  in  the  city  of  Bercea,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  of  Aleppo, 
in  Syria.^^  The  name  of  Nazarenes  was  deemed  too  honor- 
able for  those  Christian  Jews,  and  they  soon  received,  from 
the  supposed  poverty  of  their  understanding,  as  well  as  of 
their  condition,  the  contemptuous  epithet  of  Ebionites."'  In  a 
few  years  after  the  return  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  it 
became  a  matter  of  doubt  and  controversy,  whether  a  man 


is  mentioned  by  several  ecclesiastical  writers ;  though  some  of  them 
too  hastily  extend  this  interdiction  to  the  whole  country  of  Palestine. 

^'  Eusubius,  1.  iv.  c.  6.  Sulpicius  Severus,  ii.  31.  By  comparing 
their  unsatisfactory  accounts,  Moslieim  (p.  327,  <fec.)  has  drawn  out  a 
very  distinct  representation  of  the  circumstances  and  motives  of  this 
revolution. 

^^  Le  Clerc  (Hist.  Ecclesiast.  p.  477,  535)  seems  to  have  collected 
from  Euscbius,  Jerome,  Epiphanius,  and  other  writers,  all  the  princi 
pal  circumstances  that  relate  to  the  Nazarenes  or  Ebionites.  The 
nature  of  their  opinions  soon  divided  them  into  a  stricter  and  a  milder 
Beet;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  conjecture,  that  the  famil}'  of 
Jesus  Christ  remaintd  members,  at  least,  of  the  latter  and  more  ie:x1 
«rato  party. 

*^  Some  writers  liave  been  jileased  to  create  an  Ebion.  the  imagi- 
Bwy  author  of  th-iir  sect  and  name.  But  we  can  more  safely  rely  os 
the  learned  Eusehius  than  on  tl  e  vehement  TertuUian.  or  tlie  credi 


A.D. 323.]      OF  THE  koman  empirf  617 

who  sincerely  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  but  whc 
still  continued  to  observe  the  law  of  Moses,  could  j)os3il>lv  hojx 
for  salvation.  'J^he  humane  teinpt-r  of  Justin  ^hirtvr  iuoliiu-d 
him  to  answer  this  question  in  the  atVirmative;  and  thouijh  he 
expressed  lilmself  with  the  most  fjuarded  diilidence,  he  ventured 
to  determine  in  favor  of  such  an  imperfect  Christian,  if  he  wore 
content  to  practise  the  Mosaic  ceremonies,  without  jirctending 
to  assert  their  general  use  or  necessity.  Ikit  when  Justin  wa? 
[ircssed  to  declare  the  sentiment  of  the  church,  lie  confessed 
that  there  were  very  many  among  the  orthodox  (Christians, 
who  not  ohly  excluded  their  Judaizing  brethren  from  the  hojwr 
of  salvation,  but  who  declined  any  intercourse  with  them  in 
the  common  offices  of  friendship,  hospitality,  and  social  life.'* 
The  more  rigorous  opinion  prevailed,  as  it  was  natural  to  ex- 
pect, over  the  milder ;  and  an  eternal  bar  of  separation  w;us 
tixed  between  the  disciples  of  Moses  and  those  of  Christ.  The 
unfortunate  Ebionites,  rejected  from  one  religion  as  apost^ites, 
and  from  the  other  as  heretics,  found  themselves  compelled  to 
assume  a  more  decided  character;  and  although  some  traces 
of  that  obsolete  sect  may  be  discovered  as  late  ;xs  the  fourth 
century,  they  insensibly  melted  away,  either  into  the  church  or 
the  sviiaofoijue.^* 


lous  Epiphanius.  According  to  Le  Clerc,  the  Hebrew  word  Ehjonhn 
may  be  translated  into  Latin  by  that  of  Pauperes.  See  Ilist  Eccle- 
siast.  p.  477.* 

^*  See  the  very  curious  Dialogue  of  Justin  Martyr  with  the  Jew 
Tryphou.f  The  conference  between  them  was  hekl  at  Ephesus,  ir. 
the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  and  about  twenty  years  after  the  return  of 
the  church  of  Pella  to  Jerusalem.  For  this  tlatj  consult  the  accurate 
note  of  Tilleraont,  Memoires  f>cclesia-<ti(|ues,  torn.  ii.  p.  511. 

^"^  Of  all  the  systems  of  Christianity,  that  of  Abyssinia  is  the  onlj 
one  which  still  adlieres  to  the  Mosaic  rites.     (GeJdcs's  Church  History 

"  The  opinion  of  Lc  Clerc  is  generally  ailmittc.l ;  but  Xeamler  lia.x  sug 
gested  some  Rood  reasons  for  supposing  diat  this  term  only  applied  to  i>ov- 
erty  of  condition.  Tiie  ob.scure  history  of  their  tenets  and  division.-",  is  clearly 
and  rationally  traced  in  his  History  of  the  Church,  vol.  i.  part  ii.  p.  612,  Jcc, 
Germ.  edit. — M.  .  ,.,    ^...        , 

t  Justiu  Martyr  makes  an  important  distniction,  which  Gibbon  ha.s  neg- 
lected to  notice.  *  *■  *  There  were;  .some  who  were  not  content  with  ob.^^TV- 
in°-  the  Mosaic  law    hemsdvcs,  but  cnibrccd  die  same  observanco.  (ut  neccH- 


partyriie  himself  diought  less  favorably— i/iO'wf  -"«•'  roiroii  ovk  dWrx^/^a. 
former  by  some  are  cons:.  Jered  the  Nazarenes  the  alter  the  Kbionilc 


end  M 


S18  TUB    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323. 

While  tlie  orthodox  church  preserved  a  just  medium  be- 
tween excessive  veneration  and  improper  contempt  for  th€ 
law  of  Moses,  the  various  heretics  deviated  into  equal  but 
opposite  extremes  of  error  and  extravagance.  From  the 
acknowledged  truth  of  the  Jewish  religion,  the  Ebionites  had 
concluded  that  it  could  never  be  abolished.  From  its  supposed 
imperfections,  the  Gnostics  as  hastily  inferred  that  it  never 
was  instituted  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Deity.  There  are  some 
objections  against  the  authority  of  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
which  too  readily  present  themselves  to  the  sceptical  mind ; 
though  they  can  only  be  derived  from  our  ignorance  of  remote 
antiquity,  and  from  our  incapacity  to  form  an  adequate  judg- 
ment of  the  divine  economy.  These  objections  were  eagerly 
embraced  and  as  petulantly  urged  by  the  vain  science  of  the 
Gnostics.^^  As  those  heretics  were,  for  the  most  part,  averse 
to  the  pleasures  of  sense,  they  morosely  arraigned  the  polyg- 
amy of  the  patriarchs,  the  gallantries  of  David,  and  the 
seraglio  of  Solomon.  The  conquest  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and 
the  extirpation  of  the  unsuspecting  natives,  they  were  at  a  loss 
how  to  reconcile  with  the  common  notions  of  humanity  and 
justice.*  But  when  they  recollected  the  sanguinary  list  of 
murders,  of  executions,  and  of  massacres,  which  stain  almost 
every  page  of  the  Jewish  annals,  they  acknowledged  that  the 
barbarians  of  Palestine  had  exercised  as  much  compassion 
towards  their  idolatrous  enemies,  as  they  had  ever  shown  to 
their  friends  or  countrymen."     Passing  from  the  sectaries  of 

of  Ethiopia,  and  Dissertations  de  La  Grand  sur  la  Relation  du  P, 
Lobo.)  Tlio  eunuch  of  the  queen  Candace  might  suggest  some  sus- 
picions; but  as  Ave  are  assured  (Socrates,  i.  19.  Sozomen,  ii.  24. 
Ludolphus,  p.  281)  that  the  ^Ethiopians  Avere  not  converted  tiU  the 
fourth  century,  it  is  more  reasonable  to  beheve  that  they  respected 
the  sabbath,  and  distinguished  tl^e  forbidden  meats,  in  imitation  of 
the  Jews,  who,  in  a  very  early  period,  Avere  seated  on  both  sides  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Chcumcision  had  been  practised  by  the  most  ancient 
J<;thiopians.  from  motives  of  health  and  cleanliness,  Avhich  seem  to  be 
explained  in  the  Recherches  Philosophiques  sur  les  Americains,  torn.  ii. 
p.  11*7. 

^°  Beausobre,  Histoire  du  Manicheisme,  1.  i.  c.  3,  has  stated  their  oli- 
jections,  particularly  those  of  Fav.stus,  the  adversary  of  Augustin,  Avith 
the  most  learned  impartiality. 

^'  Apud  ipsos  fides  obstinata,  misericordia  in  promptu :  ad  versus 
wnnee  alios  hostile  odium.     Tacit.  Hist.  v.  4.     Sm-ely  Tacitus  had  seen 


On  She  ■'  war  law"  of  the  Jews,  see  Wst.  of  Jews.  i.  137.- -M. 


A.D.  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    ENfPIRE.  81b 

the  law  to  the  law  it.self,  tliey  asserted  that  it  was  impossible 
that  a  religion  which  consisted  only  of  bloody  sacrifices  and 
trifling  ceremonies,  and  whose  rewards  as  well  as  piniislimeiit/i 
were  all  of  a  carnal  and  temporal  nature,  could  inspire  tho 
love  of  virtue,  or  restrain  the  impetuosity  of  passion,  Tho 
Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man  wjts  treated 
with  profane  derision  by  the  Gnostics,  who  would  not  listen 
with  patience  to  the  repose  of  tho  Deity  after  six  days'  lalx)r, 
to  the  rib  of  Adam,  the  garden  of  Eden,  the  trees  ut'  life  and 
of  knowledge,  the  speaking  serpent,  the  forbidden  fruit,  and 
the  condemnation  pronounced  against  human  kind  for  tlui 
\  venial  oftence  of  their  first  progenitors."  The  God  of  Lsrael 
^was  impiously  represented  by  the  Gnostics  as  a  being  liable  to 
passion  and  to  error,  capricious  in  his  favor,  implacable  in  his 
resentment,  meanly  jealous  of  his  supei-stitious  worship,  and 
confining  his  partial  providence  to  a  single  pco|)le,  and  to  this 
transitory  life.  In  such  a  character  they  could  discover  none 
of  the  features  of  the  wise  and  omnipotent  Father  of  tho 
universe.^*  They  allowed  that  the  religion  of  the  Jews  was 
somewhat  less  criminal  than  the  idolatry  of  the  Gentiles;  but' 
it  was  their  fundamental  doctrine,  that  the  Christ  whom  thej 
adored  as  the  first  and  brightt'st  emanation  of  the  L)eity  ap- 
peared upon  earth  to  rescue  mankind  from  their  various  errora 

the  Jews  with  too  favorable  an  eye.*  The  perusal  of  Josephua  must 
have  destroyed  the  antithesis. 

**  Dr.  Burnet  (Archa»ologia,  1.  ii.  c.  1)  has  discussed  the  first 
chapters  of  Genesis  with  too  much  wit  and  freedom. f 

^^  The  milder  Gnostics  consiilercd  Jehovah,  the  Creator,  as  a  Boing 
of  a  mixed  nature  between  God  and  the  Dainion.  Others  confounded 
him  with  an  evil  principle.  Consult  the  second  century  of  tho  gen- 
Aral  history  of  Mosheim,  which  gives  a  very  distinct,  though  concise, 
account  of  their  strange  opinions  on  this  subject. 

*  Few  writers  have  snsy)ectcd  Tacitus  of  partiality  towards  the  Jews. 
The  whole  later  liistory  of  the  Jews  illustrates  as  well  their  strong  feelini,'ii 
of  humanity  to  their  brethren,  as  their  hostility  to  tho  rest  of  mankind. 
The  character  aud  the  po.sitioii  of  Jo.«oi(hus  with  the  Roman  authoritic", 
must  be  kept  in  mind  during  the  perusal  of  his  Historj-.  I'erlmps  he  has 
not  exaggerated  the  ferocity  and  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  nt  that  lime ;  hut 
insurrectionary  warfare  is  not  the  best  school  for  the  humaner  virtues,  and 
much  must  be  allowed  for  the  grinding  tyraiuiy  of  the  later  Roman  gov- 
ernor.''.    See  Hist,  of  Jews,  ii.  254. — M. 

t  Dr.  Burnet  apologized  for  the  levity  with  which  he  had  rondurted 
some  of  his  arguments,  by  tho  excuse  that  he  wrote  in  a  learned  langunor 
for  scholars  alone,  not  for  the  vuL'ar.  Whatever  may  1"^  tliou-jlil  of  hi* 
success  iu  tracing  an  Eastern  allegory  in  the  lirst  clajittTB  of  (Jcnrsi*,  hit 
other  works  prove  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  ^cat  geniu.s,  and  of  Biuccri 
piety. — M 


520  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  |_A.  D,  323. 

Hiid  to  reveal  a  7iew  system  of  truth  and  perfection.  The  most 
learned  of  the  fathers,  by  a  very  singular  condescension,  have 
imprudently  admitted  the  sophistry  of  the  Gnostics.*  Ac- 
knowledging that  the  literal  sense  is  repugnant  to  every  princi- 
ple of  faith  as  well  as  reason,  they  deem  themselves  secure  and 
invulnerable  behind  the  ample  veil  of  allegory,  which  Ihey 
carefully  spread  over  every  tender  part  of  the  Mosaic  dispensa 
tion.'° 

It  has  been  remarked  with  more  ingenuity  than  truth,  that 
the  virgin  purity  of  the  church  was  never  violated  by  schism 
or  heresy  before  the  reign  of  Trajan  or  Hadrian,  about  one 
hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Christ."  We  may  observe 
'\with  much  more  propriety,  that,  during  that  period,  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Messiah  were  indulged  in  a  freer  latitude,  both 
of  faith  and  practice,  than  has  ever  been  allowed  in  succeeding 
ages.  As  the  terms  of  communion  were  insensibly  narrowed, 
and  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  prevailing  party  was  exercised 
with  increasing  severity,  many  of  its  most  respectable  ad- 
herents, who  were  called  upon  to  renounce,  were  provoked  to 
assert  their  private  opinions,  to  pursue  the  conse<:[uences  of  their 
mistaken  principles,  and  openly  to  erect  the  standard  of  rebellion 
against  the  unity  of  the  church.  The  Gnostics  were  distinguished 
as  the  most  polite,  the  most  learned,  and  the  most  wealthy  of  the 
Christian  name ;  and  that  general  appellation,  which  expressed 
a  superiority  of  knowledge,  was  either  assumed  by  their  own 
pride,  or  ironically  bestowed  by  the  envy  of  their  advers<»ries. 
They  were  almost  without  exception  of  the  race  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  their  principal  founders  seem  to  ha\'e  been  natives 

""  See  Beausobre,  Hist,  du  Manichelsme,  L  i.  c.  4.  Origen  and  St 
Aiigustin  were  among  the  allegorists. 

"  Hegesippus,  ap.  Euseb.  1,  iii.  32,  iv.  22.  Clemens  Alexandria 
Stromat.  vii.  17. f 

■*  The  Gnostics,  aud  tlie  historian  who  has  stated  these  plausible  ODjeo 
lions  with  so  much  force  as  almost  to  make  them  his  own,  would  have  shown 
9.  more  considerate  aud  not  less  reasonable  philosophy,  if  they  had  considered 
the  religion  of  Moses  with  reference  to  the  age  in  which  it  was  promulgated  , 
if  they  had  done  justice  to  its  sublime  as  well  as  its  more  imperfect  views 
of  the  divine  nature ;  the  humane  and  civilizing  provisions  of  the  Hebrew 
law,  as  well  as  those  adapted  for  an  infant  and  barbarous  people.  See  Hist 
of  Jews,  i.  3f,  37,  &c.— M. 

t  The  assertion  of  Hegesippus  is  not  so  positive:  it  is  sufficient  to  reaj 
the  whole  passage  in  Eusebius,  to  see  that  the  former  part  is  modified  by  thr 
iatt»;r.  Hegesippus  adds,  that  up  to  this  period  the  church  had  remained 
pare  and  immaculate  as  a  virgin.  Those  who  labored  to  corrupt  the  doo 
Irlnee  jf  tae  gospel  worked  as  yet  in  obscurity  —  Q 


A-D.  323.]       OF  THE  nOMAX  EMPIRE.  521 

of  Syria  or  Egypt,  where  the  warmth  of  the  chinat*?  (Jisi>os» 
both  the  mind  and  the  body  to  iiulok-nt  and  oontoniplativu 
devotion  The  Gnostics  blended  witli  the  faith  of  Clirisf 
many  sublime  but  obscure  tenets,  which  tiiey  derived  from 
oriental  philosophy,  and  even  from  the  religion  of  Zoroivster, 
concerning  the  eternity  of  matter,  the  existenai  of  two  prin- 
ciples, and  the  mysterious  hierarchy  of  the  invisible  world." 
ia  aoon  as  they  launched  out  into  that  Viist  abyss,  they  delivered 
hemselves  to  the  guidance  of  a  disordered  imagination ;  and 
as  the  paths  of  error  are  various  and  infinite,  the  Gnostics 
were  imperceptibly  divided  into  more  than  lifty  jiarticular 
sects,"  of  whom  the  most  celebrated  appear  to  have  b«H'ii  the 
BasiUdians,  the  Valentinians,  the  Marcionit<^s,  and,  in  a  stil. 
later  period,  the  Manichaeans.  Each  of  these  sects  could 
boast  of  its  bishops  and  congregations,  of  its  doctors  and 
martyrs;"  and,  instead  of  the  Four  Gospels  adopted  by  the 
church,f  the  heretics  produced  a  multitude  of  histories,  in 
which  tlie  actions  and  discourses  of  Clirist  and  of  his  apostles 
were  adapted  to  their  respective  tenets."     The  success  of  the 

*^  In  tlie  account  of  the  Gnostics  of  the  second  and  third  centuries, 
Mosheim  is  ingenious  and  candid ;  Le  Clerc  dull,  but  exact ;  IJeauso- 
bre  almost  always  an  apologist ;  and  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  the 
primitive  fathers  are  very  frequently  calumniators.* 

"'  See  the  catiilogues  of  Ircnteus  anil  Epiphaniu'*.  It  must  indeed 
be  allowed,  that  those  writers  were  inclined  to  multiply  the  number 
of  sects  which  opposed  the  unity  of  the  cluircii. 

^*  Eusebius.  1.  iv.  c.  15.  Sozomen,  1.  ii.  c.  32.  See  in  Baylc,  in  the 
article  of  Marcion,  a  curious  detail  of  a  dispute  on  that  subject  It 
should  seem  that  some  of  the  Gnostics  (the  Basilidians)  declined,  and 
even  refused  the  honor  of  Martyrdom.  Their  reasons  were  singular 
and  abstruse.     See  Mosheim,  p.  539. 

^*  See  a  very  remarkable  passage  of  Origen,  (ProeoL  ad  Lucam.) 
That  indefatigable  writer,  who  had  consumetl  his  life  in  the  study  of 
the  Scriptures,  relies  for  their  authenticity  on  the  in.'^pircd  authority 
of  the  church.  It  was  impo.ssible  that  the  Gnostics  could  receive  our 
present  Gos]iels,  many  parts  of  which  (particularly  in  the  resurrection 
of  Christ)  are  directly,"  and  as  it  might  seem  designedly,  pointed  against 
iheir  favorite  tenets.  It  is  therefore  somewhat  singuhir  that  Ignatius 
(Epist.  ad  Smyrn.  Patr.  Apostol.  tom.  ii.  p.  34)  should  choose  to  emphiy 
B  vague  and  doubtful  tradition,  instead  of  quoting  the  certain  testiiaony 
of  the  evangelists.^ 

*  The  Histoire  du  Gncsticisinc  of  M.  Matter  is  at  once  the  fairest  ami 
aaost  comijlete  account  of  tiic.se  sects. — M. 

t  M.  Hahii  has  restored  the  Marcioiiite  Gospel  with  »?reat  iageouity 
Bis  vfc-ork  is  reprinted  in  Tiiilo.  Code.x.  A[ioc.  Nov.  Test.  vol.  i.— M. 

t  Bishcp  Pearson  has  altcinpied  very  happi'y   to   explain  this  •  aing* 


622  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL       [A.  D.  328 

Gnostics  was  rapid  and  extensiv* .°'  They  covered  Asia  and 
Egypt,  established  themselves  in  Rome,  and  sometimes  f>ene- 
tnited  into  the  i»rovinces  of  the  West.  For  the  most  part  they 
arose  in  the  second  century,  llourished  during  the  third,  and 
were  suppressed  in  the  fourth  or  fifth,  by  the  prevalence  of 
more  fashionable  controversies,  and  by  the  superior  ascendant 
cf  the  reigning  power.  Though  they  constantly  disturbed  ihe 
peace,  and  frequently  disgraced  the  name,  of  religion,  they  con- 
tributed to  assist  rather  than  to  retard  the  progress  of  Christi- 
anity. The  Gentile  converts,  whose  strongest  objections  and 
prejudices  were  directed  against  the  law  of  Moses,  could  find 
admission  into  many  Christian  societies,  which  required  not 
from  their  untutored  mind  any  belief  of  an  antecedent  revela- 
tion. Their  faith  was  insensibly  fortified  and  enlarged,  and  the 
church  was  ultimately  benefited  by  the  conquests  of  its  most 
inveterate  enemies." 

But  whatever  diflference  of  opinion  might  subsist  between 
the  Orthodox,  the  Ebionites,  and  the  Gnostics,  concerning  the 
divinity  or  the  obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law,  they  were  all 
equally  animated  by  the  same  exclusive  zeal ;  and  by  the 
same  abhorrence  for  idolatry,  which  had  distinguished  the 
Jews  from  the  other  nations  of  the  ancient  world.  The  phi- 
losopher, who  considered,  the  system  of  polytheism  as  a  com- 
position of  human  fraud  and  error,  could  disguise  a  smile  of 
contempt  under  the  mask  of  devotion,  without  apprehending 
that  either  the  mockery,  or  the  compliance,  would  expose  him 
to  the  resentment  of  any  invisible,  or,  as  he  conceived  them, 
imaginary  powers.  But  the  established  religions  of  Paganism 
were  seen  by  the  primitive  Christians  in  a  much  more  odious 


^°  Facinnt  favos  et  vespre;  faciunt  ecclesias  et  Marcionitas,  is  the 
strong  expression  of  Tertullian,  which  I  am  obliged  to  quote  from 
memory.  In  the  time  of  Epiphanius  (advers.  Haereses,  p.  302)  the 
Maroioaites  were  very  numerous  in  Italy,  Syria,  Egypt,  Arabia,  and 
Persia. 

^'  Augustin  is  a  memorable  instance  of  this  gradual  progress  from 
reason  to  faith.  He  was,  during  several  years,  engaged  iri  the  Mani 
chfear  sect. 


larily.'  The  lirnt  Christians  were  aeijuainted  with  a  number  of  sayings  of 
Jesus  Cnrist,  which  are  not  rehited  m  our  Gospels,  and  indeed  have  never 
been  wTitten.  "Why  miglit  not  St.  Ignatius,  who  had  hvcd  with  the  apcstlet 
or  their  disciples,  repeat  in  other  wcrds  that  which  St.  Luke  has  related, 
particularly  at  a  time  when,  being  in  prison,  he  could  has^e  the  Gospels  al 
Dand?  Pearson,  Viud  Igu.  pp.  2,  9  p.  396.  in  torn.  ii.  Patrcs  Apott  ed 
CoteXsr  —Q. 


A..  D.  323.)  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIKR.  fit 

and  formidable  light.  It  was  the  universal  soiitiment  both  of 
the  cliiuch  and  of  heretic-^,  that  the  daemons  were  llut  authors, 
the  patrons,  and  the  objects  of  idolatry."  Those  reU-llious 
spirits  who  had  been  degraded  from  the  rank  of  ang<'ls,  and 
cast  down  into  the  infernal  pit,  were  still  permiltt^-d  tt»  roaia 
upon  earth,  to  torment  the  bodies,  and  to  seduce  the  minds,  of 
sinful  men.  The  daemons  soon  discovered  and  abused  the 
natural  propensity  of  the  human  heart  towards  devotion,  and 
artfully  withdrawing  the  adoration  of  mankind  from  their  Crea- 
tor, they  usurped  the  place  and  honoi*s  of  the  Supreme  Deity. 
By  the  success  of  their  malicious  contrivances,  they  at  onai 
gratified  their  own  vanity  and  revenge,  and  obtiiined  the  only 
comfort  of  which  they  were  yet  susceptible,  the  hope  of 
involving  the  human  species  in  the  participation  of  their  guilt 
and  misery.  It  was  confessed,  or  at  le;vst  it  was  imngiiied, 
that  they  had  distributed  among  themselves  the  most  impor- 
tant characters  of  polytheism,  one  da;mon  assuming  the  name 
and  attributes  of  Juj^iter,  another  of  .dEsculapius,  a  third  of 
Venus,  and  a  fourth  perhaps  of  Apollo ; "  and  that,  by  tho 
advantage  of  their  iong  experience  and  aerial  nature,  they 
were  enabled  to  execute,  with  sufficient  skill  and  dignity,  the 
parts  which  they  had  undertaken.  They  lurked  in  the  tcin 
pies,  instituted  festivals  and  sacrifices,  invented  fables,  pro- 
nounced oracles,  and  were  frequently  allowed  to  perform 
miracles.  The  Christians,  who,  by  the  interposition  of  evil 
spirits,  could  so  readily  explain  every  preternatural  appear- 
ance, were  disposed  and  even  desirous  to  admit  the  most 
extravagant  fictions  of  the  Pagan  mythology.  But  the  belief 
of  the  Christian  was  accompanied  with  horror.  The  most 
trifling  mark  of  respect  to  the  national  worship  he  considered 
as  a  direct  homage  yielded  to  the  daemon,  and  as  an  act  of 
rebellion  against  the  majesty  of  God. 

In  consequence  of  this  opinion,  it  was  the  fii-st  but  arduous 
duty  of  a  Christian  to  preserve  himself  pure  and  undefiled  by 
the  practice  of  idolatry.  The  religion  of  the  nations  was  not 
merely  a  speculative  doctrine  professed  in  the  schools  cr 
preached  in  the  tem])les.     The  innumerable  deities  and  rit*)3 


**  The  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  primitive  church  is  very  Cicarlj 
explained  by  Justin  Martyr,  Apolog.  Major,  by  Atheiuigor.is,  Li!gat 
c.  22.  &c..,  and  by  Lactantius,  Iiistitut.  Divin.  ii.  14 — 19. 

•*  Tertullian  (Apolog.  c.  23)  alleges  the  confest^ion  jf  the  dKmom 
themselves  as  often  as  thev  were  tormented  by  the  Christian  excrcisU 


524  THE  DECLINE  AND  FAU        [A.  D.  323 

of  polytheism  were  closely  interwoven  with  every  circum- 
stance of  business  or  pleasure,  of  public  or  of  private  life  * 
and  it  seemed  impossible  to  escape  the  observance  of  them, 
without,  at  the  same  time,  renouncing  the  commerce  of  man- 
kind, and  all  the  offices  and  amusements  of  society.*"  The 
important  transactions  of  peace  and  war  were  prepared  or 
concluded  by  solemn  sacrifices,  in  which  the  magistrate,  the 
senator,  and  the  soldier,  were  obliged  to  preside  or  to  partici- 
pate.'*' The  public  spectacles  were  an  essential  part  of  the 
cheerful  devotion  of  the  Pagans,  and  the  gods  were  supposed 
to  accept,  as  the  most  grateful  offering,  the  games  that  the 
prince  and  people  celebrated  in  honor  of  their  peculiar  fes- 
tivals." The  Christians,  who  with  pious  horror  avoided  the 
abomination  of  the  circus  or  the  theatre,  found  himself  encom- 
passed with  infernal  snares  in  every  convi\ial  entertainment, 
as  often  as  his  friends,  invoking  the  hospitable  deities,  poured 
out  libations  to  each  other's  happiness.''^  When  the  bride, 
struggling  with  well-atfected  reluctance,  was  forced  into  hyme- 
nseal  pomp  over  the  threshold  of  her  new  habitation,"  or 
when  the  sad  procession  of  the  dead  slowly  moved  towards 
the  funeral  pile ;"  the  Christian,  on    these    interesting   occa- 

*"  TertuUian  has  written  a  most  severe  treatise  against  idolatry,  tc 
caution  his  brethren  against  the  hourly  danger  of  incurring  that  guilt. 
Rtcogita  sylvam,  et  quantje  latitant  spinte.     De  Corona  MiUtis,  c.  10. 

■"  The  Roman  senate  was  always  held  in  a  temple  or  consecrated 
place.  (Aulus  GelUus,  xiv.  7.)  Before  they  entered  on  business,  every 
senator  dropped  some  wine  and  frankincense  ou  the  altar.  Sueton.  ia 
August,  c.  35. 

*'■'  See  TertuUian,  De  Spectaculis.  This  severe  reformer  shows  no 
more  indulgence  to  a  tragedy  of  Euripides,  than  to  a  combat  of  gladi- 
ators. Tlie  dress  of  the  actors  particularly  offends  him.  By  the  use 
of  the  lofty  buskin,  they  unpiously  strive  to  add  a  cubit  to  their 
etature.   c.  23. 

*^  The  ancient  practice  of  concluding  the  entertainment  witli  liba- 
tions, may  be  found  in  every  classic.  Socrates  and  Seneca,  in  their 
last  moments,  made  a  noble  application  of  this  custom.  Postquam 
fitagnura,  calidte  aquai  introiit,  respergens  proximos  servorum,  addita 
voc<;,  libare  se  liquorem  ilium  Jovi  Liberatori.     Tacit.  Annal.  xv.  64. 

"  See  the  elegant  but  idolatrous  hymn  of  Catullus,  on  the  nuptials 
of  Manlius  and  Julia.  O  Hymen,  Hymenaie  lo !  Quis  huic  Deo 
compaiarier  ausit? 

*^  The  ancient  funerals  (in  those  of  Misenus  and  Pallas)  are  no  less 
accurately  described  by  Virgil,  than  they  are  illustrated  by  tis  com- 
mentator Servius.  The  pile  itself  was  an  altar,  the  flames  were  fed 
with  the  blood  of  victims,  and  all  the  assistants  were  sprinkled  witli 
lusiral  water. 


/LD.  323.]  OF  riiE  koman  emi'Iue.  631 

sions,  was  compelled  (,o  desert  the  jiei-soiis  who  were-  the  dear- 
est to  him,  rather  than  contract  the  uuilt  inherent  to  thosj  im- 
pious ceremonies.  Every  art  and  e\ery  trade  that  was  in  tlio 
least  concerned  in  the,  Iramini^  or  adurning  of  idols  w;vs  pol- 
luted by  the  stain  of  idolatry  ;"  a  severe  sentence,  since  it 
devoted  to  eternal  misery  the  far  greater  part  of  the  commu- 
nity, which  is  employed  in  the  exercise  of  liberal  or  mechanic 
professions.  If  we  cast  our  eyes  over  the  numerous  rt-mains 
of  antiquity,  we  shall  perceive,  that  besides  the  imminliato 
representations  of  the  gods,  and  the  holy  instruments  of  their 
worship,  the  elegant  forms  and  agreeable  fictions  consecrated 
by  the  imagination  of  the  Greeks,  were  introduced  as  tho 
'ichest  ornaments  of  the  houses,  the  dress,  and  the  furniture 
of  the  Pagan."  Even  the  arts  of  music  and  painting,  of  elo- 
quence and  poetry,  flowed  from  the  same  impure  origin.  In 
':he  style  of  the  fathers,  Apollo  and  tlie  Muses  were  the  organs 
of  the  infernal  spirit;  Homer  and  Virgil  were  the  most  emi- 
nent of  his  servants ;  and  the  beautiful  mythology  which  per- 
vades and  animates  the  compositions  of  their  genius,  is  des- 
tined to  celebrate  the  glory  of  the  daemons.  Even  the  com- 
mon language  of  Greece  and  Rome  abounded  with  familiar 
but  impious  expressions,  which  the  imprudent  Christian  might 
too  carelessly  utter,  or  too  patiently  hear.'" 

The  dangerous  temptations  which  on  every  side  lurkfd  in 
ambush  to  surprise  the  unguarded  believer,  assailed  him  with 
redoubled  violence  on  the  days  of  solemn  festivals.  So  art- 
fully were  they  framed  and  dispost-d  throughout  the  year,  that 
superstition    always    wore    the    appearance   of  pleasure,    and 


*"  TortuUian  de  Idololatria,  c.  11.* 

*''  Sco  livery  part  of  Moutt'aucon's  Aiitic(uitius.  Even  the  rfve'sca 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  cuius  were  frequently  of  an  idolatri.iis 
nature.  Here  indeed  the  scruples  of  the  Chri-itiaii  were  susp.'iided 
by  a  stronger  passion.f 

"  Tertullian  de  Idololatria,  c.  20,  21,  22.  If  a  Pagan  friend  On 
the  occasion  perhaps  of  sneezing)  used  the  fanuhar  expression  of 
-  Jupiter  bless  you,"  the  Christian  was  obliged  to  protest  against  the 
dignity  of  Jupiter. 

»  Til.'  cxa'-fforateii  and  declamatory  opinions  of  Tortiillian  oiikIh  iiol 
IC  he  laken  as^llic  gt-ncr-A  sonliin(,Mit  oi"  the  early  Clirisliuiis.  GiIiIm.ii  Una 
too  often  allowed  himself  to  consider  the  preulmr  notuins  of  certain 
Fathers  of  the  Chnich  as  inherent  in  Chiistiauity.     This  is  not  uccurnlu. 

t  All  this  sinipulous  nicety  is  nt  variance  with  the  derision  of  Bl  PtuI 
iliout  meat  oU'ered  '»  idols,  1  Cor.  x.  ','1—  :j-'.— M. 


$26  TUE    DECLINE    AND    FAL\  j  A.  D.  323^ 

often  of  virtue.  Some  of  the  most  sacred  festivals  in  th« 
Roman  ritual  were  destined  to  salute  the  new  calends  of 
January  with  vows  of  public  and  private  felicity  ;  to  indulge  the 
pious  remembrance  of  the  dead  and  living ;  to  ascertain  the  in- 
violable bounds  of  property ;  to  hail,  on  the  return  of  spring, 
the  genial  powers  of  fecundity  ;  to  perpetuate  the  two  memora- 
ble aeras  of  Rome,  the  foundation  of  the  city  and  that  of  the 
republic ,  and  to  restore,  during  the  humane  license  of  the  Satur- 
nalia, the  primitive  equality  of  mankind.  Some  idea  may  be 
conceived  of  the  abhorrence  of  the  Christians  for  such  impious 
ceremonies,  by  the  scrupulous  delicacy  which  they  displayed  on 
a  much  less  alarming  occasion.  On  days  of  general  festivity,  it 
was  the  custoni  of  the  ancients  to  adorn  their  doors  with 
lamps  and  with  branches  of  laurel,  and  to  crown  their  heads 
with  a  garland  of  flowers.  This  innocent  and  elegant  practice 
Bjight  perhaps  have  been  tolerated  as  a  mere  civil  institution. 
But  it  most  unluckily  happened  that  the  doors  were  under  the 
protection  of  the  household  gods,  that  the  laurel  was  sacred  to 
the  lover  of  Daphne,  and  that  garlands  of  flowers,  though 
frequently  worn  as  a  symbol  of  joy  or  mourning,  had  been 
dedicated  in  their  first  origin  to  the  service  of  superstition. 
t  The  trembling  Christians,  who  were  persuaded  in  this  instance 
j  to  comply  witli  the  fashion  of  their  country,  and  the  commands 
V  of  the  magistrate,  labored  under  the  most  gloomy  appre- 
\hensions,  from  the  reproaches  of  his  own  conscience,  the 
.censures  of  the  church,  and  the  denunciations  of  divine  ven- 
geance.^" 

*'  Consult  the  most  labored  work  of  Ovid,  his  imperfect  Fasti.  He 
finished  no  more  than  the  first  six  months  of  tlic  year.  The  compila- 
tion of  Macrobius  is  called  tlie  Saturnalia,  but  it  is  only  a  small  part 
of  the  first  hook  that  bears  any  relation  to  the  title. 

'"  Tertullian  has  composed  a  defence,  or  rather  panegyric,  of  the 
rash  action  of  a  Christian  soldier,  who,  by  throwing  away  his  crown  of 
lam'el,  h.ad  exposed  hmiself  and  his  brethren  to  the  most  imminent 
danger."  By  the  mention  of  the  einpcrors,  (Severus  and  CaracuUa,)  it 
„  is  evident,  notwithstanding  the  wishes  of  M.  de  Tillemont,  that  Tertul- 
lian composed  Iiis  treatise  De  Corona  long  before  he  was  engaged  \x 
the  errors  of  the  Montanists.  See  Memoires  Ecclcsiastiques,  t<tm.  iij.  p, 
S84,t 

"  The  soldier  did  not  tear  olT  his  crown  to  throw  it  down  with  conlenipt ; 
be  did  not  even  throw  it  uvsay ;  he  held  it  in  his  hand,  %vliile  ollioiB  wore  ii 
oa  their  heads.     Solus  libcro  capite,  oi'nameuto  in  manu  otioso. — G 

t  Tertullian  docs  not  expressly  name  the  two  emperors,  Scvcnis  anJ 
C&racnlla  ;  ho  sjcuks  only  of  t\\  o  eujperor.s   and  et  a  long  peace  wlii.lj  the 


A-J).  323.J  OF  inE  uoman  emi'Ike.  62*! 

Such  was  the  anxious  iiliironce  wliioli  was  ivqniicd  to  iruard 
the  chastity  of  the  gospel  tVoin  the  infectious  i^i-caUi'of  idolatry. 
The  superstitious  observances  of  pubhc  or  private  rites"  wero 
carelessly  practised,  from  education  and  habit,  by  the  followers  1/ 
of  the  established  religion.  ]3ut  as  often  as  they' occurred,  they 
aftbrdcd  the  Christians  an  opportunity  of  declaring  and  con- 
finning  their  zealous  oj)position.  By  these  frequent  ])njt<-sta- 
lions  their  attachment  to  the  faith  was  continually  f urtitied ; 
and  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  zeal,  they  combat('(l  with 
the  more  ardor  and  success  in  the  holy  war,  which  they  had 
undertaken  against  the  empire  of  the  demons. 

II.  The  writings  of  Cicero"  represent  in  the  most  lively 
colors  the  ignorance,  the  eiTors,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the 
ancient  philosophers  with  regard  to  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  When  they  are  desirous  of  arming  their  disciples  against 
the  fear  of  death,  they  inculcate,  as  an  obvious,  though  melan- 
choly position,  that  the  fatal  stroke  of  our  dissolution  rele;use.s 
us  from  the  calamities  of  life ;  and  that  those  can  no  longer 
suffer,  who  no  longer  exist.  Yet  there  were  a  few  sages 
of  Greece  and  Rome  who  had  conceived  a  more  e.xalted, 
and,  in  some  respects,  a  juster  idea  of  human  nature,  though 
it  must  be  confessed,  that  in  the  sublime  inquiry,  their  reason 
had  been  often  guided  by  their  imagination,  and  that  tlicii 
imagination  had  been  prompted  by  their  vanity/'  When  they 
viewed  with  complacency  the  extent  of  their  own  mental 
powers,  when  they  exercised  the  various  faculties  of  memory, 
of  fancy,  and  of  judgment,  in  the  most  profound  speculations, 
or  the  most  important  labors,  and  when  they  reflected  on  the 
desire  of  fame,  which  transported  them  into  future  ages,  far 
beyond   the  bounds  of  death  and  of  the  grave,  they  were 


■*'  In  particular,  the  first  book  of  the  Tuscvil.an  Questions,  and  the 
treatise  De  ISonectute,  and  the  Soninium  Scipionis,  contain,  in  the 
most  bjauliful  language,  every  thing  tliat  Grecian  philosopliy,  oi 
Roman  good  sense,  could  possibly  suggest  on  this  dark  hut  important 
object. 

church  had  enjoyed.  It  is  generally  agreed  thai  TcrtuUiaii  hocanio  a  Montt- 
nist  about  the  year  200  :  his  work,  de  Corona  Mihiis,  appears  to  have  bt>on 
written,  at  the  earHost  about  the  year  202  before  the  persecution  of  iSevemH: 
it  may  be  maintained,  then,  that  it  is  siibsennent  to  the  Momanisra  of  tha 
author.  See  Mosheim,  Diss,  dc  Apot  TertuH.  p.  53.  Hibiioili.  -(lis.  AmHtorc. 
lom.  X.  part  ii.  p.  2U2.     Cave's  Hist.  Lit.  p.  92,  03.~(} 

The  state  of  Tcrtulliau's  opini(uis  at  the  particular  j)ori(ii3  •«  almost  an  idl« 
quegtion.  "  The  fiery  Africim"  is  nut  at  any  lime  to  be  .•onsidered  a  fail 
»»prt  at-ulative  yf  Cliri.'^iianity.— M 


628  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D,  32S 

anwillin^-  to  ojnfoimd  themselves  with  the  beasts  of  the  Geld, 
or  to  suppose  that  a  being,  for  who^e  dignity  they  entertained 
the  most  sincere  admiration,  could  be  limited  to  a  spot  of  earth, 
and  to  a  few  years  of  duration.  With  this  favorable  prepos- 
session they  summoned  to  their  aid  the  science,  or  rather  the 
language,  of  Metaphysics.  They  soon  discovered,  that  aa 
n(  ne  of  the  properties  of  matter  will  apply  to  the  operations  of 
^k^■)  mind,  the  human  soul  must  consequently  be  a  substance 
distinct  from  the  body,  pure,  simple,  and  spiritual,  incapable  of 
dissolution,  and  susceptible  of  a  much  higher  degree  of  virtue 
and  happiness  after  the  release  from  its  corporeal  prison. 
From  these  specious  and  noble  principles,  the  philosophers  who 
trod  in  the  footsteps  of  Plato  deduced  a  very  unjustifiable  con- 
chision,  since  they  asserted,  not  only  the  future  immortality, 
but  the  past  eternity,  of  the  human  soul,  which  they  were  too 
apt  to  consider  as  a  portion  of  the  infinite  and  self-existing 
s|)irit,  which  pervades  and  sustains  the  universe.^*  A  doctrine 
thus  removed  beyond  the  senses  and  the  experience  of  man- 
kind, might  serve  to  amuse  the  leisure  of  a  philosophic  mind ; 
or,  in  the  silence  of  solitude,  it  might  sometimes  impait  a  ray 
of  comfort  to  desponding  virtue ;  but  the  faint  impression 
which  had  been  received  in  the  schools,  was  soon  obliterated 
by  the  commerce  and  business  of  active  life.  We  are  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  eminent  persons  who  flourished  in  the  age 
of  Cicero,  and  of  the  first  Caesars,  with  their  actions,  their 
characters,  and  their  motives,  to  be  assured  that  their  conduct 
in  this  life  was  never  regulated  by  any  serious  conviction  of  the 
rewards  or  punishments  of  a  future  state.  At  the  bar  and  in 
the  senate  of  Rome  the  ablest  orators  were  not  apprehensive 
of  giving  offence  to  their  hearers,  by  exposing  that  doctrine 
as  an  idle  and  extravagant  opinion,  which  was  rejected 
with  contempt  by  every  man  of  a  liberal  education  and  unde?- 
4anding." 

Since  therefore  the  most  sublime  efforts  of  philosophy  can 
extend  no  further  than  feebly  to  point  out  the  desire,  the  hope, 


"  The  preexistence  of  human  souls,  so  far  at  least  as  that  doctrine 
is  romjjatible  witli  religion,  was  adopted  by  many  of  the  Greek  aad 
iMiii  fathers.     See  Beausobre,  Hist,  du  Manichei.^me,  1.  vi.  c.  4. 

°'  See  Cicero  pro  Ciuent  c.  Gl.  CiEsar  ap.  Sallust.  de  Beil.  Ca!i& 
yfiO.     Juvenal.  Satir.  ii.  149. 

Js.se  aliiiuifl  manes,  et  suVrtenanca  regna, 

ec  pueri  crediiiit,  nisi  (jiii  nonduni  a'rc  lavantRr. 


A.D.  323.)  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMl'IllE,  329 

or,  at  most,  the  probability,  of  a  future  state,  there  is  iioLliinj;, 
except  a  divine  revelation,  that  can  aseertiiin  the  existence, 
and  describe  tlie  condition,  of  the  invisible  country  which  Is 
iestined  to  receive  the  souls  of  men  after  their  separation  frotn> 
che  body.  But  we  may  perceive  several  defects  inherent  to  the 
popular  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  which  rendered  them 
very  unequal  to  so  arduous  a  task.  1.  The  general  system  of  U 
their  mythology  was  unsupported  by  any  solid  proofs  ;  and  the 
wisest  among  the  Pagans  had  ahvady  disclaimed  its  usurpcl 
authority.  2.  The  description  of  the  infernal  regions  liao  • 
been  abandoned  to  the  fancy  of  painters  and  of  poet'^,  who 
peopled  them  with  so  many  phantoms  and  monstei-s,  who  dis- 
pensed their  rewards  and  punishments  with  so  little  equity, 
that  a  solemn  truth,  the  most  congenial  to  the  human  heart, 
was  opposed  and  disgraced  by  the  absurd  mixture  of  the 
wildest  fictions."  3.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  stitc  was  \ 
scarcely  considered  among  the  devout  polytheists  of  Greece 
and  Rome  as  a  fundamental  article  of  faith.  The  providence 
of  the  gods,  as  it  related  to  public  communities  rather  than  to 
private  individuals,  was  principally  displayed  on  the  visible 
theatre  of  the  present  world.  The  petitions  which  were 
offered  on  the  altars  of  Jupiter  or  Apollo,  expressed  the  anx- 
iety of  their  worshippers  for  temporal  happiness,  and  thcil 
ignorance  or  indifference  concerning  a  future  life."  The  im- 
portant truth  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was  inculcated  with 
more  dihgence,  as  well  as  success,  in  India,  in  Assyria,  in 
Egypt,  and  in  Gaul ;  and  since  we  cannot  attribute  such  a 
dift'erence  to  the  superior  knowledge  of  the  barbarians,  we 
must  ascribe  it  to  the  influence  of  an  established  priesthood, 
which  employed  the  motives  of  virtue  as  the  instrument  of 
ambition.'^ 

"  The  xith  book  of  the  Ody«></  gives  a  very  dre.iry  and  incoherent 
account  of  the  infernal  shades.  Pindar  and  Virgil  have  embfUished 
the  picture ;  but  even  thooO  poets,  tliough  more  correct  thiui  thnir 
E;reat  model,  are  guilty  rf  very  strange  inconsistencies.  Sec  Bayle, 
Uesponses  aux  Question?  d'un  I'rovinciid,  ]):irt  iii.  c.  22. 

"  See  xvith  eyjistle  of  the  first  book  of  Horace,  the  xiiitli  Satire  of 
Juvenal,  and  the  iid  Satire  of  Persius :  these  popular  discourses  ex- 
press the  sentiment  awl  language  of  tlie  multitude. 

^"  If  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  IJauls,  we  may  observe,  that  fliey 
intrusted,  not  only  their  fives,  but  even  their  money,  to  the  .■security 
of  another  v/orld.  "Vetus  illc  mos  Oallorum  occurrit  (says  Vah-rins 
Maximus,  1.  ii  r.  5,  p.  10)  quos,  meinoriii  prodituin  est  jiecuiuai 
nmluas,  (pu«  his  apud  iuferosi  reddurcntur,  dar-;   solito.^.      I'lic    naiuw 

''OL.  I — Z 


MO  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  32S, 

We  might  naturally  expect  that  a  princi])le  ?K)  ussential  to 
religion,  would  have  been  revealed  in  the  clearest  terms  to  the 
chosen  people  of  Palestine,  and  that  it  might  safely  have  been 
intrusted  to  the  hereditary  priesthood  of  Aaron.  It  is  incum- 
bent on  us  to  adore  the  mysterious  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence," when  we   discover  that  the   doctrine  of  the  immor 


custom  is  more  darkly  insinuated  by  Mela,  1.  iii.  c.  2.  I^  is  aimosi 
needless  to  add,  that  the  profits  of  trade  hold  a  just  proportion  to  the 
credit  of  the  merchant,  and  that  the  Druids  derived  from  their  holy 
profession  a  character  of  responsil)iUty,  which  could  scarcely  be  claimed 
by  any  other  order  of  men. 

"  The  right  reverend  author  of  the  Divine  Legation  of  Moses  as- 
signs a  very  curious  reason  for  tlie  omission,  and  most  ingeniously  re- 
torts it  on  the  unbelievers.* 


*  The  hypothesis  of  Warburton  concerning  this  remarkable  fact,  whicn, 
as  far  as  the  Law  of  Moses,  is  unquestionable,  made  few  disciples;  and  it 
is  difficult  to  suppose  that  it  could  be  intended  by  the  author  himself  for 
more  than  a  disjilay  of  intellectual  strength.  Modei-n  -writers  have  ac- 
counted in  various  ways  for  the  silence  of  the  Hebrew  legislator  on  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  According  to  Michaelis,  "  Moses  wrote  as  an 
historian  and  as  a  lawgiver :  he  regulated  the  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
rather  than  the  religious  belief  of  his  people ;  and  the  sanctions  of  the 
law  being  temporal,  he  had  no  occasion,  and  as  a  civil  legislator  could  not 
with  propriety,  threaten  punishments  in  another  world.''  See  Michaelis, 
Laws  of  Moses,  art.  272.  vol.  iv.  p.  209,  Eng.  Trans. ;  and  Syntagma  Com- 
mentationum,  p.  SO,  quoted  by  Guizot.  M.  Guizot  adds,  the  "  ingenious 
conjecture  of  a  philosophic  theologian,"  which  approxmiatqs  to  an  opinion 
long  entertained  by  the  Editor.  That  writer  believes,  that  in  the  state 
of  civilization  at  the  time  of  the  legislator,  this  doctrine,  become  popular 
among  the  Je^vs,  would  necessarily  have  given  birth  to  a  multitude  of 
idolatrous  superstitions  which  he  wished  to  prevent.  His  primary  object 
^vas  to  establish  a  firm  theocracy,  to  make  his  people  the  conservators  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Unitj",  the  basis  upon  which  Christianity  was 
hereafter  to  rest.  He  carefully  excluded  everything  which  could  obscure 
or  weaken  that  doctrine.  Other  nations  had  strangely  abused  their  notions 
on  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  Moses  wished  to  prevent  this  abuse  :  hence 
he  forbade  the  Jews  from  consulting  necromancers,  (those  who  evoke  the 
spirits  of  the  dead.)  Deut.  xviii.  11.  Those  who  reflect  on  the  state  of 
the  Pagans  and  the  Jews,  and  on  the  lacility  with  which  idolatry  crept  iu 
on  every  side,  will  not  be  astonished  that  Moses  has  not  developed  a  doctrine 
of  which  the  influence  might  be  more  pernicious  than  usefiil  to  his  people. 
Orat.  Fest.  de  Vitae  Immort.  Spe.,  &c.,  auct.  Ph.  Alb.  Stapfer,  p  IS  13,  20. 
Benie,  1787. 

Moses,  as  well  fi-om  the  intimations  scattered  in  his  writings,  the  passage 
relating  to  the  translation  of  Enoch,  (Gen.  v.  24,)  the  prohibition  of 
necromancy,  (Michaelis  believes  him  to  be  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Job 
though  this  opinion  is  in  general  rejected ;  other  learned  writers  considei 
this  Book  to  be  coeval  with  and  known  to  Muses,)  as  from  his  long  resi 
dence  in  Egypt,  and  his  acquaintance  with  Egyptian  wisdom,  could  not  b» 
ignorant  of  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  But  this  doctrine 
if  popularly  known  among  the  Jews,  must  have  been  purely  Egyptian,  and, 
KB  so,  intimately  cormected  v.uth  the  whole  religious  system  of  that  coun 
try.     It  was  no  doubt  nwulded  up  with  the  tenet  of  the  transmigration  ol 


A.  D.  323]  OF  riiE  roman  emi'ire.  A8I 

tality  of  the  soul  is  OTnittod  in  the  law  of  Mobos  it  is  ilarkly 
insinuated  by  the  propliets ;  and  durino^  the  lon<r  period  which 
elapsed  between  the  Egyptian  and  the  IJabylonian  servitudes, 
Ihe  hopes  as  well  as  fears  of  the  Jews  appear  to  have  b<'en 
confined  within  the  narrow  compass  of  the  pr.'sout  life."  Af- 
ter Cyrus  had  permitted  the  exiled  nation  to  return  into  the 
promised  land,  and  after  Ezra  had  restored  the  ancient  records 
of  their  religion,  two  celebrated  sects,  the  Sadducees  and 
the  Pharisees,  insensibly  arose  at  Jerusalem,"  The  former, 
Gelected  from  the  more  opulent  and  distiiiguislied  ranks  of 
society,  were  strictly  attached  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  they  piously  rejected  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  as 
an  opinion  that  received  no  countenance  from  the  divine  book, 
which  they  revered  as  the  only  rule  of  their  faith.  To  the 
authority  of  Scripture  the  Pharisees  added  that  of  tradition,  and 
they  accepted,  under  the  name  of  traditions,  several  specula- 
tive tenets  from  the  philosophy  or  religion  of  the  eastern 
nations.  The  doctrines  of  fate  or  predestination,  of  angels 
and  spirits,  and  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  pnnishments, 
were  in  the  number  of  these  new  articles  of  belief;  and  as 
the  Pharisees,  by  the  austerity  of  their  manners,  had  drawn 
into  their  party  the  body  of  the  Jewish  people,  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  became  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  thi^  synagogue, 
under  the  reign  of  the  Asmon;ean  princes  and  ponlills.     The 


"  See   Lc  Clerc  (Prolegomena  ad  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  sect.  1,  c.  8 
His  authority  seems  to  carry  the  greater  weight,  as  he  has  written  r 
learned  and  judicious  commentary  on  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

'*'  Joseph.  Antiquitat.  1.  xiil.  c.  10.  De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  8.  According 
to  the  most  natm'al  interpretation  of  his  words,  the  Sadducees  a(hnit- 
ted  only  the  Pentateucli ;  but  it  has  pleased  some  modern  critics  to 
add  tiie  Prophets  to  their  creed,  and  to  suppose  tliat  they  contented 
themselves  with  rejecting  the  traditions  of  the  Phari.'iees.  Dr.  Jortin 
lias  argued  that  point  hi  his  Remarks  on  Ecclesiastical  History,  voL 
ii.  p.  103.  

the  soul,  perhaps  with  notions  analogous  to  the  emanation  system  of  Iiulia, 
in  wliicli  the  human  soul  was  an  cIUu.k  from,  or  iiuleerl  a  part  of.  the  Deity 
n-.e  Mosaic  religion  drew  a  wide  and  impassable  iutcrval  tiotwecii  tli« 
Creator  and  created  human  beiugs :  in  this  it  dillercd  from  the  Ej:yptiiui 
and  all  the  Eastern  religions.  As  then  the  immortality  of  the  soul  wai 
thus  inseparably  blended  with  those  foreign  religions  which  were  altogothoi 
to  be  effaced  from  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  by  no  means  nccossarj-  foi 
the  establishment  of  the  theocracy,  Moses  niaintaiiie<i  silence  on  this  point, 
•nd  a  purer  notion  of  it  was  left  io  be  developed  at  a  mere  favurable  period 
bp  the  hietory  of  man.— M. 


S82  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  32* 

temper  of  the  Jews  was  incapable  of  contening  itself  with 
ruch  a  cold  and  languid  assent  as  might  satisfy  Ihc  mind  of  a 
Polytheist ;  and  as  soon  as  they  admitted  the  idea  of  a  futuie 
Btate,  they  embraced  it  with  the  zeal  which  has  always  formed 
>he  characteristic  of  the  nation.  Their  zeal,  however,  added 
tiothing  to  its  evidence,  or  even  probability :  and  it  was  still 
necessary  that  the  doctrine  of  life  and  immortality,  which  had 
been  dictated  by  nature,  approved  by  reason,  and  received  by 
superstition,  should  obtain  the  sanction  of  divine  truth  from 
the  authorit}^  and  example  of  Christ. 

"When  the  promise  of  eternal  happiness  was  proposed  to 
"  mankind  on  condition  of  adopting  the  faith,  and  of  observing 
'  the  precepts,  of  the  gospel,  it  is  no  wonder  that  so  advanta- 
geous an  offer  should  have  been  accepted  by  great  numbers  of 
every  religion,  of  every  rank,  and  of  every  province  in  the 
Roman  empire.  The  ancient  Christians  were  animated  by  a 
contempt  for  their  present  existence,  and  by  a  just  conlidence 
of  immortality,  of  which  the  doubtful  and  imperfect  faith  of 
modern  ages  cannot  give  us  any  adequate  notion.  In  tho 
primitive  church,  the  influence  of  truth  was  very  powerfully 
strengthened  by  an  opinion,  which,  .however  it  may  deserve 
respect  for  its  usefulness  and  antiquity,  has  not  been  found 
agreeable  to  experience.  It  was  universally  believed,  that  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  were  at  hand.* 
The  near  approach  of  this  wonderful  event  had  been  predicted 
by  the  apostles ;  the  tradition  of  it  was  preserved  by  their 
earliest  disciples,  and  those  who  understood  in  their  literal 
senses  the  discourse  of  Christ  himself,  were  obliged  to  expect 
the  second  and  glorious  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  the 
clouds,  before  that  generation  was  totally  extinguished,  which 
had  beheld  his  humble  condition  upon  earth,  and  which  might 
still  be  witness  of  the  calamities  of  the  Jews  under  Vespasian 
or  Hadrian.  The  revolution  of  seventeen  centuries  has  in- 
structed us  not  to  press  too  closely  the  mysterious  language 
of  prophecy  and  revelation ;  but  as  long  as,  for  wise  purposes, 
this  error  was  permitted  to  subsist  in  the  church,  it  was  pro- 
ductive of  the  most  salutary  effects  on  the  feith  and  practice 
of  Christians,  who  lived  in  the  awful  expectation  of  that 
moment,  when  the  globe  itself,  and  all  the  various  race  of 

*  This  was,  in  fact,  an  integval  part  of  the  Jewish  notion  of  the  Mos- 
liah,  frona  ^^hiI:h  the  minds  of  the  apostles  themselves  were  but  graduallj 
detP£hcd.    See    Beriholdt,   Christologia    Judasoruiu,   concluding    chaptcru 


A.D.  323.]  OP  THE  roman  kmpirh.  M% 

mankind,  sliotild  tremble  at  the  appearance  of  their  divine 
Judge.'" 

The  ancient  and  popular  doctrine  of  the  Miiloiiniiiin  was 
intimately  connected  with  the  second  comini;  of  Christ,  As 
the  works  of  the  creation  had  been  finished  in  six  days,  their 
duration  in  their  present  state,  according  to  a  tradit'on  whicli 
was  attributed  to  the  prophet  Elijali,  was  fixed  to  six  thousand 
years."  By  the  same  analogy  it  was  inferred,  that  this  loup 
period  of  labor  and  contention,  which  was  now  almost  elapsed,*' 

/••  This  expectation  was  countenanced  by  tlie  twenty-fourth  chaptei 
of  St.  Matthew,  and  by  the  first  epistle  of  St  Paul  to  the  Tliossalo 
nians.  Erasmus  removes  the  difficulty  by  tlie  help  of  allc<jory  .ind 
metaphor;  and  the  learned  Grotius  ventures  to  insinuate,  tliat,  for 
wise  purposes,  the  pious  deception  was  permitted  to  Uike  jilaco.* 

"^  See  Burnet's  Sacred  Theory,  part  iii.  c  5.  This  tradition  may  bo 
traced  as  high  as  the  the  author  of  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  who  wrote  in 
the  first  century,  and  who  seems  to  have  been  half  a  Jew.f 

**  The  primitive  church  of  Antioch  computed  almost  6000  years 
from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  birth  of  Christ.  Africanus^ 
Lactantius,  and  the  Greek  church,  have  reduced  tliat  number  to  6500^ 
and  Eusebius  has  contented  himself  with  5200  years.  These  calcu. 
lations  were  formed  on  the   Septuagint,  which  was  universally  re 


•  Some  modem  Ihoologians  explain  it  without  cli.scovcrin5  eiilicr  alle 
goiy  or  deception.  They  say.  that  .lesus  Christ,  after  having  pro<-lainie« 
the  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  Temple,  speaks  of  liis  second  corniu),' 
and  the  signs  which  were  to  precede  it;  but  those  who  believed  that  ll-.c 
moment  was  near  deceived  themselves  as  to  the  sense  of  two  words,  ac 
en-or  which  still  subsists  in  our  versions  of  the  Gospel  according-  to  St. 
Matthew,  xxiv.  29,  34.  In  verse  29,  we  read,  "  Immediately  after  ilie  trib- 
ulation of  those  days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,"  Ac.  The  Greek  word 
tidcoi;  signifies  all  al  once,  f.vddciih/,  not  immcdialilt/ ;  so  that  it  signilicu 
only  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  signs  which  Jesus  Christ  aniiounccH 
not  the  shortness  of  the  interval  which  was  to  separate  thcni  from  tht 
"days  of  tribulation,"  of  which  he  was  jipeaking.  The  verse  34  is  this 
"  Verily  I  s.ay  unto  you.  This  generation  shall  not  pass  till  all  these  thinjf 
shall  be  fulfilled."  Jesus,  speaking  to  his  disciples,  uses  these  words,  airi 
ytvta,  which  the  translators  have  rendered  by  this  generation,  but  wliici 
means  the  race,  the  filiation  of  my  disciples ;  that  is,  he  speaks  of  a  cla« 
of  men,  not  of  a  generation.  The  true  sense  then,  according  to  ihe.tt 
learned  men,  is,  In  truth  I  tell  you  that  this  race  of  men,  of  which  you  are 
the  commencement,  shall  not  pass  away  till  this  sh.ill  take  place;  Uiat  ii 
to  say,  the  succession  of  Christians  shall  not  cease  till  his  conunij.  Soa 
Commentary  of  M.  Paulus  on  the  New  Test.,  edit.  1802,  tom.  m.  p.  443. 

446.— G. 

Others,  as  Rosenmuller  and  Kuinoel,  m  loc,  confine  this  passngc  to  I 
bighly  figurative  description  of  the  ruins  of  the  Jewish  city  and   polity. 

t  in  fact  it  is  purely  Jewish.  See  Mosheim,  De  llcb.  Christ,  ii.  8.  LiRkt- 
foot's  Works,  8vo.  edit  vol.  iii.  p.  37.  Berlholdt,  Cliristologia  Jad»onia» 
en.  33.— M. 


034  THE    DECLINE    Al.D    FALL  [A.  D.  323. 

would  be  succeeded  by  a  joyful  Sabbath  of  a  thousand  years; 
and  that  Christ,  with  the  triumphant  band  of  the  saints  and  the 
elect  who  had  escaped  death,  or  who  had  been  miraculously 
revived,  would  reign  upon  earth  till  the  time  appointed  for  tha 
last  and  general  resurrection.  So  pleasing  was  this  hope  to 
the  mind  of  believers,  that  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  seat  of 
this  blissful  kingdom,  was  quickly  adorned  with  all  the  gayest 
colors  of  the  imagination.  A  felicity  consisting  only  of  pure 
and  spii'itual  pleasure  would  have  appeared  too  retined  for  i(>> 
inhabitants,  who  were  still  supposed  to  possess  their  human 
nature  and  senses.  A  garden  of  Eden,  with  the  amusements 
of  the  pastoral  life,  was  no  longer  suited  to  the  advanced  state 
of  society  which  prevailed  under  the  Roman  empire.  A  city 
was  therefore  erected  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  a 
supernatural  plenty  of  corn  and  wine  was  bestowed  on  the 
adjacent  territory ;  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  whose  sponta- 
neous productions,  the  happy  and  benevolent  people  was 
pever  to  be  restrained  by  any  jealous  laws  of  exclusive  prop- 
f.rty/^  The  assurance  of  such  a  Millennium  was  carefully 
iy^culcated  by  a  succession  of  fathers  from  Justin  Martyr,'* 
^.nd  Irenseus,  who  conversed  with  the  immediate  disciples  of 
'he  apostles,  down  to  Lactantius,  who  was  preceptor  to  the 
Jon  of  Constantine."     Though   it  might  not  be  universally 


ceived  during  the  six  first  centuries.  The  authority  of  the  vulgate 
ind  of  the  Hebrew  text  has  determined  the  moderns,  Protestants  as 
well  as  Catholics,  to  prefer  a  period  of  about  4000  years ;  though,  in 
)he  study  of  profane  antiquity,  they  often  find  themselves  straitened 
)»y  those  narrow  hmits.* 

°^  Most  of  these  pictures  were  borrowed  from  a  misrepresentation 
of  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  the  Apocalypse.  One  of  the  grossest  images 
may  be  found  in  Irenajus,  (1.  v.  p.  455,)  the  disciple  of  Papias,  who  had 
Been  the  apostle  St.  John. 

^*  See  the  second  dialogue  of  Justin  with  Triphon,  and  tlie  seventh 
book  of  Lactantius.  It  is  unnecessary  to  allege  all  the  intermediate 
fathers,  as  the  fiict  is  not  disputed.  Yet  the  curious  reader  may 
consult  Daille  de  Uus  Patrum,  1.  ii.  c.  4. 

"^  The  testimony  of  Justin  of  his  own  faith  and  that  of  his  ortho- 
dox brethien,  in  tlie  doctrine  of  a  Millennium,  is  delivered  in  the 


"  Most  of  the  more  learaed  modern  English  Protestants,  Dr.  Halea,  Mr. 
Faber,  Dr.  Russel,  as  well  as  the  Continental  vv'riters,  adopt  the  larger 
chronoloiry.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  naiTower  sj-stem  was  framed  by 
Ihe  Jews" of  Tiberias;  it  was  clearly  neither  that  of  St.  Paul,  nor  of  Jos©. 
phus,  nor  of  the  Samaritan  Text.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  _  the 
chronology  of  the  fjarlier  Scriptures  should  ever  have  been  made  a  religioui 
vuesiion  — M. 


A.  D.  32y.y        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIKE.  5SA 

received,  it  appears  to  have  been  the  reigning  sentiment  af  the 
orthodox  believeis  ;  and  it  seems  so  well  adapu>d  to  the  desires 
and  apprehensions  of  mankind,  that  it  must  have  contrihnte^l 
in  a  very  considerable  degree  to  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
faith.  But  when  the  editice  of  the  church  was  almost  com- 
pleted, the  temporary  support  was  laid  aside.  The  doctrine 
of  Christ's  reign  upon  earth  was  at  first  treated  as  a  profound 
allegory,  was  considered  by  degrees  as  a  doubtful  and  useless 
opinion,  and  was  at  length  rejected  as  the  absurd  invention  of 
heresy  and  fanaticism."  A  mysterious  prophecy,  whieh  still 
forms  a  part  of  the  sacred  canon,  but  wliich  wiis  thought  to 
favor  the  exploded  sentiment,  has  very  narrowly  escaped  th« 
proscription  of  the  church.*' 


clearest  and  most  solemn  manner,  (Dialog,  cum  Trynhoiitc  Jud.  p.  177 
178,  edit.  Beuedictin.)  If  in  the  beginning  of  this  important  piussago 
there  is  any  thing  like  an  inconsistency,  we  may  impute  it,  as  we  think 
proper,  either  to  the  autiior  or  to  his  transcribers.* 

^"  Dupin,  Bibliothcque  Ecclesiixstique,  torn.  i.  p.  223,  tom.  ii.  p.  36C, 
and  Mosheim,  p.  720  ;  though  the  latter  of  these  learned  divines  is  not 
altogether  candid  on  this  ocoiision. 

"'  In  the  council  of  Laodicca.  (about  the  year  S'iO,)  the  Apo&dypso 
was  tacitly  excluded  from  the  sacred  canon,  by  the  same  churches  of 
Asia  to  which  it  is  addressed ;  and  we  may  learn  from  the  comphunt 
of  Sulpicius  Severus,  that  their  sentence  had  been  ratified  by  the 
greater  number  of  Christians  of  liis  time.  From  what  causes  tlieu  is 
the  Apocalypse  at  present  so  generally  received  by  the  Greek,  tlio 
Roman,  and  the  Protestant  churches  ?  The  following  ones  may  be 
assigned.  1.  The  Greeks  were  subdued  by  the  authority  of  an  im- 
postor, who,  in  the  sixth  century,  assumed  the  character  of  Dionysiua 
the  Areopagite.  2.  A  just  apprehension  that  the  grammarians  might 
become  more  important  than  the  theologians,  engaged  the  council  of 
Trent  to  fix  the  seal  of  their  infallibility  on  all  the  IxKiks  of  Scripture 
contained  in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  in  the  number  of  which  t lie  Apoca- 
lypse was  fortunately  included.  (Fr.  Paolo,  Istoria  del  Concilio  Tri- 
dentino,  1.  ii.)  3.  The  advantage  of  turning  those  mysterious  prophe- 
cies against  the  See  of  Home,  inspired  the  Protestants  with  uncom- 
mon veneration  for  so  useful  an  ally.  See  the  ingenious  and  clogjint 
discourses  of  the  wesent  bishop  of  Litchfield  on  that  unpromising 
subject,  f 

*  The  Millenmum  is  described  in  what  once  stood  a.s  the  XLIst  Article 
of  the  Entclish  Church  (see  Collier,  p:cclos.  Hist.,  for  Article.'?  of  Kdw.  VI.) 
as  "a  fable  of  Jewish  dotage."  Tiie  wliole  of  these  proM  nnd  onrtlily  im 
a°-e8  may  be  traced  iu  the  works  which  treat  on  tlic  Jcwisli  tradilious,  io 
Lightfoot,  Schoeti,'en,  and  Eisenmenger ;  "  Das  entdecklc  Jiideiahum"  t  ii 
809  ;  and  briefly  in  Berllioldt,  i.  c.  38,  31>.— M.  ... 

t  The  e-xclusion  of  the  Apocalypse  is  not  iniprobably  a.isii^'ncd  to  lU 
ibfious  uuli'uess  to  be  read  in  churehna.     It  is  to  ')e  feared  that  ■  hirton' 


586  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  (AD.  328, 

Wliilst  the  happiness  and  glory  of  a  temporal  reign  -were 
promised  to  the  disciples  of  Christ,  the  most  dreadful  calami' 
ties  were  denounced  against  an  unbelieving  wor)'""  The  edi- 
fication of  a  new  Jerusalem  was  to  advance  by  equal  steps 
with  the  destruction  of  the  mystic  Babylon ;  and  as  long  as 
ihe  emperors  who  reigned  before  Constantine  persisted  in  the 
profession  of  idolatry,  the  epithet  of  Babylon  was  applied  Lo 
tlie  city  and  to  the  empire  of  Rome.  A  regular  series  was 
prepared  of  all  the  moral  and  physical  evils  which  can  aflBict  a 
flourishing  nation ;  intestine  discord,  and  the  invasion  of  the 
fiercest  barbarians  from  the  unknown  regions  of  the  North ; 
pestilence  and  famine,  comets  and  eclipses,  earthquakes  and 
inundations.'*  All  these  were  only  so  many  preparatory  and 
alarming  signs  of  the  great  catastrophe  of  Rome,  when  th^. 
country  of  the  Scipios  and  Caesars  should  be  consumed  by  a 
flame  from  Heaven,  and  the  city  of  the  seven  hills,  with  her 
palaces,  her  temples,  and  her  triumphal  arches,  should  be 
buried  in  a  vast  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone.  It  might,  however, 
afford  some  consolation  to  Roman  vanity,  that  the  period  of 
their  empire  would  be  that  of  the  world  itself;  which,  as  it 
had  once  perished  by  the  element  of  water,  was  destined  to 
experience  a  second  and  a  speedy  destruction  from  the  element 
of  fire.  In  the  opinion  of  a  general  conflagration,  the  faith  of 
the  Christian  very  happily  coincided  with  the  tradition  of  the 
East,  the  philosophy  of  the  Stoics,  and  the  analogy  of  Nature ; 
and  even  the  country,  which,  from  religious  motives,  had  be<»fl 
chosen  for  the  origin  and  principal  scene  of  the  conflagratio  i, 
was  the  best  adapted  for  that  purpose  by  natural  and  physic  tl 
causes ;  by  its  deep  caverns,  beds  of  sulphur,  and  numero  is 
volcanoes,  of  which  those  of  ^tna,  of  Vesuvius,  and  '>f 
Lipari,  exhibit  a  very  imperfect  representation.  The  calm  st 
and  most  intrepid  sceptic  could  not  refuse  to  acknowledge  tl  at 
the  destruction  of  the  pi-esent  system  of  the  world  by  i  re, 


**  Lactantius  (Institut.  Divin.  vii.  15,  &c.)  relates  the  dismal  tal'   of 
futurity  with  great  spirit  and  eloquence.* 


of  the  intcrprctaiioa  of  the  Apocalypse  would  not  ^ve  a  very  fava  \\},e 
view  either  of  the  wisdom  or  the  charity  of  the  successive  ages  of  (  iris- 
tianity.  Wetstein's  interpretation,  differently  modified,  is  adopted  by  lort 
Continental  scholai-s. — M. 

*  Lactantius  had  a  notion  of  a  great  Asiatic  empire,  which  vvsa  pre- 
viously to  rise  on  the  niins  of  the  Roman  :  quod  Ilomanum  nomen  {y  'irei 
umuas  dicere,  sed  dicam,  quia  futurcm  est)  toUetu."  de  terra,  et  inipen  »  is 
Aiiam  revertetur. — M. 


A.  0.323.1  OF   THE   ROMAN    EMnilB  187 

was  in  itself  extremely  probable.  The  Christ iaii,  who  founded 
bis  belief  much  less  on  the  fallacious  arguments  of  reason 
tb.'in  on  the  authority  of  tradition  and  the  iiiterprttation  of 
Scripture,  expected  it  with  terror  and  contidence  iis  a  cerUiin 
and  approaching  event;  and  as  his  mind  was  perj)<.tiially 
(filed  with  the  solemn  idea,  he  considered  every  disastt-r  that 
happened  to  the  empire  as  an  infallible  symptom  of  an  expiring 
"*orld." 

The  condenmation  of  the  wisest  and  most  virtuous  of  the 
I'agans,  on  account  of  their  ignorance  or  disbt-lief  of  the 
divine  truth,  seems  to  oft'end  the  reason  and  the  humanity  </ 
the  present  age.'"  But  the  primitive  church,  whose  faith  was 
of  a  much  firmer  consistence,  delivered  over,  without  hesitation, 
to  eternal  torture,  the  far  greater  part  of  the  human  species. 
A  charitable  hope  might  perhaps  be  indulged  in  favor  of 
Socrates,  or  some  other  sages  of  antiquity,  who  had  consulted 
the  light  of  reason  before  that  of  the  gospel  had  arisen."  But 
it  was  unanimously  affirmed,  that  those  who,  since  the  birth 
or  the  death  of  Christ,  had  obstinately  pei"sisted  in  the  worship 
of  the  daemons,  neither  deserved  nor  could  expect  a  pard«jn 
from  the  irritated  justice  of  the  Deity.  These  rigid  sontimi'Uts, 
which  had  been  unknown  to  the  ancient  world,  appear  to  have 
infused  a  spirit  of  bitterness  into  a  system  of  love  and  Iuin 
mony.  The  ties  of  blood  and  friendship  were  frequently  torn 
asunder  by  the  difference  of  religious  faith  ;  and  the  Christians, 
who,  in  this  world,  found  themselves  oppressed  by  the  power 

"'  On  this  subject  every  reader  of  taste  will  be  entcrtiiincJ  witi 
the  third  part  of  Burnet's  Sacred  Tlieory.  He  bleiuls  philosophy, 
Scripture,  and  tradition,  into  one  magniticent  system  ;  in  the  descrip 
tion  of  wiiich  he  displays  a  strength  of  fancy  not  inferior  to  that  <>f 
Milton  himself. 

■"•  And  yet  whatever  may  be  the  language  of  individuals,  it  is  still 
the  public  doctrine  of  all  the  Christian  churches ;  nor  can  even  our 
own  refuse  to  admit  the  conclusions  which  must  be  drawn  from  tlie 
viiith  and  the  xviiith  of  her  Articles.  The  Jaasenists,  who  have  80 
diligently  studied  the  works  of  the  fathers,  maintain  IhLs  sentinn-nt 
■mth  distinguished  zeal;  and  the  learned  M.  de  Tillemont  never  di* 
misses  a  virtuous  emperor  without  pronouncing  his  damnation.  Zuin- 
glius  is  perhaps  the  only  leader  of  a  party  who  has  ever  a<liiptod  tha 
milder  sentiment,  and  he  gave  no  less  offence  to  the  Lutherans  thai.  It 
(he  Cathohcs.  See  Bossuf;t,  Histoire  des  Viiriatious  des  Eglii.68  Pro- 
testantes,  1.  ii.  c.  19— 22. 

^*  Justin  and  Clemens  of  Alexandria  allow  that  some  <>f  tin  phdo* 
ophers  were  instructed  by  the  Logos;  confounding  its  doubh  it^'nii 
ai'ion  of  the  human  reason,  and  of  <he  Diviae  Word. 

z* 


y 


|>38  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  32S» 

of  the  Pagans,  were  sometimes  seduced  by  resentment  and  spir- 
itual pride  to  delight  in  the  prospect  of  their  future  triumph. 
"  You  are  fond  of  spectacles,"  exclaims  the  stern  Tertullian ; 
"  expect  the  greatest  of  all  spectacles,  the  last  and  eternal  judg- 
ment of  the  universe.  How  shall  I  admire,  how  laugh,  how 
rejoice,  how  exult,  when  I  behold  so  many  proud  monarchs,  so 
many  fancied  gods,  groaning  in  the  lowest  abyss  of  darkness ; 
BO  many  magistrates,  who  persecuted  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
liquefying  in  fiercer  fires  than  they  ever  kindled  against  the 
Christians;  so  many  sage  philosophers  blushing  in  red-hot 
flames  with  their  deluded  scholars  ;  so  many  celebrated  poets 
trembling  before  the  tribunal,  not  of  Minos,  but  of  Christ; 
so  many  tragedians,  more  tuneful  in  the  expression  of  their 
own  sufferings ;  so  many  dancers."  *  But  the  humanity  of 
the  reader  will  permit  me  to  draw  a  veil  over  the  rest  of  this 
infernal  description,  which  the  zealous  African  pursues  in  a 
long  variety  of  affected  and  unfeeling  witticisms."  f 

l3oubtless  there  were  many  among  the  primitive  Christians 


''^  Tertullian,  de  Spectaculis,  c.  30.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  de- 
cree of  authority  which  the  zealous  African  had  acquired,  it  may 
be  sufficient  to  allege  the  testimony  of  Cyprian,  the  doctor  and  guide 
of  all  the  western  churches.  (See  Prudent.  Hym.  xiii.  100.)  As  often 
aa  he  applied  himself  to  his  daily  study  of  the  writings  of  Tertullian, 
he  was  accustomed  to  say,  "  Da  mihi  magistrum.  Give  me  my  master." 
(Hieronym.  de  Viris  Illustribus,  torn.  i.  p.  284.) 


*  This  translation  is  not  exact :  the  first  sentence  is  imperfect.  Tertnl- 
Hau  says,  Ille  dies  nationibus  insperatus.  ille  derisus,  cum  tanta  sascuJi 
vetustas  et  tot  ejus  nativitates  uuo  igne  haurientur.  The  text  does  not 
authorize  the  exaggerated  expressions,  so  many  magistrates,  so  many  sage 
philosophers,  so  many  poets,  &c. ;  but  simply  magistrates,  philosophers, 
^  Gets. — G. 

It  is  not  clear  that  Gibbon's  version  or  paraphrase  is  incoiTect ;  TertuUiaa 
writes,  tot  tautosque  reges  item  presides,  <Scc. — M. 

t  The  object  of  TertuUian's  vehemence  in  his  Treatise,  was  to  keep  tho 
Christians  away  from  the  secular  games  celebrated  by  the  Empercr  Scvc- 
ras  :  it  has  not  prevented  him  from  showing  himself  in  other  places  full  of 
benevolence  and  charity  towards  unbelievers  :  the  spirit  of  the  gosytel  has 
sometimes  prevailed  over  the  violence  of  human  passions :  Q.ui  ergo  putav- 
eris  nihil  nos  de  salute  Caesaris  curare  (he  says  in  his  Apology)  inspice  Dei 
voces,  literas  nostras.  Scitote  ex  illis  prfficeptum  esse  nobis  ad  rcdunda- 
lioneiu,  benignitates  etiam  pro  inimicis  Deiim  orare,  et  pro  persecutoribus 
cona  precari.  Sed  etiam  nominatim  atque  mauifeste  orate  inquit  (Christus) 
pro  rogibus  et  pro  priucipibus  et  polestatibus  ut  omnia  sint  tranquilla  vobis 
Tert.  Apol.  c.  31.— G. 

It  would  be  wiser  for  Christianity,  retreating  upon  its  genuine  records  in 
the  New  Testament,  to  disclaim  this  fierce  African,  than  to  identify  itsolf 
with  his  furious  invectives  ky  unsatisfactory  apologies  for  their  orickristiu 
Buiaticism. — M 


K.  D.  323.]  OF  THE  roman  emi'ire  598 

of  a  temper  more  suitable  to  the  meekness  and  charity  of  th'ir 
profession.  There  were  many  wlio  felt  a  sincere  compiussiun  for 
the  danger  of  their  friends  and  countrymen,  and  who  exerted 
the  most  benevolent  zeal  to  save  them  from  the  imi>endiM<;  de 
struction.  The  careless  Polytheist,  assailed  by  new  and  uiiex 
pected  terrors,  against  which  neither  his  priests  nor  his  j)hiloso 
phers  could  aftbrd  him  any  certain  protection,  w:is  vc'-y  fre- 
quently terrified  and  subdued  by  the  menace  of  eternal  torturi^^ 
His  fears  might  assist  the  progress  of  his  faith  and  reason  ;  and 
if  he  could  once  persuade  himself  to  suspect  that  the  Christian 
religion  might  possibly  be  true,  it  became  an  easy  task  to  con- 
vince him  that  it  was  the  safest  and  most  prudeTit  party  that 
he  could  possibly  embrace. 

III.  The  supernatural  gifts,  which  even  in  this  life  were 
ascribed  to  the  Christians  above  the  rest  of  mankind,  must 
have  conduced  to  their  own  comfort,  and  very  frequently  tj 
the  conviction  of  infidels.  Besides  the  occ;isional  prodigies, 
which  might  sometimes  be  effected  by  the  immediate  interpo- 
sition of  the  Deity  when  he  suspended  the  laws  of  Nature  for 
the  service  of  religion,  the  Christian  church,  from  the  time  of 
the  apostles  and  their  first  disciples,"  has  claimed  an  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  miraculous  powei-s,  the  gift  of  tongues, 
of  vision,  and  of  prophecy,  the  power  of  expelling  daMnons, 
of  healing  the  sick,  and  of  raising  the  dead.  The  knowledge 
of  foreign  languages  was  frequently  communic^ited  to  the 
contemporaries  of  Irenaeus,  though  Irenieus  himself  w:us  left 
to  struggle  with  the  difficulties  of  a  barbarous  dialect,  whilst 
he  preached  the  gospel  to  the  natives  of  Gaul.'*     The  divine 


"  Notwithstanding  the  evasions  of  Dr.  Middleton,  it  is  impossible 
<io  overlook  the  clear  traces  of  visions  and  inspiration,  which  may  be 
found  in  the  apostolic  fathers.* 

'*  Irenajus  adv.  Hares.  Proem,  p.  3.f  Dr.  Middleton  (Free  In- 
quiry, p.  96,  etc.)  observes,  that  as  this  pretension  of  M  otlier^  w-is  the 
most  difficult  to  support  by  art,  it  was  the  soonest  given  up.  The  ob- 
servation suits  his  hypothesis.:]^ 


*  Gibbon  should  have  noticed  the  distinct  and  romarknblc  pas.sapc  from 
Chrj'sostom,  quoted  by  Middleton,  (Works,  vol.  i.  p.  10.">,)  in  which  he  alBnni 
tlie  long  discontinuance  of  miracles  as  a  notorious  fact.— M. 

t  This  passage  of  Ircnajus  contains  no  allusion  to  the  pift  of  tontnios  it  it 
merely  an  apolocry  for  a  rude  and  unpolishcil  Greek  stylo,  which  coul.l  no» 
Ve  expected  from  one  who  passed  his  life  in  a  ri'inote  and  barbarous  prov- 
ince, and  was  continuallv  obliged  to  speak  the  Celtic  language.— M. 

t  Except  in  the  life  of  Pachomius,  an  EgypUan  n-onk  of  the  fourth  cen 
ifciy,  (see  Joitin.  Ecc.  Hist.  i.  p.  368.  edit.  1805.)  and  the  latter  (not  emrUta^ 


MO  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  32o 

inspiration,  whether  it  was  conveyed  in  the  form  of  a  waking 
or  of  a  sleeping  vision,  is  described  as  a  favor  very  hberally 
bestowed  on  all  ranks  of  the  faithful,  on  women  as  on  elders, 
on  boys  as  well  as  upon  bishops.  "When  their  devout  minds 
■^ere  sutRciently  prepared  by  a  course  of  prayer,  of  listing, 
and  of  vigils,  to  receive  the  extraordinary  impulse,  they  were 
trausported  out  of  then*  senses,  and  delivered  in  ecstasy  what 
was  inspired,  being  mere  organs  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  just  as  a 
pip©  or  flute  is  of  him  who  blows  into  it.'^  We  may  add, 
that  the  design  of  these  visions  was,  for  the  most  part,  either 
to  disclose  the  future  history,  or  to  guide  the  present  adminis- 
tration, of  the  church.  The  expulsion  of  the  daemons  from 
the  bodies  of  those  unhappy  persons  whom  they  had  been  per- 
mitted to  torment,  was  considered  as  a  signal  though  ordi- 
nary triumph  of  religion,  and  is  repeatedly  alleged  by  the 
ancient  apologists,  as  the  most  convincing  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity.  The  awful  ceremony  was  usually  per- 
formed in  a  public  manner,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
number  of  spectators ;  the  patient  was  relieved  by  the  power 
or  skill  of  the  exorcist,  and  the  vanquished  djsmon  was  heard 
to  confess  that  he  was  one  of  the  fabled  gods  of  antiquity,  who 
had  impiously  usurped  the  adoration  of  mankind."  But  the 
miraculous  cure  of  diseases  of  the  most  inveterate  or  even 
preternatural  kind,  can  no  longer  occasion  any  surprise,  when 
we  recollect,  that  in  the  days  of  Irenrous,  about  the  end  of 
the  second  century,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  very  far 
from  being  esteemed  an  uncommon  event ;  that  the  miracle 
was  frequently  performed  on  necessary  occasions,  by  great 
fasting  and  th^  joint  supplication  of  the  church  of  the  place, 
and  that  the  persons  thus  restored  to  their  prayers  had  lived 


'*  Athenagoras  in  Legatione.  Justin  Martyr,  Cohort,  ad  Gentes 
Tertullian  advers.  Marcionit.  1.  iv.  These  descriptions  are  not  very 
unlike  the  prophetic  fury,  for  which  Cicero  (de  Diviuat.  ii.  54)  expresses 
so  httle  reverence. 

^*  Tertullian  (Apolog.  c.  23)  throws  out  a  bold  defiance  to  the  Pagan 
magistrates.  Of  the  primitive  miracles,  tlie  power  of  exorcising  ia 
4Ijo  only  one  wJiich  has  been  assumed  by  Protestants.* 


lires  of  Xavier,  there  is  no  claim  laid  to  the  g:ift  of  torgnes  since  thedma 
of  IrentBUs;  and  of  this  claim,  Xavier's  owti  letters  are  profoundly  sileDL 
See  Douglas's  Criterion,  p.  76,  edit.  1807. — M. 

*  Bat  by  Protestants  neither  of   the  most   enlightened   ages  nor  inc» 
rsBRoning  minds. — M. 


A.D.3'23.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIKK.  5*1 

afterwards  among  tlioni  many  years."  At  such  a  p-riod, 
when  faith  could  boast  of  so  many  wonderful  victori.s  ov»ir 
death,  it  seems  difficult  to  account  for  the  scoj^tici^m  of  tlioso 
philosophei-s,  who  still  rejocted  and  derided  the  doctrine  of  iha 
resurrection.  A  noble  Grecian  had  rested  on  this  imjtortant 
ground  the  whole  controvers}-,  and  promised  Tneopliilas, 
liishop  of  Antioch,  that  if  he  could  be  gratified  with  iho 
sight  of  a  single  person  who  had  been  actually  raised  from 
ihv'  dead,  he  would  immediately  embrace  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  the  prelate  of  the  first 
eastern  church,  however  anxious  for  the  conversion  of  his 
friend,  thought  proper  to  decline  this  fair  and  re:Lsonablo 
challenge.** 

The  miracles  of  the  primitive  church,  after  obtjiiniuf  the 
sanction  of  ages,  have  been  lately  attacked  in  a  very  free  and 
ingenious  inquiry,"  which,  though  it  has  met  with  the  most 
favorable  reception  from  the  public,  appears  to  have  e.xcited  a 
general  scandal  among  the  divines  of  our  own  as  well  jus  of 
the  other  Protestant  churches  of  Europe.'"  Our  dilTereiil 
sentiments  on  this  subject  will  be  much  less  influenced  by  any 
particular  arguments,  than  by  our  habits  of  study  and  reflec- 
tion ;  and,  above  all,  by   the   degree  of  evidence    which    wo 

"  Irenaeus  adv.  Haereses,  1.  ii.  56.  57, 1.  v.  c.  6.  Mr.  Dodwell  (Dii«- 
sertat.  ad  Iren;Euin,  ii.  42)  conclinles,  that  the  second  century  wits  still 
more  fertile  in  miracles  tlum  the  first.* 

'*  Theopliilus  ad  Autolycum,  L  i.  p.  345.  Edit.  Beni'dictin.  Paria 
1742.  f 

"  Dr.  Middleton  sent  out  his  IntroductitMi  in  the  year  1747,  piil>- 
lished  his  Free  Inquiry  in  1749,  and  before  his  death,  wiiich  happened 
in  1750,  he  had  prepared  a  vintlicatiun  of  it  against  his  numerous 
adversaries. 

'"'  The  university  of  Oxford  conferred  degrees  on  his  oppfinenta. 
From  the  indignation  of  Mosheiin,  (p.  221,)  we  may  discover  the  scnti- 
raents  of  the  Lutheran  divines.;}: 


*  It  is  difficult  to  answer  Middleton'.'^  objection  to  tills  statement  of  Irenno 
ns:  "  It  is  very  .stran.irc,  thut  from  liic  time  of  tlic  apostles  tlierc  is  not  a  sin- 
gle instance  of  this  miracle  to  be  found  in  the  three  lirst  centuries  ;  exrt-pt  • 
Binele  case,  slightly  intimated  in  Euscbius,  from  the  Works  of  I'npiiui 
which  he  seems  to  rank  amoiiLT  the  other  fabulous  stories  deliven-d  by  thai 
weak  man."  Middleton,  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  59.  Bp.  Douglas  (Crilcnon,  p 
389)  would  consider  Irenaeus  to  speak  of  what  had  "  been  performed  farmer 
ly."  nDt  in  his  own  time. — M. 

t  A  candid  sceptic  miglit  discern  some  impropriety  in  the  Bish")!!  beinf 
palled  npon  to  perform  a  miracle  on  demmiil. — M. 

t  Y?t  many  Protestant  divines  will  now  witbtmt  reluctance  conQim  aMn 
riM  tc  the  time  of  the  apostles,  or  at  lea.st  to  the  lirct  century. — ii 


542  THE    DEt'LINli    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  328- 

have  nccustoiiieJ  ourselves  to  require  for  the  proof  of  a  mirac- 
aloUi  event,  j  The  duty  of  an  historian  does  not  call  upon 
hiin  to  interpose  his  private  judgment  in  this  nice  and  impor 
tant  controversy  ;  ,but  he  ought  not  to  dissemble  the  difficulty 
of  adopting  such  a  theory  as  may  reconcile  the  interest  of 
religion  with  that  of  reason,  of  making  a  proper  applicatio" 
of  that  theory,  and  of  defining  with  precision  the  limits  of 
Lhat  happy  period,  exempt  from  error  and  fi-om  deceit,  to 
^hiah  we  might  be  disposed  to  extend  the  gift  of  supernatural 
powers.  From  the  first  of  the  fathers  to  the  last  of  the  popes, 
a  succession  of  bishops,  of  saints,  of  martyrs,  and  of  mira- 
cles, is  continued  without  interruption ;  and  the  progress  of 
superstition  was  so  gradual,  and  almost  imperceptible,  that  we 
know  not  in  what  particular  link  we  should  break  the  chain 
of  tradition.  Every  age  bears  testimony  to  the  wonderful 
events  by  which  it  was  distinguished,  and  its  testimony  appears 
no  less  weighty  and  respectable  than  that  of  the  preceding 
generation,  till  we  are  insensibly  led  on  to  accuse  our  own 
inconsistency,  if  in  the  eighth  or  in  the  twelfth  century  we 
deny  to  the  venerable  Bede,  or  lo  the  holy  Bernard,  the  same 
degree  of  confidence  which,  in  the  second  century,  we  had  so 
liberally  granted  to  Justin  or  to  Irenaeus.*'  If  the  truth  of 
any  of  those  miracles  is  appreciated  by  their  apparent  use 
and  propriety,  every  age  had  unbelievers  to  convince,  heretics 
to  confute,  and  idolatrous  nations  to  convert ;  and  sufficient 
motives  might  aVways  be  produced  to  justify  the  interposition 
of  Heaven.  And  yet,  since  every  friend  to  revelation  is  per- 
suaded of  the  reahty,  and  every  reasonable  man  is  convinced 
of  the  cessation,  of  miraculous  powers,  it  is  evident  that  there 
nust  have  been  some  period  in  which  they  were  either  sud- 
denly or  gradually  withdrawn  from  the  Christian  church. 
Whatever  sera  is  chosen  for  that  purpose,  the  death  of  the 
■ipostles,  the  conversion  of  the  Roman  empire,  or  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  Arian  heresy,**  the  insensibility  of  the  Christians 
who  lived  at  that  time  will  equally  affi^rd  a  just  matter  of 


*-  It  may  seem  somewhat  remarkable,  that  Bernard  of  Clairvaux 
who  records  so  n,'  any  miracles  of  his  friend  St.  Malachi,  never  takes 
any  notice  of  his  own,  which,  in  their  turn,  however,  are  carefully 
related  by  his  companions  and  disciples.  In  the  long  series  of  ecclc- 
eiastical  history,  does  there  exist  a  single  instance  of  a  saint  asserting 
that  he  himself  possessed  the  gift  of  miracles? 

*'  The  conversion  of  Constantine  is  the  aera  which  is  most  usuaUv 
fi^fsd  by  Protestants.     The  more  rational  divines  are   unwilling  ta 


A.  D   323.J  OF   THE    KOMAN    K.MIIRK.  MS 

surprise.  They  still  supportod  their  protoiisioiis  after  thi-y  luid 
Io'j!.  their  power.  Credulity  iiorforiuod  the  oftico  of  faitli  ; 
fanaticisiu  was  permitted  to  ivssume  th(>  laiiguat'e  of  inspira- 
tion, and  the  effects  of  accident  or  contrivance  were  ascriln-d 
to  supernatural  causes.  The  recent  experience  of  fj^eiiuino 
miracles  should  have  instructed  the  Christian  world  in  thu 
ways  of  I'rovidence,  and  habituated  their  eye  (if  we  may  use 
a  very  inadequate  expression)  to  the  style  of  the  divine  artisL 
Should  the  most  skilful  painter  of  modern  Italy  presume  to 
decorate  his  feeble  imitations  with  the  name  of  Kaphael  or  of 
Correggio,  the  insolent  fraud  wuuld  be  soon  discovered,  and  in- 
dignantly rejected. 

Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained  of  the  miracles  of  the] 
primitive  church  since  the  time  of  the  apostles,  this  unresisting  \ 
softness  of  temper,  so  conspicuous  among  the  believers  of  the  > 
second  and  third  centuries,  proved  of  some  accidental  benefit 
to  the  cause  of  truth  and  religion.     In  modern  times,  a  hit^-nt  .- 
and  even  involuntary  scepticism  adheres  to  the  most  pious  dis- 
positions.    Their  admission  of  supernatural  truths  is  much  less 
an  active  consent  than  a  cold  and  passive  acquiescence.      Ac- 
customed long  since  to  observe  and  to  respect  the  variable 
order  of  Nature,  our  reason,  or  at  least  our  imagination,  is  not 
sufficiently  prepared  to  sustain  the  visible  action  of  the  Deity. 
But,  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  situation  of  mankind 
was  extremely  ditl'erent.     The  most  curious,  ^r  the  most  cred- 
ulous, among  the  Pagans,  were  often  persuade*  to  enter  into  a 
society  which  asserted  an  actual  claim  of  miraculous  powers. 
The  primitive  Christians  perpetually  trod  on  mystic  ground,    ^ 
and  their  minds  were  exercised  by  the  habits  of  believing  the 

admit  the  miracles  of  the  ivtli,  whilst  the  more  credulous  arc  unwilling 

to  reject  those  of  the  vth  century.* 

"  All  this  appears  to  proceed  on  the  principle  that  any  distiurl  lino  can  l>o 
drawn  in  an  uiii)liilosophic  age  between  wonders  and  niiraclcw,  or  between 
what  piety,  from  their  unexpected  and  exlraordinnry  nature,  the  Ina^^•elloul^ 
concurrence  of  secondary  causes  to  some  rouiarkabiu  eiid,  may  consider 
■pn/vidciUialinlerpoailiuiis,  and  miracka  strictly  so  called,  in  which  the  laws 
of  nature  are  suspended  or  violated.  It  is  impossible  to  assiu'n,  on  one  nHe, 
limits  to  human  credulity,  on  the  other,  to  the  intluenco  of  the  imau'niiitiou 
on  the  bodilv  frame;  but 'some  of  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels  are 
eiich  palpable  impos^'M/i/ies,  accordin.u  to  the  known  laws  ajid  operali.mi 
of  nature,  that  if  recorded  on  sufficient  evi.lence,  and  the  evidence  wc  be- 
lieve to  be  that  of  eve-witne8s<;s,  we  caimot  reject  them,  without  either  us- 
•erting,  with  Hume,"lliat  no  evidence  can  prove  a  minielo,  or  that  the  Aullioi 
of  Nature  has  no  power  of  suspendng  its  ordinary  lav  t  Bat  whRb  ol  IM 
voft-apos'.clic  miracles  will  bear  th's  lest  ? — M. 


544  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323 

most  extraordinary  events.     They  felt,  or  they  fancied,  that 

on  every  side   the)'  were   incessantly  assaulted  by   daemons, 

comforted  by  visions,  instructed  by  prophecy,  and  surprisingly 

delivered  from  danger,  sickness,  and  from  death  itself,  by  the 

■•\       supplications  of  the  church.     The  real  or  imaginary  prodigies, 

•^    of  which  they  so  frequently  conceived  themselves  to  be  tha 

^     objects,   the  instruments,  or  the   spectators,  very  happily  dis- 

V-     posed  them  to  adopt  with  the  same  ease,  but  with  far  greater 

">      'ustice,  the  authentic  wonders  of  the  evangelic  history ;  and 

thus   miracles   that  exceeded  not  the  measure  of  their  own 

^      experience,  inspired  them  with  the  most  lively  assurance  of 

mysteries   which  were  acknowledged  to  surpass  the  limits  of 

'^'"*    their  understanding.     It  is  this  deep  impression  of  supernatural 

.^      truths,  which  has  been  so  much  celebrated  under  the  name  of 

,     faith ;  a  state  of  mind  described  as  the  surest  pledge  of  the 

^  divine  favor  and  of  future  felicity,  and  recommended  as  the 

V  first,  or  perhaps  the  only  merit  of  a  Christian.     According  to 

■i,   the   more  rigid    doctors,    the    moral    virtues,  which    may  be 

i*   equally   practised   by  infidels,  are    destitute  of  any  value   or 

efficacy  in  the  work  of  our  justification. 
^  f  IV.  But  the  primitive   Christian  demonstrated  his  faith  by 
ijf  i his  virtues;  and  it  was   very  justly  supposed  that  the  divine 
x^i persuasion,  which  enlightened  or  subdued  the  understanding, 
^-l     must,  at  the   same  time,  purify  the  heart,  and  direct  the  ac- 
"*  ■  tions,  of   the  believer.     The    first   apologists   of    Christianity 
who  justify  the  innocence  of  their   brethren,  and  the   writers 
of  a  later  period  who  celebrate   the  sanctity  of  their  ances- 
tors,    display,  in   the    most    lively   colors,    the    reformation 
of   manners  which    was    introduced    into    the    world  by  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel.     As  it  is  my  intention  to  remark  only 
such   human  causes  as  were  permitted  to  second  the  influence 
of  revelation,  I  shall  slightly  mention  two  motives  which  might 
naturally   render  the  lives  of  the  primitive  Christians  much 
purer  and  more  austere  than  those  of  their  Pagan  contempo- 
raries, or  their  degenerate   successors ;    repentance   for   theii 
past  sins,  and  the  laudable  desire  of  supporting  the  reputation 
of  the  society  in  which  they  were  engaged.* 


*  Tbese,  in  the  opinion  of  the  editor,  are  the  most  unoandid  paragraphs  in 
Gibbon's  History.  Ho  ought  either,  with  mauly  courage,  to  have  denied  the 
moral  rcfwvnation  introduced  by  Christianity,  or  fairly  to  have  investigated 
kU  its  motives  ;  not  to  have  confined  himself  to  an  insidious  and  sarcastia 
dsBcription  of  the  less  pure  and  generous  elements  of  the  Christian  ch&ractei 
»«  it  appeared  even  at  that  eai'ly  time. — M. 


A.D.  323.]      cp  THE  ROMAN  EMriuE.  54c 

It  is  a  very  ancient  reproach,  sucjgestod  by  the  ignoranco 
or  the  malice  of  infidelity,  that  the  Christians  aliun-d  into 
their  party  the  most  atrocious  criminals,  who,  as  soon  as  tlu-v 
were  touched  by  a  sense  of  remorse,  were  easily  persuailed  i 
to  wash  away,  in  the  water  of  bajttism,  the  guilt  of  tht-ir  past 
conduct,  for  which  the  temples  of  the  gods  refused  to  grant 
them  any  expiation.  But  tliis  reproach,  when  it  is  ck-arcd 
from  misrepresentation,  contributes  as  much  to  the  honor  as  it 
did  to  the  increase  of  the  cliurch."  The  friends  of  Christian- 
ity may  acknowledge  without  a  blush,  that  many  of  the  most 
eminent  saints  had  been  before  their  baptism  tiie  most  aban 
doned  sinners.  Those  persons,  who  in  the  world  had  followi-d, 
though  in  an  imperfect  manner,  the  dictates  of  benevolenco 
and  propriety,  derived  such  a  calm  satisfaction  from  the  opin- 
ion of  their  own  rectitude,  as  rendered  them  much  less  sus- 
ceptible of  the  sudden  emotions  of  shame,  of  grief,  and  of 
terror,  which  have  given  birth  to  so  many  wonderful  conver- 
sions. After  the  example  of  their  divine  Master,  the  mission- 
aries of  the  gospel  disdained  not  the  society  of  men,  and 
especially  of  women,  oppressed  by  the  consciousness,  and 
very  often  by  the  eftects,  of  their  vices.  As  they  emerged 
from  sin  and  superstition  to  the  glorious  hope  of  immortality, 
they  resolved  to  devote  themselves  to  a  life,  not  only  of  virtue, 
but  of  penitence.  The  desire  of  perfection  became  the  ruling 
passion  of  their  soul ;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  while  reason 
_  embraces  a  cold  mediocrity,  our  passions  hurry  us,  with  rapid 
violence,  over  the  space  which  lies  between  the  most  opposite 
extremes. 

When  the  new  converts  had  been  enrolled  in  the  numl»or 
of  the  faithful,  and  were  admitted  to  the  sacraments  of  th? 
church,  they  found  themselves  restrainetl  from  relapsing  into 
their  past  disorders  by  another  consideration  of  a  less  spiritual, 
but  of  a  very  innocent  and  respectable  nature.  Any  particular 
societv  that  has  departed  from  the  great  body  of  the  nation, 
or  the  religion  to  which  it  belonged,  immediately  becomes  the 
object  of  universal  as  well  as  invidious  observation.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  smallness  of  its  numbers,  tlio  character  of  the 
society  may  be  aftected  by  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  persons 
who  compose  it ;   and  every  member  is  engaged  to  watch  with 


•*  The  miputations  of  Celsiis  and  Julian,  with  the  defence  of  th* 

fcthers,  arc  very  fairly  stated  by  Spanheiin,   Commentaire   aur   l« 
Cesars  de  Julian,  p.  408. 


646  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  323 

the  most  vigilant  attention  over  his  own  beliai'ior,  and  ovejf 
that  of  his  brethren,  since,  as  he  must  expect  to  incur  a  part 
of  the  common  disgrace,  he  may  liope  to  enjoy  a  share  of  the 
common  reputation.  When  the  Christians  of  Bithynia  were 
brought  before  the  tribunal  of  the  younger  Pliny,  they  assured 
the  proconsul,  that,  far  from  being  engaged  in  any  unlawful 
conspiracy,  they  were  bound  by  a  solemn  obligation  to  abstain 
from  the  commission  of  those  crimes  which  disturb  the  private 
or  public  j^eace  of  society,  from  theft,  robbery,  adultery,  v>er- 
Jury,  and  fraud."*  Near  a  century  afterwards,  Tertullian 
with  an  honest  pride,  could  boast,  that  very  few  Christians  had 
suffered  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner,  except  on  account  of 
their  religion.*^  Their  serious  and  sequestered  life,  averse  to 
the  gay  luxury  of  the  age,  inured  them  to  chastity,  temper- 
ance, economy,  and  all  the  sober  and  domestic  viitues.  As 
the  greater  number  were  of  some  trade  or  j^rofession,  it  was 
mcumbent  on  them,  by  the  strictest  integrity  and  the  fjiiresf 
dealing,  to  remove  the  suspicions  which  the  profane  are  too 
af)t  to  conceive  against  the  appearances  of  sanctity.  The 
rs,/'--  contempt  of  the  world  exercised  them  in  the  habits  of  humility, 
*:,  meekness,   and  patience.      The   more   they   were  persecuted, 

■^  ,:y      the  more  closely  they  adhered  to  each   other.     Their  mutual 
^     '■C     charity  and   unsuspecting  confidence  has   been  remarked  by 
^  :,nf]dels,  and  was  too  often  abused  by  perfidious  friends.** 
f^  It  \s  a  very  honorable  circumstance  for  the  morals  of  the 
J) primitive  Christians,  that  even  their  faults,   or  rather   errors^ 
^were    derived   from  an  excess    of   virtue.     The   bishops   and 
'doctors    of  the   church,   whose    evidence    attests,   and    whose 
authority  might  influence,  the  professions,  the   principles,  and 
even   the  practice  of  their  contemporaries,   had   studied   the 

"  Plin.  Epist.  X.  97.« 

®^  Tertullian,  Apolog.  c.  44.  He  adds,  however,  with  some  degree 
of  hesitation,  "  Aut  si  aliud,  jam  non  Christianus."f 

^°  The  philosopher  Peregrinus  (of  whose  life  and  death  Luciaa  has 
left  us  so  entertaining  an  account)  imposed,  for  a  long  time,  on  the 
wedulous  simplicity  of  the  Christians  of  Asia. 

*  And  this  blamelessness  was  fully  admiUed  by  the  candid  and  enlight- 
ftr.ed  lioman. — M. 

t  TcrUilliau  says  positively  no  Christian,  nemo  illic  Christianus ;  for  the 
Test,  the  limitation  which  he  himself  subjoins,  and  which  Gibbon  quotes  in 
the  foregoing  note,  diminishes  the  force  of  this  assertion,  and  appeal's  to 
prove  that  at  least  he  knew  none  such. — G. 

Is  not  the  sense  of  Tertullian  rather,  if  guiltj  of  any  other  offence,  he  ha* 
thereby  ceased  to  be  a  Christian  ? — M. 


A.  D.  323. 1  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  M9 

Scriptures  with  loss  skill  than  devotion;  and  tliey  oflen 
received,  in  the  most  literal  sense,  those  iii,nd  precei»ts  of 
Christ  and  the  apostles,  to  whieh  the  prudenee  of  succeedini^ 
commentatoi-s  has  applied  a  looser  and  more  tiijurative  uKkle 
of  interpretation.  Ambitious  to  exalt  the  perfection  &:  Ihu 
pspel  above  the  wisdom  of  philosophy,  the  zealous  fatiiers 
have  carried  the  duties  of  self-niortification,  of  puritv,  and  of 
patience,  to  a  height  which  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  attain,  an 
much  less  to  preserve,  in  our  present  state  of  weakness  anc 
corruption.  A  doctrine  so  extraordinary  and  so  sublime  must 
inevitably  command  the  veneration  of  the  people ;  but  it  wjis 
ill  calculated  to  obtain  the  suft'nige  of  those  worldly  philoso- 
phers, who,  in  the  conduct  of  this  transitory  life,  consult  only 
the  feelings  of  nature  and  the  interest  of  society.*' 

There  are  two  very  natural  propensities  which  we  may 
distinguish  in  the  most  virtuous  and  liberal  dispositions,  the 
love  of  pleasure  and  the  love  of  action.  If  the  former  is 
refined  by  art  and  learning,  improved  by  the  charms  of  social 
intercourse,  and  corrected  by  a  just  regard  to  economy,  to 
health,  and  to  reputation,  it  is  productive  of  the  greatest  part 
of  the  happiness  of  private  life.  The  love  of  action  is  a 
principle  of  a  much  stronger  and  more  doubtful  nature.  It 
often  leads  to  anger,  to  ambition,  and  to  revenge ;  but  when  it 
is  guided  by  the  sense  of  propriety  and  benevolence,  it  becomes 
the  parent  of  every  virtue,  and  if  those  virtues  are  accompanied 
with  equal  abilities,  a  family,  a  state,  or  an  empire,  may  bo 
indebted  for  their  safety  and  prosperity  to  the  undaunted 
courage  of  a  single  man.  To  the  love  of  pleasure  we  may 
therefore  ascribe  most  of  the  agreeable,  to  the  love  of  actiou 
we  may  attribute  most  of  the  useful  and  respectable,  qualificii- 
tions.  The  character  in  which  both  the  one  and  the  other 
should  be  united  and  harmonized,  would  seem  to  constitute 
the  most  perfect  idea  of  human  nature.  The  insensible  and 
inactive  disposition,  which  should  be  supposed  alike  destitute 
of  both,  would  be  rejected,  by  tlie  conunon  consent  of  man- 
kind, as  utterly  incapable  of  jjrocuring  any  liajipiness  to  the 
individual,  or  any  public  benefit  to  the  world.  But  it  was  not 
in  this  world,  that  the  primitive  Christians  were  desirous  of 
making  themselves  either  agreeable  or  useful.*  /^ 

•'  See  a  very  judicious  treatise  of  Barbeyrac  sur  la  Morale  de« 
Peres. 

"  El   qua  me  fait  cette  bomelie  6cmi  stoicicune,  6emi-6picarienoe  T 


B48  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  323 

The  acquisition  of  knowledge,  the  exercise  of  our  reason  oi 
fancy,  and  the  cheerful  flow  of  unguarded  conversation,  may 
employ  the  leisure  of  a  hberal  mind.  Such  amusements, 
however,  were  rejected  with  abhorrence,  or  admitted  with  the 
utmost  caution,  by  the  severity  of  the  fethers,  who  despised  all 
knowledge  that  was  not  useful  to  salvation,  and  who  consid- 
ered all  levity  of  discours  eas  a  criminal  abuse  of  the  gift  of 
82>.>ech.  In  our  present  state  of  existence  the  body  is  sc 
inseparably  connected  with  the  soul,  that  it  seems  to  be  oui 
interest  to  taste,  with  innocence  and  moderation,  the  enjoy 
ments  of  which  that  faithful  companion  is  susceptible.  Very 
different  was  the  reasoning  of  our  devout  predecessoi's  , 
vainly  aspiring  to  imitate  the  perfection  of  angels,  they  dis- 
dained, or  they  affected  to  disdain,  every  earthly  and  corporeal 
delight.*'  Some  of  our  senses  indeed  are  necessary  for  oui 
preservation,  others  for  our  subsistence,  and  others  again  for 
our  information  ;  and  thus  far  it  was  impossible  to  reject  the 
use  of  them.  The  first  sensation  of  pleasure  was  marked  as 
the  first  moment  of  their  abuse.  The  unfeeling  candidate  for 
heaven  was  instructed,  not  only  to  resist  the  grosser  allure- 
ments of  the  taste  or  smell,  but  even  to  shut  his  ears  against 
the  profane  harmony  of  sounds,  and  to  view  with  indifference 
the  most  finished  productions  of  human  art.  Gay  apparel, 
magnificent  houses,  and  elegant  furniture,  were  supposed  to 
unite  the  double  guilt  of  pride  and  of  sensuality ;  a  simple  and 
mortified  appearance  was  more  suitable  to  the  Christian  who 
was  certain  of  his  sins  and  doubtful  of  his  salvation.  In  their 
fph-  censures  of  luxury,  the  fathers  are  extremely  minute  and  cir- 
^ Vcumstantial ;'"  and   among  the    various  articles  which   excite 


< 


"  Lactant.  Institut.  Divin.  1.  vi.  c.  20,  21,  22. 

*'  Consult  a  work  of  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  entitled  The  Pa;da- 
gogue,  which  contains  the  rudiments  of  ethics,  as  they  were  taught  in 
the  most  celebrated  of  the  Christian  schools. 


I'on  jamais  regarde  I'amonr  dn  plaisir  comma  Tun  des  principes  de  la  per- 
fecuon  morale  ?  Et  de  quel  droit  failcs  vous  de  I'aiiiour  de  Taction,  et  de 
I'amour  du  plaisir,  les  seals  elemens  de  Tetro  huraaiii?  Est  ce  que -vous 
faites  abstraction  do  la  verite  en  elle-meme,  de  la  conscience  et  du  senti- 
ment du  devoir?  Est  ce  que  vous  no  sentez  point,  par  exemple,  que  le 
eacrifice  du  moi  a  la  justice  et  a  la  verite,  est  aussi  dans  le  cceur  de 
I'homme :  que  tout  n'est  pas  pour  lui  action  ou  plaisir,  et  que  dans  le  bien 
ce  ii'est  pas  le  mouvemeut,  mais  la  verite,  qu'il  chercbe  ?  Et  puis  *  *  Thucy 
dide  et  Tacite.  ces  raaitres  de  I'histoire,  ont  ils  jamais  introduits  dans  leu< 
recits  un  fraemcnt  de  dissertation  eur  le  plaisir  et  sar  I'action.  ViUemida 
Cours  de  Lit.  Fran?  part  u.  Le90"  v  -  M 


A..  D.  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMTIKE.  549 

their  i^ious  indignation,  we  may  enuuKiato  falso  hair,  gannciiU 
jL  any  color  except  white,  instruments  of  music,  vjises  of  gold 
or  silver,  downy  pillows,  (as  Jacob  rejjosed  his  head  on  a  stone,) 
white  bread,  foreign  wines,  public  salutations,  the  use  of  warm 
baths,  and  the  practice  of  shaving  the  beard,  which,  according 
k)  the  expression  of  TertuUian,  is  a  lie  against  our  own  faci-s, 
and  an  impious  attempt  to  improve  the  works  of  the  Creator." 
When  Christianity  wa-s  introduced  among  the  rich  and  tho 
polite,  tho  observation  of  these  singular  laws  wjis  h-ft,  as  it 
would  be  at  present,  to  the  few  who  were  ambitious  of  superior 
sanctity.  But  it  is  always  easy,  as  well  as  agreeable,  for  the 
inferior  ranks  of  mankind  to  claim  a  merit  from  the  contempt 
of  that  pomp  and  pleasure  which  fortune  has  jjlaced  beyond 
their  reach.  The  virtue  of  the  primitive  Christians,  like,  that 
of  the  tarst  Romans,  \v;\s  very  frequently  guarded  by  poverty 
and  ignorance. 

The  chaste  severity  of  the  fathers,  in  whatever  related  to 
the  commerce  of  the  two  sexes,  flowed  from  the  same  jirin- 
cij^le ;  their  abhorrence  of  every  enjoyment  which  might 
gratify  the  sensual,  and  degrade  the  spiritual,  nature  of  man. 
It  was  their  fiivorite  opinion,  that  if  Adam  had  preserved  his 
obedience  to  the  Creator,  he  would  have  lived  forever  in  a  stato 
of  virgin  purity,  and  that  some  harmless  mode  of  veget;»tion 
might  have  peopled  paradise  with  a  race  of  innocent  and 
immortal  beings."'  The  use  of  marriage  was  permitted  only 
to  his  fallen  posterity,  as  a  necessary  expedient  to  continue 
the  human  species,  and  as  a  restraint,  however  imjierfect,  on 
the  natural  licentiousness  of  desire.  The  hesitation  of  the 
orthodox  casuists  on  this  interesting  subject,  betrays  the  per- 
plexity of  men,  unwilling  to  approve  an  institution  which  they 
were  compelled  to  tolerate."'  The  enumeration  of  the  very 
whimsical  laws,  which  they  most  circumstantially  imposed  on 
the  marriago-bed,  would  force  a  smile  from  the  young  and  a 


"»  TertiillJA'.,  de  SpccLiculis,  c  23.  Clemens  Alexandria  Tjeda- 
gog  1.  iii.  c.  8. 

"'  Beausobr^,  Hist.  Critique  du  Manichcisme,  1.  vii.  c.  3.  Justin, 
Gregory  of  N  jssa,  Augustin,  &c.,  strongly  incline  to  this  opinion.* 

»*  Some  of  "the  Gnostic  heretics  were  more  consistent;  they  rtject- 
.j(]  the  use  of  marriage. 

*  But  these  were  Giio.stic  or  Manicheaii  opinions,  nenufsohm  (ti.HtinrUj 
»flcribe.i  AiipusUno's  bins  to  liis  recent  osr.ipc  from  Manicheism  ;  and  kW* 
that  1>3  atterwards  changeil  liis  views. — M. 


S60  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  828. 

\/  diusb  from  the  fair.  It  was  their  unanimous  seritiinent,  tliat  a 
first  marriage  w;is  adequate  to  all  the  purposes  of  nature  and  of 
society.  The  sensual  connection  was  refined  into  a  resemblance 
of  the  mystic  union  of  Christ  with  his  church,  and  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  indissoluble  either  by  divorce  or  by  death.  The 
practice  of  second  nuptials  was  branded  with  the  name  of  a 
egal  adultery ;  and  the  persons  who  were  guilty  of  so  scan- 
dalous an  otience  against  Christian  purity,  were  soon  excluded 
frojn  the  honors,  and  even  from  the  alms,  of  the  church.* 
Since  desire  was  imputed  as  a  crime,  and  mari'iage  was  tole 
rated  as  a  defect,  it  was  consistent  with  the  same  principles  t( 
consider  a  state  of  celibacy  as  the  nearest  approach  to  th4 
divine  perfection.  It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
ancient  Rome  could  support  the  institution  of  six  vestals  ;°* 
but  the  primitive  church  was  filled  with  a  great  number  of  per- 
sons of  either  sex,  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  profes- 
sion of  perpetual  chastity.*^  A  few  of  these,  among  whom  we 
may  reckon  the  learned  Origen,  judged  it  the  most  prudent  to 
disarm  the  tempter.'^  Some  v.ere  insensible  and  some  were 
invincible  against  the  assaults  of  the  flesh.  Disdaining  ai\  ig- 
nominious flight,  the  virgins  of  the  warm  climate  of  Africa  en- 
countered the  enemy  in  the  closest  engagement ;  they  per^- 
mitted  priests  and  deacons  to  share  their  bed,  and  gloried 
amidst  the  flames  in  their  unsullied  purity.  But  insulted 
Nature  sometimes  vindicated  her  rights,  and  this  new  species 
of  martyrdom  served  only  to  introduce  a  new  scandal  into  the 
church."     Among    the  Christian    ascetics,  howevei',   (a  namo 


'^  See  a  chain  of  tradition,  from  Justin  Martyr  to  Jerome,  in  the 
Morale  des  Peres,  c.  iv.  6 — '26. 

^*  See  a  very  curious  Dissertation  on  the  Vestals,  in  the  Memoirea 
de  TAcademie  des  Inscriptions,  torn.  iv.  p.  161 — 227.  Notwithstanding 
the  honors  and  rewards  which  were  bestowed  on  those  virgins,  it  was 
difficult  to  procure  a  sufficient  number ;  nor  could  the  dread  of  the  most 
liorrible  death  always  restrain  their  incontinence. 

^°  Cupiditatera  procrcandi  aut  unam  scimus  aut  nullam.  Minutius 
Faelix,  c.  31.  Justin.  Apolog.  Major.  Athenagoras  in  Legat.  c  28. 
TertuUian  de  Cultu  Foemin.  1.  ii. 

"•^  Eusehius,  1.  vi.  8.  Before  the  fame  of  Origen  l  id  excited  envy 
and  persecution,  this  extraordinary  action  was  rather  adn:iied  than  cen- 
sured. As  it  was  his  general  pjractice  to  allegorize  Scrijitiirc,  it  sesoa 
unfortunate  that  in  this  instance  only,  lie  should  have  adoptcl  the  ht 
eral  ser.se. 

"*  Cyprian.  Epist.  4,  and  Dodwell,  Di:bsertat.  Cyprianic.  iii.  S  me- 
thiiif^  like  this   rash  atte.mpt   was  long   afterwards   irr.puted    to   Hm 


A.D.  323.]  OF  ti;r  homan  emi'iue.  65J 

which  they  soon  acquired  from  tlnir  painful  oxorciso,)  in;iiiy, 
as  they  were  less  presuiiipiuous,  wore  prohalily  jnore  successful. 
The  loss  of  sensual  ploasuro  was  supplifd  ami  couipi;iis;itc«l  by 
spiritual  \n-]de.  Even  the  inultitudo  of  I'aijaiis  wrro  incliued 
to  esti  iiate  the  merit  of  the  sacriiiee  by  its  apparent  «Htlioulty; 
and  it  was  in  the  praise  of  these  ch:,ste  sj^ouses  uf  Christ  that 
the  fathers  have  poured  forth  the  troubled  stream  of  their  elo- 
quence." Such  are  the  early  traces  of  monastic  i>riiicipl.-s  and 
institutions,  which,  in  a  subsequent  age,  have  counterbalanced 
all  the  femporal  advantages  of  Christianity." 

The  Christians  were  not  less  averse  to  the  business  than  to 
the  pleasures  of  this  world.  The  defence  of  our  persons  and 
property  they  knew  not  how  to  reconcile  with  the  patient  doc- 
trine which  enjoined  an  unlimited  forgiveness  of  past  injuries, 
and  commanded  them  to  invite  the  repetition  of  fresh  insults. 
Their  simplicity  was  offended  by  the  use  of  oaths,  by  tho 
pomp  of  magistracy,  and  by  the  active  contention  of  public 
life;  nor  could  their  humane  ignorance  be  convinced  that  it  was 
lawful  on  any  occasion  to  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow- 
creatures,  either  by  the  sword  of  justice,  or  by  that  of  war; 
even  though  their  criminal  or  hostile  attempts  should  threaten 
the  peace  and  safety  of  the  whole  community. '"''  It  was 
acknowledged,  that,  under  a  less  perfect  law,  the  powers  of  tho 
Jewish  constitution  had  been  exercised,  with  tho  apjirobation 
of  Heaven,  by  inspired  proj)hets  and  by  anointed  kings.  Tho 
Christians  felt  and  confessed  that  such  institutions  might  be 
necessary  for  the  present  system  of  the  world,  and  they  cheer- 
fully submitted  to  the  authority  of  their  Pagan  governors. 
But  while  they  inculcated  the  maxims  of  |>assive  obedience, 
they  refused  to  take  any  active  part  in  the  civil  administration 

founder  of  the  order  of  Fontevrault.  Bayle  lias  amused  himself  and  bis 
readers  on  tliat  very  delicate  subject. 

"*  Dupiri  (Bibliotheque  Eccle.siiistiquc,  torn.  i.  p.  195)  gives  a  par 
licular  account  of  tho  dialogue  of  the  ten  virgins,  as  it  was  comi>osed 
by  Methodius,  Bishop  of  Tyre.  Tlic  praises  of  virginity  are  exces- 
sive. 

"  Tlie  Ascetics  (as  early  as  the  second  century)  made  a  public  pro- 
fossiou  of  mortifying  their  bodies,  acd  of  abstaining  from  the  use  of  lle.sh 
and  wine.     Moiiieini,  p.  310. 

""  Sec  the  Morale  dcs  Peres.  The  same  patient  principles  have 
been  revived  since  the  Reformation  by  the  Socinians,  the  modern  Anv 
baptists,  and  the  (Quakers.  Barclay,  "tho  Api'loiri^t  of  tl  n  Qu;iker»,  li.<u 
protected  his  biethren  by  the  authority  o'  the  primitvc  Christiaai ,  p 
642—549 


MS  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  329 

OT  the  military  defence  of  theempir?.  Some  indulgence  might) 
perhaps,  be  allowed  to  those  persons  who,  before  their  conver 
sion,  were  already  engaged  in  such  violent  and  sanguinary 
occupations ;  "*  but  it  was  impossible  tLat  the  Christians, 
without  renouncing  a  more  sacred  duty,  could  assume  the 
character  of  soldiers,  of  magistrates,  or  of  princes.'"*  This 
Indolent,  or  even  criminal  disregard  to  the  public  welfare 
exposed  them  to  the  contempt  and  reproaches  of  the  Pagans 
who  very  frequently  asked,  what  must  be  the  fate  of  the  em 
p?re,  attacked  on  every  side  by  the  barbarians,  if  all  mankind 


'"  TertuUian,  Apolog.  c.  21.  De  Idololatria,  c.  IT,  18.  Origen  contra 
Celsum,  1.  V.  p.  253,  1.  vii.  p.  348, 1.  viii.  p.  423 — 428. 

^°'^  TertuUian  (de  Corona  Militis,  c.  11)  suggested  to  them  the  ex 
pedient  of  deserting ;  a  counsel  which,  if  it  had  been  generally  known, 
was  not  very  proper  to  conciliate  the  favor  of  the  emperors  towards 
the  Christian  sect.* 


*  There  is  nothing  which  ought  to  astonish  us  in  the  refusal  of  the 
primitive  Clu'istiaiis  to  take  part  iu  public  affairs;  it  was  the  natural  con 
sequence  of  tlie  contrariety  of  tlieir  principles  to  the  customs,  laws,  ajid  ac- 
tive life  of  the  Pagan  world.  As  Christians,  they  could  not  enter  uito  the 
senate,  which,  according  to  Gibbon  himself,  always  assembled  in  a  temple 
or  consecrated  place,  and  where  each  senator,  before  he  look  his  seat,  made 
a  libation  of  a  few  drops  of  wine,  and  burnt  incense  on  the  altar;  as  Chris- 
tians, they  could  not  assist  at  festivals  and  banquets,  which  always  tenni- 
iiated  with  libations,  &c. ;  finally,  as  "  the  innumerable  deities  and  rites  of 
polytheism  were  closely  interwoven  with  cverj'  circumstance  of  jmblic  and 
private  life,"  the  Christians  could  not  participate  iu  them  without  incurring, 
according  to  their  principles,  the  guilt  of  impiety.  It  was  then  much  less 
by  an  efiect  of  their  doctrine,  than  by  the  consequence  of  their  situation, 
that  they  stood  aloof  from  public  business  Whenever  this  situation  offered 
no  impediment,  they  shov^•ed  as  much  activity  as  the  Pagans.  Proinde,  says 
Justin  Martyr.  (Apol.  c.  17,)  nos  solum  Deum  adoramus,  et  vobis  in  rebus 
aliis  Iffiti  inservimus. — G. 

This  latter  passage,  M.  Guizot  quotes  in  Latin ;  if  he  had  consulted  the 
original,  he  would  have  ibund  it  to  be  altogether  irrelevant :  it  merely  relates 
to  the  payment  of  taxes. — M. 

TertuUian  does  not  suggest  to  the  soldiers  the  expedient  of  deserting  ;  he 
says  that  they  ought  to  be  constantly  on  their  guard  to  do  nothing  during 
their  service  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  and  to  resolve  to  suffer  martyrdom 
rather  than  submit  to  a  base  compliance,  or  openly  to  renounce  the  service. 
(De  Cor.  Mil.  ii.  p.  127.)  He  does  not  positively  decide  that  the  military 
service  is  not  permitted  to  Christians ;  he  ends,  indeed,  by  sajhig.  Puis 
(lenique  licere  militiam  usque  ad  causani  coronse. — G. 

M.  Guizot  is.  I  think,  again  unfortunate  in  his  defence  of  TertuUian. 
That  father  says,  that  mauj'  Christian  soldiers  had  deserted,  aut  dcscrendum 
etaiim  sit,  ut  a  multis  actum.  The  latter  sentence,  Puta.  &c ,  &c.,  is  a  con- 
rsssion  for  the  sake  of  argument:  wha  follows  is  more  to  the  pur 
pase. — M. 

Many  other  passages  of  TertuUian  prove  that  the  anny  was  full  of  Chri» 
tiuiB,  Hestenii  snmns  et  ve.stra  omnia  implcvim-is.  urbes,  insuias,  casteli* 
muninipip..    .■onciliabula,    castia  ipsa.      (Apol.  c.  37.)      Nav-'.gainus   f,4   n« 


A.  D.  323.J  OF    THE    ROMAN    KMIIKE.  658 

should  adopt  the  pusillanimous  sentiments  of  the  new  seel.'" 
To  this  insulting  question  the  Christian  apologists  returned 
obscure  and  ambiguous  answers,  as  they  were  unwilling  to 
reveal  the  secret  cause  of  their  fsecurity  ;  the  expectation  that, 
before  the  conversion  of  mankind  was  accomplishi'd,  war, 
government,  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  world  itself,  would 
be  no  more.  It  may  be  observed,  that,  in  this  insUuice  like- 
wise, the  situation  of  the  first  Christians  coincided  very  hap- 
pily with  Lheir  religious  sf^riiples,  and  that  their  aversion  to  an 
sctive  life  contributed  rather  toexcuso  them  from  the  service, 
than  to  exclude  thim  from  the  honoi-s,  of  the  stat<3  and  .army. 
V.  But  the  human  character,  however  it  m.ay  be  exalted  or 
■iepressed  by  a  temporary  enthusiasm,  will  return  by  di^greea 
♦■9  its  proper  and  natural  level,  and  will  resume  those  passions 
hat  seem  the  most  adapt':;d  to  its  present  condition.  The 
primitive  Christians  were  dead  to  the  business  and  pleasures 
^f  the  world ;  but  their  love  of  action,  which  could  nevt;r  be 
".ntirely  extinguished,  soou  revived,  and  found  a  new  occupa- 
<ion  in  the  government  of  the  church.,  A  separate  society, 
which  attacked  the  established  religion  of  the  empire,  was 
obliged  to  adopt  some  form  of  internal  policy,  and  to  appoint  a 
sufficient  number  of  ministers,  intrusted  not  only  with  the 
spiritual  functions,  but  even  with  the  temporal  direction  of  the 
Christian  commonwealth.  The  safety  of  that  society,  its 
honor,  its  aggrandizement,  were  productive,  even  in  the  most 
oious  mir.ds,  of  a  spirit  of  patriotism,  such  as  the  first  of  the 
Romans  had  felt  for  the  rei)ublic,  and  sometimes  of  a  similar 
mdiffereuce,  in  the  use  of  whatever  means  might  i^^robably 
conduce  to  so  desirable  an  end.  The  ambition  of  raiding 
themselves  or  their  friends  to  the  honors  and  offics  of  the 
church,  was  disguised  by  the  laudable  intention  of  devoting 
to   the  public  beuetit  the  power  and  consideration,  which,  for 

'°'  As  well  as  we  can  judfje  from  the  mutilated  rejirescntation  of 
Oiigen,  (1.  viii.  p.  423,)  his  adversary,  Celsus,  liad  urged  liis  objection 
wnlli  great  force  anil  candor 

TObismm  ot  milifamiix.  (c.  42.)  Orit,'Cii,  in  truth,  app.-arrt  to  Imve  main- 
taiued  a  more  rigid  opiniou,  (Coat.  Ccls.  1.  viii. ;)  but  lie  has  often  renouiic.-d 
this  exaggerated  severity,  perliaps  neccs.sary  to  produce  great  results,  nnd 
be  speaks  of  Uic  profession  of  arms  aa  an  honorable  one.     (1.  iv.  c.  -ilti.) 

On  these  joints  Chri.stian  opinion,  it  should  seem,  was  much  divided. 
Tertullian.  vhen  he  wrote  tlie  De  Cor.  Mil.,  was  evidently  indinnitr  to  morn 
Bsceuc  opinions,  and  Or.gen  waa  of  the  utme  clnss.  See  Neonder.  ■»oi  i 
part  ii.  p  303,  edit  I82«.--M 

vol    I. A  A 


5bi  THE  DECLINE  AND  FAIL,        [A.  D.  823 

fhat  purpose  only,  it  became  their  diit}'-  to  solicit.  In  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  functions,  they  were  frequently  called  upon  to 
detect  the  errors  of  heresy  or  the  arts  of  faction,  to  oppose 
the  designs  of  perfidious  brethren,  to  stigmatize  their  charac 
tei"s  with  deserved  infamy,  and  to  expel  them  from  the  bosora 
of  a  society  whose  peace  and  happiness  they  had  attempted 
to  diijturb.  The  ecclesiastical  governors  of  the  Cliristian? 
were  taught  to  unite  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  with  the  inno 
cence  of  the  dove ;  but  as  the  former  was  refined,  so  the  lat 
ter  was  insensibly  corrupted,  by  the  habits  of  government.  Tr 
the  church  as  well  as  in  the  world,  the  persons  who  were 
placed  in  any  public  station  rendered  themselves  considerable 
by  their  eloquence  and  firmness,  by  their  knowledge  of  man- 
kind, and  by  their  dexterity  in  business  ;  and  while  they  con- 
cealed from  others,  and  perhaps  from  themselves,  the  secret 
motives  of  their  conduct,  they  too  frequently  relapsed  into  all 
the  turbulent  passions  of  active  life,  which  were  tinctured  with 
an  additional  degree  of  bitterness  and  obstinacy  from  the  m- 
fusion  of  spiritual  zeal. 

The  government  of  the  church  has  often  been  the  subject, 
as  well  as  the  prize,  of  religious  contention.  The  hostile  dis- 
putants of  Rome,  of  Paris,  of  Oxford,  and  of  Geneva,  have 
alike  struggled  to  reduce  the  primitive  and  apostolic  model'** 
to  the  respective  standards  of  their  own  policy.  The  few  whc 
have  pursued  this  inquiry  with  more  candor  and  impartiality, 
are  of  opinion,"^  that  the  apostles  declined  the  office  of  legis- 
lation, and  rather  chose  to  endure  some  partial  scandals  and 
divisions,  than  to  exclude  the  Christians  of  a  future  age  from 
the  liberty  of  varying  their  forms  of  ecclesiastical  government 
accoi'ding  to  the  changes  of  times  and  circumstances.  The 
scheme  of  policy,  which,  under  their  approbation,  was  adopted 
for  the  use  of  the  first  century,  may  be  discovered  from  the 
practice  of  Jerusalem,  of  Ephesus,  or  of  Corinth.  The  soci- 
eties which  were  instituted  in  the  cities  of  the  Roman  empire, 
were  united  only  by  the  ties  of  faith  and  charity.  Independ- 
ence and   equality  formed   the   basis   of  tu-^ir  internal  consti 


"*  The  aristocratical  party  in  France,  as  well  as  ii.  England,  has 
llreniiously  maintained  the  divme  origin  of  bishops.  3ut  the  Cal- 
tinistical  presbyters  were  impatient  of  a  superior ;  and  x^ie  Roman 
FontJfT  refused  to  acknowledge  an  equal.     See  Era  raolo. 

**•  In  the  liistory  of  the  Christian  liierarchy,  I  have,  for  the  laoct 
p*rt  foUo^'ei  the  learned  and  candid  Mosheim. 


A..  D.  3'23:.]  of  the  roman  empire.  568 

tution.  The  want  of  discijiline  and  liiiman  .earning  was 
supplied  by  the  occasional  assistance  of  the  ])rophets,^''*  wlio 
were  called  to  that  function  without  distinction  of  age,  of  sex,* 
or  of  natural  abilities,  and  who,  as  often  as  they  felt  the 
divine  impulse,  poured  forth  the  effusions  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
assembly  of  the  faithful.  But  these  extraordinary  gifts  were 
frequently  abused  or  misa{>plied  by  the  prophetic  teacliens. 
The/  displayed  them  at  an  improper  season,  presumptuously 
disturbed  the  service  of  the  assembly,  and,  by  their  pride  or 
mistaken  zeal,  they  ijitroduced,  particularly  into  the  apostolic 
church  of  Corinth,  a  long  and  melancholy  train  of  disorders."' 
As  the  institution  of  prophets  became  useless,  and  even  per- 
nicious, their  powers  were  withdrawn,  and  their  office  abol- 
ished. The  public  functions  of  religion  were  solely  intrusted 
\o  the  established  ministers  of  the  church,  the  bishops  and  the 
presbyters  ;  two  appellations  which,  in  their  first  origin,  appear 


'""'  For  the  prophets  of  the  primitive  church,  see  Mosheim,  Disscr 
tatioiies  ad  Hist.  Eccles.  pcrtinentes,  torn.  ii.  p.  132 — 208. 

'"'  See  tlie  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  of  Clemens,  to  the  Corinth 
ians.f 

'  St.  Paul  distiiicUy  reproves  the  intru.sion  of  females  into  the  prophet?' 
oflico.     1  Cor.  xiv.  34,  35.     1  Tim.  ii.  11.— M. 

t  Tlie  iirst  ministers  established  in  the  church  were  the  deacons,  a;>- 
pointed  at  Jcmsalem,  seven  in  number  ;  they  were  charged  ^vith  the  dislri 
Ijution  of  the  alms ;  even  females  had  a  share  in  this  empla>vmcnt.  After  tho 
deacons  came  the  elders  or  priests,  [irpcaffinpoi,)  charged  with  the  main- 
tenance of  order  and  decorum  in  the  comniunitj-,  and  to  act  every  where  in 
its  name.  The  bishops  were  afterwards  charged  to  watch  over  ihe  feith 
and  the  in.struction  of  the  disciples :  the  aposth^s  themselves  appointed  sev- 
eral bishops.  Tertulliaii,  (adv.  Marium,  c.  v.,)  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and 
many  fathers  of  the  second  and  third  century,  do  not  permit  us  to  doubt  ihia 
fact.  The  equality  of  rank  between  the.se  diirerent  functionaries  did  not 
prevent  their  functions  being,  even  in  their  origin,  distinct ;  they  became 
subsequently  still  more  so.  See  Plank,  Geschichte  der  Christ.  Kirch.  Ver- 
fassung.,  vol.  i.  p.  24. — G. 

On  tliis  e-Ktrcmely  obscure  subject,  which  has  been  so  much  perplexed  by 
pas.sion  and  interest,  it  is  impossible  to  justify  any  opinion  without  entering 
Into  long  and  controversial  details.  It  must  be  admitted,  in  opposition  to 
Plank,  that  in  the  New  Testament,  the  words  rpca^vTcpui  and  rTiaK6roi  are 
sometimes  indiscriminately  used.  (Acts  x.k.  v.  17,  comp.  with  28  Tit.  i.  3 
and  7.  Philip,  i.  1.)  But  it  is  as  clear,  that  as  .soon  as  we  can  di.scern  the 
foiTU  of  church  government,  at  a  period  closely  bordering  upon,  if  not  withioi 
tho  apostolic  age.  it  appears  with  a  bishop  at  the  head  of  each  community, 
holdin?  some  superiority  ovor  the  pre.sbyt(!rs.  Whether  he  was,  a.s  Gibben 
from  Mosheim  supposes,  merely  an  elective  head  of  the  College  of  Presby- 
ters, (for  this  we  have,  in  fact^  no  valid  authority,)  or  whether  his  distinct 
fnnctions  were  established  on  apostolic  authority,  is  still  contested.  Ttfi 
universal  submission  to  this  episcopacy,  in  every  part  of  the  Christian  \s  orl4 
appears  to  mc  strongly  to  favor  the  latter  view. — M. 


S56  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323, 

to  have  distinguislied  the  same  )ffice  and  the  same  ord  ir  of 
persons.  The  name  of  Presbyter  was  expressive  of  their  age, 
or  rather  of  their  gravity  and  wisdom.  The  title  of  Bishop 
denoted  their  inspection  over  the  faith  and  manners  of  the 
Christians  who  were  committed  to  their  pastoral  care.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  respective  numbers  of  the  faithful,  a  Jarg^r  or 
emaller  number  of  these  episcojyal  presbyters  guided  ^.ach 
infant  congregation  with  equal  authority  and  with  united  c^un 
«els."« 

But  the  most  perfect  equality  of  freedom  requires  the  dir-ect- 
ing  hand  of  a  superior  magistrate :  and  the  order  of  public 
deliberations  soon  introduces  the  office  of  a  president,  invested 
at  least  with  the  authority  of  collecting  the  sentiments,  and  of 
executing  the  resolutions,  of  the  assembly.  A  regard  for  the 
public  tranquillity,  which  would  so  frequently  have  been  in- 
terrupted by  annual  or  by  occasional  elections,  induced  the 
primitive  Christians  to  constitute  an  honorable  and  perpetual 
Aiagistracy,  and  to  choose  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  holy 
among  their  presbyterians  to  execute,  during  his  life,  the  duties 
of  their  ecclesiastical  governor.  It  was  under  these  circum- 
stances that  the  lofty  title  of  Bishop  began  to  raise  itself 
above  the  humble  appellation  of  Presbyter ;  and  while  the 
/iitter  remained  the  most  natural  distinction  for  the  members 
of  every  Christian  senate,  the  former  was  appropriated  to  the 
dignity  of  its  new  president."'  The  advantages  of  this  epis- 
copal form  of  government,  which  appears  to  have  been  intro- 
duced before  the  end  of  the  first  century,""  were  so  obvious, 
and  so  important  for  the  future  greatness,  as  well  as  the  pres- 
ent peace,  of  Christianity,  that  it  was  adopted  without  delay 
by   all   the  societies   which  were  already  scattered  over  the 

"^  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  L  vii. 

""  See  Jerome  ad  Titum,  c.  i.  and  Epistol.  85,  (in  the  Benedictine 
edition,  101,)  and  the  elaborate  apology  of  Blondel,  pro  sententia 
Hieronymi.  The  ancient  state,  as  it  is  described  by  Jerome,  of  the 
bishop  ana  presbyters  of  Alexandria,  receives  a  remarkable  confir- 
mation from  the  patriarch  Eutychius,  (Annal.  torn.  i.  p.  330,  Vers 
Pocock;)  whose  testimony  I  know  not  how  to  reject,  in  spite  of  all 
the  objections  of  the  learned  Pearson  in  his  Vindiciae  Ignatianae,  part 
Lc.  11. 

"°  See  the  introduction  to  the  Apocalypse.  Bishops,  under  the 
name  of  angels,  were  already  instituted  in  the  seven  cities  of  Asia, 
And  yet  the  epistle  of  Clemens  (which  is  prob.ibly  of  as  ancient  a 
date)  does  not  lead  us  to  discover  any  traces  of  episcoj^icy  either  al 
Corinth  or  Rome, 


A.  D.  323.]  OF  THE  roman  empire.  S6^ 

empire,  had  acquired  in  a  very  early  period  the  s.iiiction  o^ 
autiiiuity,"*  and  is  still  revered  by  the  most  powerful  churcboi^ 
botli  of  the  East  and  of  the  West,  as  a  primitive  and  even  aa 
a  divine  establishment,""  •  It  is  needless  to  observe,  that  the 
pious  and  humble  presbyters,  wlio  were  fii-st  dignified  with  the 
episcopal  title,  could  not  possess,  and  would  probably  have  re- 
jected, the  power  and  pomp  which  now  encircles  the  tiara  of 
the  Roman  pontiif,  or  the  mitre  of  a  German  prelate.  But 
we  may  define,  in  a  few  words,  the  narrow  limits  of  their  origi- 
nal jurisdiction,  w-hich  was  chiefly  of  a  spiritual,  though  in 
some  instances  of  a  temporal  nature.'"  It  consisted  in  tlie 
administration  of  the  sacraments  and  discipline  of  the  church, 
the  superiutendency  of  religious  ceremonies,  which  impercepti- 
bly increased  in  number  and  variety,  the  consecration  of  eccle- 
siastical ministers,  to  whom  the  bishop  assigned  their  respective 
functions,  the  management  of  the  public  fund,  and  the  deter- 
mination of  all  such  difterences  as  the  faithful  were  unwilling 
to  expose  before  the  tribunal  of  an  idolatrous  judge.  These 
powers,  during  a  short  period,  were  exercised  according  to  the 
advice  of  the  presbyteral  college,  and  with  the  consent  and 
approbation  of  the  assembly  of  Christians.  The  primitive 
bishops  were  considered  only  as  the  first  of  their  equals,  and 
the  honorable  servants  of  a  free  people.  Whenever  the  epis- 
copal chair  became  vacant  by  death,  a  new  president  was  chosen 
among  the  presbyters  by  the  suffrages  of  the  whole  congrega- 
tion, every  member  of  which  supposed  himself  invested  with  a 
sacred  and  sacerdotal  character,"* 

'"  Nulla  Ecclesia  sine  Episcopo,  has  been  a  fact  as  well  as  a  maxim 
since  tlie  time  of  Tertullian  and  Irena^us. 

"'-  After  we  have  passed  tlie  difficulties  of  the  first  century,  we 
find  the  episcopal  government  universally  estabhshed,  till  it  was 
interrupted  by  the  republican  genius  of  the  Swiss  and  German 
reformers. 

*"  See  Mosheim  in  the  first  and  second  centuries.  Ignatius  (ad 
Srayrnasos,  c.  3,  &c.)  is  fond  of  exalting  the  episcopal  dignity.  Le 
Clerc  (Hist.  Eccles.  p.  569)  very  bluntly  censures  his  conduct. 
Mosheim,  with  a  more  critical  judgment,  (p.  161,)  suspot'ts  the  purity 
even  of  the  smaller  epistles. 

"•*  Wonne  et  Laici  gacerdotes  sumus  ?  *  Tertulhan,  Exhort,  ad 
"Uastitat.  c.  7.  As  the  human  heart  is  still  the  same,  several  of  tlic 
bservations  which  Mr.  Hume  has  made  on  Enthusiasm,  (Essays,  vol 
L  p.  76,  quarto  edit.)  may  be  applied  even  to  real  inspiraUcfl. 

*  This  expression  was  t^mp'oyed  by  the  earlier  ChristiaD  Arritors  in  lUa 
■enie  used  by  St.  Peter,  1  Ep  ii.  9.    It  was  the  Kauctity  an<    yirtuo  .'w*  l>« 


558  THE    DEGLIKE    AND    FALL  [A.  D,  328. 

Such  was  the  mild  and  equal  constitution  by  which  the 
Christians  were  governed  more  than  a  hundred  years  after 
the  death  of  the  apostles.  Every  society  formed  within  itself 
a  separate  and  independent  republic;  and  although  the  most 
distant  of  these  little  states  maintained  a  mutual  as  well  as 
friendly  intercourse  of  letters  and  deputations,  the  Christian 
world  was  not  yet  connected  by  any  supreme  authority  or 
legislative  assembly.  As  the  numbers  of  the  faithful  were 
gradually  multiplied,  they  discovered  the  advantages  that 
might  result  from  a  closer  union  of  their  interest  and  designs. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  second  century,  the  churches  of 
Greece  and  Asia  adopted  the  useful  institutions  of  provincial 
synods,*  and  they  may  justly  be  supposed  to  have  borrowed 
the  model  of  a  representative  council  from  the  celebrated  ex- 
amples of  their  own  country,  the  Amphictyons,  the  Achaean 
league,  or  the  assemblies  of  the  Ionian  cities.  It  was  soon 
established  as  a  custom  and  as  a  law,  that  the  bishops  of  the 
independent  churches  should  meet  in  the  capital  of  the  prov- 
ince at  the  stated  periods  of  spring  and  autumn.  Their  de- 
liberations were  assisted  by  the  advice  of  a  few  distinguished 
presbyters,  and  moderated  by  the  presence  of  a  listening  mul- 
titude.'"    Their  decrees,  which  were  styled  Canons,  regulated 

"'  Acta  Concil.  Carthag.  apud  Cyprian,  edit.  Fell,  p.  158.  Thii 
council  was  composed  of  eiglity-sevea  bishops  from  the  provinces  of 


power  oP  the  priesthood,  in  which  all  Christians  were  to  be  equally  distin- 
guished.— M. 

*  The  synods  were  not  the  first  means  taken  by  the  insulated  churches' 
to  enter  into  communion  and  to  assume  a  corporate  character.  The  dio- 
feses  were  first  formed  by  the  union  of  several  country  cliurches  with 
n  church  in  a  city  :  many  churches  in  one  city  uniting  among  themselves,  or 
Joining  a  more  considerable  church,  became  metropolitan.  The  dioceses 
were  not  foiTned  before  the  beginning  of  the  second  century :  before  that 
time  the  Christians  liad  not  established  sullicient  churches  in  the  country 
to  stand  in  need  of  that  union.  It  is  towards  the  middle  of  the  same  century 
that  ^ve  discover  tlie  first  traces  of  the  metropolitan  constitution.  (Probably 
the  country  churches  were  founded  in  general  by  missionaries  fi-om  those  in 
the  city,  and  would  preserve  a  natural  connection  with  the  parent  church.) 
— M. 

The  provincial  sj'nods  did  not  commence  till  towards  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  and  were  not  the  first  synods.  History  gives  us  distinct  no 
tions  of  the  s;y'iiods,  held  towards  the  end  of  the  second  century,  at  Ephesus 
at  Jerusalem,  at  Poutus,  and  at  Rome,  to  put  an  end  to  the  disputes  whicl 
bad  arisen  between  the  Latin  and  Asiatic  churches  about  the  celebratioi, 
of  Easter.  But  these  synods  were  not  subject  to  any  regular  fonn  or  pe- 
riodical return;  this  regularity  was  first  established  with  tic  provincial 
synods  which  were  formed  by  a  union  of  the  bishops  of  a  district,  subjec! 
lo  a  metropolitan.    Plank,  p.  9C      Geschichte  der  Christ.  Kirch.  Verfassang 

--a 


\.  D.  323.]  oj   riiE  roman  empiiib.  56tt 

every  important  fontrovorsy  of  faith  aiul  discipline  ;  and  it  waa 
natural  to  believe  that  a  liberal  effusion  oi"  the  Holy  Sjnrit 
would  be  poured  on  the  united  assembly  of  the  delej^ates  of 
the  Christian  people.  The  institution  of  synods  was  so  well 
suited  to  private  ambition,  and  to  public  interest,  that  in  the 
space  of  a  few  jears  it  was  received  throutjhout  tlio  whole 
empire.  A  regular  correspondence  w<as  established  betwee. 
the  provincial  councils,  which  mutually  communicated  and 
approved  their  respective  proceedings  ;  and  the  catholic  church 
soon  assumed  the  form,  and  acquired  the  strength,  of  a  great 
toederative  republic."" 

As  the  legislative  authority  of  the  particular  churches  was 
insensibly  superseded  by  the  use  of  councils,  the  bishops  ob- 
tained by  their  alliance  a  much  larger  share  of  executive  and 
arbitrary  power ;  and  as  soon  as  they  were  connected  by  a 
sense  of  their  common  interest,  they  were  enabled  to  attack 
with  united  vigor,  the  original  rights  of  their  clergy  and  people. 
The  prelates  of  the  third  century  imperceptibly  changed  the 
language  of  exhortation  into  that  of  command,  scattered  the 
seeds  of  future  usurpations,  and  supplied,  by  scripture  allego- 
ries and  declamatory  rhetoric,  their  deficiency  of  force  and  of 
reason.  They  exalted  the  unity  and  power  of  the  church,  as 
it  was  represented  in  the  episcopal  office,  of  which  every 
oishop  enjoyed  an  equal  and  undivided  portion."'  Princes 
and  magistrates,  it  was  often  repeated,  might  boast  an  earthly 
daim  to  a  transitory  dominion  ;  it  was  the  episcopal  authority 
nlone  which  was  derived  from  the  Deity,  and  extended  itself 
over  this  and  over  another  world.  The  bishops  were  the  vice- 
gerents of  Christ,  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  and  the  mystic 
substitutes  of  the  high  priest  of  the  Mosaic  law.  Their  exclu- 
sive privilege  of  conferring  the  sacerdotal  character,  invaded 
the  freedom  both  of  clerical  and  of  popular  elections ;  and  if, 
in  the  administration  of  the  church,  they  still  consulted  the 
judgment  of  the  presbyters,  or  the  inclination  of  tlie  people, 
they  most  carefully  inculcated  the  merit  of  such  a  voluntary 
condescension.     The  bishops  acknowledged    the  supreme  au- 

Mauritania,  Numidia,  and  Africa;  some  presbyters  and  deaooni 
assisted  at  the  assembly  ;  prajsente  plebis  maxima  parte. 

''*  Afjuntiir  prteterca  \)ct  Grfficias  illas,  ccrtis  in  locis  concili:i,  <ic 
TertiiUi:ir  dc  Jcjuniis,  c.  13.  The  African  mentions  it  as  a  recent  and 
foreign  institution.  The  coalition  of  the  Christian  churches  is  very 
ftbly  explained  by  Mosheim,  ji.  104 — 170. 

"'  Cypriaji,  in  his  adinirnd  treatise  Dc  Unitate  Ecc'.esiae.  p.  'Jfi — 8€ 


560  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D,  S28l 

tbority  which  resided  in  the  assembly  of  their  brethren ;  but 
in  the  government  of  his  peculiar  diocese,  each  of  them  exact- 
ed from  his  flock  the  same  implicit  obedience  as  if  that  fovor- 
itu  metaphor  had  been  literally  just,  and  as  if  the  shepherd 
had  been  of  a  more  exalted  nature  than  that  of  his  sheep/" 
This  obedience,  however,  was  not  imposed  without  some 
efforts  on  one  side,  and  some  resistance  on  the  other.  The 
iemocratical  part  of  the  constitution  was,  in  many  places,  very 
warmly  supported  by  the  zealous  or  interested  opposition  of 
the  inferior  clergy.  But  their  patriotism  received  the  ignomini- 
ous epithets  of  faction  and  schism  ;  and  the  episcopal  cause 
was  indebted  for  its  rapid  progress  to  the  labors  of  many  ac- 
tive prelates,  who,  like  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  could  reconcile 
the  arts  of  the  most  ambitious  statesman  with  the  Christian 
virtues  which  seem  adapted  to  the  character  of  a  saint  and 
martyr."' 

The  same  causes  which  at  first  had  destroyed  the  equality 
of  the  presbyters  introduced  among  the  bishops  a  jDreeminence 
of  rank,  and  from  thence  a  superiority  of  jurisdiction.  As 
often  as  in  the  spring  and  autumn  they  met  in  provincial 
synod,  the  difference  of  personal  merit  and  reputation  was  very 
sensibly  felt  among  the  membei-s  of  the  assembly,  and  the 
multitude  was  governed  by  the  wisdom  and  eloquence  of  the 
few.  But  the  order  of  public  proceedings  required  a  more 
regular  and  less  invidious  distinction  ;  the  office  of  perpetual 
presidents  in  the  councils  of  each  province  was  conferred  on 
the  bishops  of  the  principal  city  ;  and  these  aspiring  prelatea 
fvho  soon  acquired  the  lof'^y  titles  of  Metropolitans  and  I'ri- 
mates,  secretly  prepared  themselves  to  usurp  over  their  epis- 
copal brethren  the  same  authority  which  the  bishops  had  so 
lately  assumed  above  the  college  of  presbyters.'^"  Nor  was 
it  long  before  an  emulation  of  preeminence  and  power  pre- 
vailed among   the    Metropolitans    themselves,  each    of  them 

''®  We  may  appeal  to  the  whole  tenor  of  Cyprian's  conduct,  of  liia 
doctrine,  and  of  his  epistles.  Le  Clerc,  in  a  short  life  of  Cyprian, 
(Bibliotheque  Universelle,  torn.  xii.  p.  207 — 318,)  has  laid  him  ojtcd 
with  great  freedom  and  accuracy. 

"^  If  Novatus,  Felicissimus,  ifec,  whom  the  Bishop  of  Carthage  ex 
polled  from  his  church,  and  from  Africa,  were  not  the  most  detestable 
monsters  of  wickedness,  the  zeal  of  Cyprian  must  occasional:  y  have 
prevailed  over  his  veracity.  For  a  very  just  account  of  these  jbscura 
quarrels,  see  Mosheim,  p.  497 — 512. 

""  Moslieuu,  p.  269,  574.  Diipin,  Antiqu£e  Ecclea.  Disciplin.  p 
l»,  20. 


A..  0.  823.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  561 

aflecting  to  display,  in  the  most  pompous  t<^rms,  iho  tempor.i' 
honors  and  advantages  of  tlio  city  over  wLicli  he  presided; 
ihe  numbers  and  opulence  of  the  Christians  who  were  subject 
to  their  pastoral  care  ;  the  saints  and  martyrs  who  had  arisen 
imong  them  ;  and  the  purity  with  which  they  preserved  the 
-rndition  of  the  faith,  as  it  had  been  transmitted  through  a  series 
>f  orthodox  bishops  from  the  apostle  or  the  apostolic  disciple, 
c  whom  the  foundation  of  their  church  was  ascribed.'" 
iVom  every  cause,  either  of  a  civil  or  of  an  ecclesiastical 
aature,  it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  Rome  must  enjoy  the 
respect,  and  would  soon  claim  the  obedience  of  the  province". 
The  society  of  the  faithful  bore  a  just  proportion  to  the  capitxtl 
of  the  empire  ;  and  the  Roman  church  was  the  greatest,  tho 
noost  numerous,  and,  in  regard  to  the  West,  the  most  ancient 
of  all  the  Christian  establishments,  many  of  which  had  received 
their  religion  from  the  pious  labors  of  her  missionaries.  In- 
stead of  one  apostolic  founder,  the  utmost  boast  of  Antioch, 
of  Ephesus,  or  of  Corinth,  the  banks  of  the  Tyber  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  honored  with  the  preaching  and  martyr- 
dom of  the  two  most  eminent  among  the  apostles  ;'"  and  th( 
bishops  of  Rome  very  prudently  claimed  the  inheritance  of 
whatsoever  prerogatives  were  attributed  either  to  the  person  oi 
to  the  office  of  St.  Peter.'"     The  bishops  of  Italy  ana  of  tht 

'^'  Tertullian,  in  a  distinct  treatise,  has  pleaded  against  the  heretics 
the  right  of  prescription,  as  it  was  held  by  the  apostolic  churches. 

'^^  The  journey  of  St.  Peter  to  Rome  is  mentioned  by  most  of  the 
ancients,  (see  Eusebius,  ii.  25,)  maintained  by  all  the  Catholics,  allowed 
by  some  Protestants,  (see  Pearson  and  Dodwell  de  Success.  Episcop 
Roman,)  but  has  been  vigorously  attacked  by  Spanheim,  (Miscellanea 
Sacra,  iii.  3.)  According  to  Father  Hardouin,  the  monks  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  who  composed  the  .^neid,  represented  St  Peter  under 
the  allegorical  character  of  the  Trojan  hero.* 

'^^  It  is  in  French  only  that  the  famous  allusion  to  St.  Peter's  name 
is  exact.  Tu  es  Pierre,  et  sur  cette  picrre. — The  same  is  imperfect 
in  Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  <tc.,  and  totally  unintelligible  in  oiir  Teutonic 
languages.f 

*  It  is  quite  clear  that,  strictly  speaking,  the  church  of  Rome  was  not 
founded  by  either  of  these  apostles.  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romanf 
proves  undeniably  the  flourishing  state  of  the  church  before  his  visit  to  the 
dty;  and  many  lloman  Catholic  writers  have  given  up  the  impracticable 
task  of  reconciling  with  chronology  any  visit  of  St.  Peter  to  Home  before 
Me  end  of  the  reign  of  Claudiu.s,  or  the  bcgiraiing  of  that  of  Nero.— _M. 

t  It  is  exact  in  SjTO-Chaldaic,  the  language  in  which  it  was  spoken  by 
Jesas  Chri.st.  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  17.)  Peter  was  called  Cephas;  atul  the  w«<J 
cepfan  si^ifies  base,  foundation,  rock  — Q. 


562  THE    DECLINE    AND    VaUL  |  A..  D,  325* 

provinces  were  disposed  to  allow  them  a  primacy  of  ordei  and 
associatiou  (such  was  their  very  accurate  expression)  in  the 
Cliristian  aiistocracy."*  But  the  power  of  a  monarch  waa 
rejected  with  abhorrence,  and  the  aspiring  genius  of  Rome  ex- 
perienced from  the  nations  of  Asia  and  Africa  a  more  vigorous 
resistance  to  her  spiritual,  than  she  had  formerly  done  lo  her 
temporal,  dominion.  The  patriotic  Cyprian,  who  ruled  witlj 
the  most  absolute  sway  the  church  of  Carthage  and  the  pro 
viucial  synods,  opposed  with  resolution  and  success  the  ambition 
of  the  Roman  pontiff,  artfully  connected  his  own  cause  with 
that  of  the  eastern  bishops,  and,  like  Hannibal,  sought  out  new 
allies  in  the  heart  of  Asia.'"  If  this  Punic  war  was  carried  on 
without  any  effusion  of  blood,  it  was  owing  much  less  to  the 
moderation  than  to  the  weakness  of  the  contending  prelates. 
Invectives  and  excommunications  were  their  only  weapons; 
and  these,  during  the  progress  of  the  whole  controversy,  they 
hurled  against  each  other  with  equal  fury  and  devotion.  The 
hard  necessity  of  censuring  either  a  pope,  or  a  saint  and  mar- 
tyr, distresses  the  modern  Catholics  whenever  they  are  obliged 
to  relate  the  particulars  of  a  dispute  in  which  the  champions 
of  religion  indulged  such  passions  as  seem  much  more  adapted 
to  the  senate  or  to  the  camp.'*i° 

The  progress  of  the  ecclesiastical  authority  gave  birth  to 
the  memoreble  distinction  of  the  laity  and  of  the  clergy,  which 
had  been  unknown  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans."'  The  former 
of  these  appellations  comprehended  the  body  of  the  Christian 
people  ;  the  latter,  according  to  the  signification  of  the  word, 
\ras  appropriated  to  the  chosen  portion  that  had  been  set  apart 
for  the  service  of  religion ;  a  celebrated  order  of  men,  which 
has  furnished  the  most  important,  though  not  always  the  most 
erlifying,  subjects  for  modern  history.  Their  mutual  hostilities 
sometimes  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  infant  church,  but  their 

*'*•  IrenfBus  adv.  HjBreses,  iii.  3.  TertuUian  de  Praescription.  c.  36, 
fcnd  Cyprian,  Epistol.  27,  55,  71,  75.  Le  Clerc  (Hist.  Eccles.  p.  764) 
and  Mosheim  (p.  258,  578)  labor  in  the  interpretation  of  these  pas- 
sages. But  the  loose  and  rhetorical  style  of  the  fathers  often  appears 
favorable  to  the  pretensions  of  Rome. 

'^'  See  the  sharp  epistle  from  Firmilianus,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  to 
Stephen,  bishop  of  Rome,  ap.  Cyprian,  Epistol.  75. 

*"  Concerning  this  dispute  of  the  rebaptism  of  heretics,  sec  the 
f  pistles  of  Cyprian,  and  the  seventh  book  of  Eusebius. 

'"  For  the  origin  of  these  words,  see  Mosheim,  p.  141.  Spanlieim, 
llist,  Ecclcsiast.  p.  G33.  The  distinction  '>f  Clerus  and  laicug  wa« 
es'.ai.'ili.slied  before  the  time  ?f  Tertullian. 


A.  D.  323.J       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMriKK.  663 

Eeal  and  acliiity  were  united  in  the  couiinon  cause,  and  the 
Iov«  of  power,  which  (under  the  most  artful  disguises)  could 
insinuate  itself  into  the  breasts  of  bishops  and  martyra, 
animated  them  to  increase  the  number  of  their  subjects,  and 
to  enhirge  the  limits  of  the  Christian  empire.  They  wero 
destitute  of  any  temporal  force,  and  they  were  for  a  long  time 
discouraged  and  oppressed,  rather  than  assisted,  by  the  civil 
magistrate ;  but  they  had  acquired,  and  they  employed  within 
their  own  society,  the  two  most  efficacious  instruments  of  gov- 
ernment, rewards  and  punishments ;  the  former  derived  from 
the  pious  liberality,  the  latter  from  the  devout  apprehensions, 
of  the  faithful. 

I.  The  community  of  goods,  which  had  so  agreeably  amused 
the  imagination  of  Plato,'**  and  which  subsisted  in  some  degree 
among  the  austere  sect  of  the  Essenians,'**  was  adopted  for 
a  short  time  in  the  primitive  church.  The  fervor  of  the  first 
proselytes  prompted  them  to  sell  those  worldly  possessions, 
which  they  despised,  to  lay  the  price  of  them  at  the  feet  of 
the  apostles,  and  to  content  themselves  with  receiving  an  equal 
share  out  of  the  general  distribution.""  The  progress  of  the 
Christian  religion  relaxed,  and  gradually  abolished,  this  gen- 
erous institution,  which,  in  hands  less  pure  than  those  of  the 
apostles,  would  too  soon  have  been  corrupted  and  abused  by 
the  returning  selfishness  of  human  nature ;  and  the  converts 
ft'ho  embraced  the  new  religion  were  permitted  to  retain  the 
possession  of  their  patrimony,  to  receive  legacies  and  inher- 
itances, and  to  increase  their  separate  property  by  all  the 
lawful  means  of  trade  and  industry.  Instead  of  an  absolute 
Bawifice,  a  moderate  proportion  was  accepted  by  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel ;    and  in  their  weekly  or   monthly  fissemblies, 

»**  The  community  instituted  by  Plato  is  more  perfect  than  that 
which  Sir  Thomas  More  had  imagined  for  his  Utopia.  The  community 
of  women,  and  that  of  temporal  goods,  may  be  considered  as  insefiara- 
ble  parts  of  the  same  system. 

»"  Joseph.  Antiquitat,  xviii.  2.     Philo,  de  Vit.  Contemplativ. 

»"  See  fne  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  c.  2,  4,  5,  with  flrotius's  Commen- 
tary. Mosheim,  in  a  particular  dissertation,  attacks  the  common  opin- 
ion with  very  inconclusive  arguments.* 

*  This  is  not  Vv3  general  jcdgment  on  Mosheim's  learned  disscrtatioa 
There  is  no  trace  iu  the  latter  part  of  the  New  Testament  of  this  comnm 
oity  of  goods,  and  many  distinct  proofs  of  the  contrary.     All  exhortation! 

o  almsgiving  would  have  been  unmeaning  if  property  ha<l  been  in  oomvooa 

-U 


564  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.   >33. 

every  believer,  according  to  the  exigency  of  the  occasion,  And 
the  measure  of  his  wealth  and  piety,  presented  his  voluntary 
offering  for  the  use  of  the  comnion  fund."'  Nothing,  how- 
ever inconsiderable,  was  refused ;  but  it  was  diligently  incu.- 
calod,  that,  in  the  article  of  Tithes,  the  Mosaic  law  wtis  stili 
of  divine  obligation ;  and  that  since  the  Jews,  under  a  less 
perfect  discipline,  had  been  commanded  to  pay  a  tenth  part  of 
aij  t'lat  they  possessed,  it  would  become  the  disciples  of  Chiist 
o  distinguish  themselves  by  a  superior  degree  of  liberality,*" 
and  to  acquire  some  merit  by  resigning  a  superfluous  treasure, 
which  must  so  soon  be  annihilated  with  the  world  itself.'" 
It  is  almost  uimecessary  to  observe,  that  the  revenue  of  each 
particular  church,  which  was  of  so  uncertain  and  fluctuating 
a  nature,  must  have  varied  with  the  poverty  or  the  opulence 
of  the  faithful,  as  they  were  dispersed  in  obscure  villages,  or 
collected  in  the  great  cities  of  the  empire.  In  the  time  of 
the  emperor  Decius,  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  magistrates, 
that  the  Christians  of  Rome  were  possessed  of  very  consider- 
able wealth ;  that  vessels  of  gold  and  silver  were  used  in  their 
religious  worship,  and  that  many  among  their  proselytes  had 
sold  their  lands  and  ^houses  to  increase  the  public  riches  of  the 
sect,  at  the  expense,  indeed,  of  their  unfortunate  children,  who 
found  themselves  beggars,  because  their  parents  had  been 
saints.'"     We  should  listen  with  distrust  to  the  suspicions  of 


''*  Justin  Martyr,  Apolog.  Major,  c.  89.  Tertullian,  Apolog.  c.  39. 
^''^  IrenjEus  ad  Hceres.  1.  iv.  c.  27,  34.  Origeu  in  Num.  Horn,  ii 
Cyprian  de  Unitat.  Eccles.  Constitut.  Apostol.  1.  ii.  c.  34,  35,  with  the 
notes  of  Cotolerius.  The  Constitutions  introduce  this  divine  precept, 
by  declaring  that  priests  are  as  much  above  kings  as  the  soul  is  above 
the  body.  Among  the  tithable  articles,  they  enumerate  corn,  wine, 
oil,  and  wool.  On  this  interesting  subject,  consult  Prideaux's  History 
of  Tithes,  and  Fra  Paolo  delle  Materie  Beneficiarie ;  two  writers  of  a 
very  different  character. 

"'  The  same  opinion  whicli  prevailed  about  tlie  year  one  thousandi, 
wa3  productive  of  the  same  effects.  Most  of  the  Donations  expreef 
thftu-  motive,  "  appropinquante  mundi  fine."  See  Moshoim'a  GeneraJ 
History  of  the  Church,  vol.  i.  p.  457. 

***  Tum  summa  cura  est  fratribus 

(TJt  sermo  tnstatur  loquax.) 
Offerre,  fuudis  venditis 
Sestertiorum  millia. 
Addicta  avorura  prasdia 
Foedis  sub  auctionibus, 
Successor  exheres  trenail 
Sanctis  egens  ParentibuB. 


A..  D.  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMl'IRE.  Ml 

strangers  and  enemies  :  on  this  occasion,  liowevcr,  they  riceire 
a  very  specious  and  probable  color  from  the  two  lullowinu; 
circumstances,  the  only  ones  that  have  reached  our  knowl- 
edge, which  deiine  any  precise  sums,  or  convey  any  distinct 
idea.  Almost  at  the  same  period,  the  bishop  of  Carthago, 
from  a  s  )ciety  less  opulent  than  that  of  Rome,  ooUected  a 
liundred  thousand  sesterces,  (above  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  sterling,)  on  a  sudden  call  of  charity  to  redeem  the 
brethren  of  Numidia,  who  had  been  carried  away  captives  by 
Ihe  barbarians  of  the  desert.'"  About  a  hundred  years 
before  the  reign  of  Decius,  the  Roman  church  had  received, 
in  a  single  donation,  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  sesterces 
from  a  stranger  of  Pontus,  who  proposed  to  fix  his  residence 
in  the  capital.'"  These  oblations,  for  the  most  part,  were 
made  in  money ;  nor  was  the  society  of  Christians  either 
desirous  or  capable  of  acquiring,  to  any  considerable  degree, 
the  encumbrance  of  landed  property.  It  had  been  provided 
by  several  laws,  which  were  enacted  with  the  same  design  as 
our  statutes  of  mortmain,  that  no  real  estates  should  be  given 
or  bequeathed  to  any  corporate  body,  without  either  a  special 
privilege  or  a  particular  dispensation  from  the  emperor  or  from 
the  senate  ;'"  who  were  seldom  disposed  to  grant  them  in 
favor  of  a  sect,  at  first  the  object  of  their  contempt,  and  at 
Iftst  of  their  fears  and  jealousy.  A  transaction,  however,  is 
related  under  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus,  which  discovers 
that  the  restraint  w;is  sometimes  eluded  or  suspended,  and 
that  the  Christians  were  permitted  to  claim  and  to  possess  lands 


Haec  occuluiitur  abditis 
Ecclesiarum  in  angulis. 
Et  summa  pietas  creditur 
Nudare  dukes  liberos. 

Prudent  n-coi  antpdvMv.  Hymn  2. 
The  subsequent  conduct  of  the  deacon  Laurence  only  proves  how 
proper  a  use  was  made  of  the  wealth  of  the  Roman  church ;  it  wag 
undoubtedly  very  considerable ;  but  Fra  Paolo  (c.  3)  appears  to  ex- 
aggerate, when  he  supposes  that  the  successors  of  Conimodus  wore 
urged  to  persecute  the  Christians  by  their  own  avarice,  or  that  of  tlieir 
Praetorian  praefects. 

"^  Cyprian,  Epistol.  62. 
""  Turtullian  de  Praj.-^criptione,  c.  30. 

"•  Diocletian  gave  a  rescript,  which  is  only  a  declaration  of  the  old 
law ;  "  Collegium,  si  nullo  special!  privilegio  subnixura  sit,  hfcredi- 
tatem  capere  non  posse,  dubium  non  est."  Fra  Paolo  (c.  t)  thinks 
that  these  regulations  had  been  much  neglected  since  thr  reign  of 
'^aleriaa. 


(166  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A..  D.  328 

within  the  lim  ts  of  Rome  itself. "'  The  progress  of  Christian- 
ty,  and  tli  e  civil  confusion  of  the  empire,  contributed  to  relas 
the  severity  of  the  laws ;  and  before  the  close  of  the  third 
century  many  considerable  estates  were  bestowed  on  tho 
opulent  churches  of  Rome,  Milan,  Carthage,  Antioch,  Alexan- 
dria, and  the  other  great  cities  of  Raly  and  the  provinces. 

The  bishop  was  the  natural  steward  of  the  church ;  tha 
public  stock  was  intrusted  to  his  care  without  account  sr  con- 
trol ;  the  presbyters  were  confined  to  their  spiritual  functions, 
and  the  more  dependent  order  of  the  deacons  was  solely  employed 
in  the  management  and  distribution  of  the  ecclesiastical  reve- 
nue."^ If  we  may  give  credit  to  the  vehement  declamations 
of  Cyprian,  there  were  too  many  among  his  African  brethren, 
who,  in  the  execution  of  their  charge,  violated  every  precept, 
not  only  of  evangelical  perfection,  but  even  of  moral  virtue. 
By  some  of  these  unfoithful  stewards  the  riches  of  the  church 
were  lavished  in  sensual  pleasures  ;  by  others  they  were  per- 
verted to  the  purposes  of  private  gain,  of  fraudulent  purchases, 
and  of  rapacious  usury.""  But  as  long  as  the  contributions  of 
the  Christian  people  were  free  and  unconstrained,  the  abuse 
of  their  confidence  could  not  be  very  frequent,  and  the  gen- 
eral uses  to  which  their  liberality  was  applied  reflected  honor 
on  the  religious  society.  A  decent  portion  was  reserved  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  bishop  and  his  clergy ;  a  sufficient 
sum  was  allotted  for  the  expenses  of  the  public  worship,  of 
which  the  feasts  of  love,  the  ar/apce,  as  they  were  called,  con- 
istituted  a  very  pleasing  part.  The  whole  remainder  was  the 
sacred  patrimony  of  the  poor.  According  to  the  discretion  of 
the  bishop,  it  was  distributed  to  support  widows  and  orphans, 
the  lame,  the  sick,  and  the  aged  of  the  community;  to  comfort 
strangers  arj<^'  pilgrims,  and  to  alle\iate  the  misfortunes  of 
prisoners  ana  captives,  more  especially  when  their  sufferings 
had  been  occasioned  by  their  firm  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
rehgion."*  A  generous  intercourse  of  charity  united  the  most 
distant  provinces,  and   the  smaller  congregations  were  cheer- 

"*  Hist.  August,  p.  131.  The  ground  had  been  public;  and  wag 
n.iw  disputed  between  the  society  of  Christians  and  that  of  butchers.* 

'=«  Constitut.  A]  ostol.  ii.  35. 

'"  Cyprian  de  Lapsis,  p.  89.  Epistol.  65.  The  charge  is  CT>u(irme)f 
1^  the  19th  and  20tli  canon  of  the  council  of  lUiberis. 

*"  See  the  apologies  of  Justin,  TertuUian,  &c. 


Cfcponarii,  rather  v-lctuallers — M. 


i.D.  323.1  OP    riJE    ROMAN    EMI'IRE.  561 

folly  assisted  by  the  .alms  of  their  more  opulent  brethren.'*' 
Such  an  institution,  which  paid  less  regard  to  the  merit  than 
to  the  distress  of  tlie  object,  very  materially  conduced  to  the 
progress  of  Christianity.  The  I'agans,  who  were  actuated  by 
a  sense  of  liumanity,  while  they  derided  the  doctrines,  ac- 
knowledged the  benevolence,  of  the  new  sect.'"  The  prospect 
of  immediate  relief  and  of  future  protection  allured  into  ita 
hospitable  bosom  many  of  those  unhajipy  persons  whom  the 
neglect  of  the  world  would  have  abandoned  to  the  miserie.s 
of  want,  of  sickness,  and  of  old  age.  There  is  some  reascn 
likewise  to  believe  that  great  numljers  of  infants,  who,  accord 
ing  to  the  inhuman  practice  of  the  times,  had  been  exposed 
by  their  parents,  were  frequently  rescued  from  death,  baptized, 
educated,  and  maintained  by  the  piety  of  the  Christians,  and 
at  the  expense  of  the  public  treasure.'" 

II.  It  is  the  undoubted  right  of  every  society  to  exclude  from 
its  communion  and  benefits  such  among  its  members  as  reject 
or  violate  those  regulations  which  have  been  established  by 
general  consent.  In  the  exercise  of  this  power,  the  censures 
of  the  Christian  church  were  chiefly  directed  against  scan- 
dalous sinners,  and  particularly  those  who  were  guilty  of 
murder,  of  fraud,  or  of  incontinence  ;  against  the  authors  or 
the  followers  of  any  heretical  opinions  which  had  been  con- 
demned by  the  judgment  of  the  ejjiscopal  order ;  and  against 
those  unhappy  persons,  who,  whether  from  choice  or  compul- 
sion, had  polluted  themselves  after  their  baptism  by  any  act 
of  idolatrous  worship.  The  consequences  of  excommunica- 
tion were  of  a  temporal  as  well  as  a  spiritual  nature.  The 
Christian  against  whom  it  was  pronounced,  was  deprived  of 
any  part  in  the  oblations  of  the  faithful.  The  ties  both  of 
religious  and  of  private  friendship  were  dissolved  :  he  found 
himself  a  profane  object  of  abhorrence   to  the   persons  whom 


'"  The  wealth  and  liberality  of  the  Romans  to  their  most  distar.t 
brethren  is  gratefully  celebrated  by  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  ap.  Euseb. 
L  iv.  c.  23. 

"'  See  Lucian  :u  Pcreffrin.  Julian  (Epist.  49)  seems  mortified  tlir.t 
the  Christian  chr:  ity  maintains  not  only  their  own,  but  likewise  tlie 
heathen  poor. 

'*■'  Such,  at  least,  lias  been  the  laudable  conduct  of  more  modere 
missionaries,  under  the  same  circumstances.  Above  three  thousand 
cewboru  infants  are  annually  exposed  in  the  streets  of  Pi'kin.  See 
lie  Corate,  Memoires  sur  la  Chine,  and  the  Rechcrches  sur  les  Chinoii 
at  les  Egyptians  torn.  i.  p.  61. 


668  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A.  D.  32S 

he  t.lic  most  estoetned,  or  by  whom  he  had  been  the  mos 
tenderly  beloved ;  and  as  far  as  an  expulsion  from  a  respecta- 
ble society  could  imprint  on  his  character  a  mark  of  disgrace, 
he  was  shunned  or  suspected  by  the  generality  of  mankind. 
The  situation  of  these  unfortunate  exiles  was  in  itself  very 
painful  and  melancholy ;  but,  as  it  usually  happens,  their 
apprehensions  far  exceeded  their  sufferings.  The  benefits  of 
the  Christian  communion  were  those  of  eternal  life ;  nor  could 
they  erase  from  their  minds  the  awful  opinion,  that  to  those 
ecclesiastical  governors  by  whom  they  were  condemned,  the 
Deity  had  committed  the  keys  of  Ilell  and  of  Paradise.  The 
heretics,  indeed,  who  might  be  supported  by  the  consciousness 
of  their  intentions,  and  by  the  flattering  hope  that  they  alone 
had  discovered  the  true  path  of  salvation,  endeavored  to  regain, 
in  their  separate  assemblies,  those  comforts,  temporal  as  well 
as  spiritual,  which  they  no  longer  derived  from  the  great 
society  of  Christians.  But  almost  all  those  who  had  reluctantly 
yielded  to  the  power  of  vice  or  idolatry  were  sensible  of  their 
fallen  condition,  and  anxiously  desirous  of  being  restored  to 
the  benefits  of  the  Christian  communion. 

With  regard  to  the  treatment  of  these  penitents,  two  oppo- 
site opinions,  the  one  of  justice,  the  other  of  mercy,  divided 
the  primitive  church.  The  more  rigid  and  inflexible  casuists 
refused  them  forever,  and  without  exception,  the  meanest 
place  in  the  holy  community,  which  they  had  disgraced  or 
deserted ;  and  leaving  them  to  the  remorse  of  a  guilty  con- 
science, indulged  them  only  with  a  faint  ray  of  hope  that  the 
contrition  of  their  life  and  death  might  possibly  be  accepted 
by  the  Supreme  Being,'*^  A  milder  sentiment  was  embraced, 
in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  by  the  purest  and  most 
respectable  of  the  Christian  churches."*  The  gates  of  recon- 
ciliation and  of  heaven  were  seldom  shut  against  the  returning 
penitent ;  but  a  severe  and  solemn  form  of  discipline  wa^ 
instituted,  which,  while  it  served  to  expiate  his  crime,  might 
powerfully  deter  the  spectators  from  the  imitation  of  his  exam- 
ple. Humbled  by  a  public  confession,  emaciated  by  fasting 
and   clothed  in  sackcloth,  the  penitent  lay  prostrate  at   the 


'**  Tlie  Montanists  and  the  Novatians,  who  adhered  to  this  opinion 
jriUi  the  greatest  rigor  and  obstinacy,  found  themselves  at  last  in  the 
number  of  exec  mmunicated  heretics.  See  the  learned  and  copioiu 
Mosheiui,  SecuL  ii.  and  iii. 

'"  Dionysius  ap.  Euseb.  iv.  23.     Cyprian,  de  Lapsis 


A.  D.  323.J       OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  999 

door  of  the  assembly,  imploriii!^  with  tears  the  pardon  of  hi 
offences,  and  soUciting  the  prayers  of  tlie  faithful.'"  If  the 
foult  was  of  a  very  heinous  nature,  whole  yeai-s  of  penance 
were  esteemed  an  inadequate  satisfaction  to  the  divine  jus- 
tice ;  and  it  was  always  by  slow  and  painful  gradations  that 
the  sinner,  the  heretic,  or  the  apostate,  wjis  readmitted  into 
the  bosom  of  the  church.  A  sentence  of  perpetual  excom- 
munication was,  however,  reserved  for  some  crimes  of  au 
extraordinary  magnitude,  and  particularly  for  the  inexcusable 
relapses  of  those  penitents  who  had  already  expeiienced  and 
abused  the  clemency  of  their  ecclesiastical  superiors.  Ac- 
cording to  the  circumstances  or  the  number  of  the  guilty,  the 
exercise  of  the  Christian  discipline  was  varied  by  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  bishops.  The  councils  of  Ancyra  and  llliberia 
were  held  about  the  same  time,  the  one  in  Galatia,  the  othei 
in  Spain ;  but  their  respective  canons,  which  arc  still  extant, 
seem  to  breathe  a  very  different  spirit.  The  Galatian,  who 
after  his  baptism  had  repeatedly  sacrificed  to  idols,  might 
obtain  his  pardon  by  a  penance  of  seven  yeai"s ;  and  if  he 
had  seduced  others  to  imitate  his  example,  only  three  years 
more  were  added  to  the  term  of  his  exile.  But  the  nnhappy 
Spaniard,  who  had  committed  the  same  offence,  was  deprived 
of  the  hope  of  reconciliation,  even  in  the  article  of  death  ;  and 
his  idolatry  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  list  of  seventeen  other 
crimes,  against  which  a  sentence  no  less  terrible  was  pro- 
nounced. Among  these  we  may  distinguish  the  inexpiable 
guilt  of  calumniating  a  bishop,  a  presliyter,  or  even  a  dea- 
con.'" 

The  well-tempered  mixture  of  liberality  and  rigor,  the 
judicious  dispensation  of  rewards  and  punishments,  according 
to  the  maxims  of  policy  as  well  as  justice,  constituted  the 
human  strength  of  the  church.  The  Bishops,  whose  paternal 
care  extended  itself  to  the  government  of  both  worlds,  were 
lensible  of  the  importance  of  these  prerogatives  ;  and  covering 


^"  Cave's  Primitive  Christianity,  part  iii.  c.  5.  Tlic  admirers  of 
*ntiquty  regret  the  loss  of  tliis  public  penance. 

^**  See  in  Dupin,  Bibliothcque  Ecclesiastique,  torn.  ii.  p.  SO* — 313, 
a  short  but  rational  exposition  of  the  canons  of  those  councils,  wbich 
were  assembled  in  the  first  moments  of  tranquillity,  after  the  perse- 
cution of  Diocletian.  This  persecution  had  beer,  much  less  severelj 
felt  in  Spain  than  in  Galatia;  a  difference  which  may,  in  sooie  meas 
ure  accjunt  for  the  contrast  of  their  rej^ulatious. 


570  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  3^43 

the!r  aitbition  with  the  fair  pretence  of  the  lore  of  order,  they 
were  jealous  of  any  rival  in  the  exercise  of  a  discipline  &c 
necessary  to  prevent  the  iesertion  of  those  tioops  which  had 
enlisted  iJiemselves  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  whose 
numbers  every  day  became  more  considerable.  From  the 
imperious  declamations  of  Cyprian,  we  should  naturally  con- 
clude that  the  doctrines  of  excommunication  and  penance 
formed  the  most  essential  part  of  religion ;  and  that  it  was 
much  less  dangerous  for  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  neglect  the 
observance  of  the  moral  duties,  than  to  despise  the  censures 
and  authority  of  their  bishops.  Sometimes  we  might  imagine 
that  we  were  listening  to  the  voice  of  Moses,  when  he  com- 
manded the  earth  to  open,  and  to  swallow  up,  in  consuming 
flames,  the  rebellious  race  which  refused  obedience  to  the 
priesthood  of  Aaron ;  and  we  should  sometimes  suppose  that 
we  hear  a  Roman  consul  asserting  the  majesty  of  the  repub- 
lic, and  declaring  his  inflexible  resolution  to  enforce  the  rigor 
of  the  laws.*  "  If  such  irregularities  are  suffered  with  impu- 
nity," (it  is  thus  that  the  bishop  of  Carthage  chides  the  lenity 
of  his  colleague,)  "if  such  irregularities  are  suffered,  there  is 
an  end  of  episcopal  vigor  ;"^  an  end  of  the  subhme  and 
divine  power  of  governing  the  Church,  an  end  of  Christianity 
itself."     Cyprian  had  renounced  those  temporal  honors,  which 

*''  Cyprian  Epist.  69. 


*  Gibbon  has  been  accused  of  injustice  to  the  character  of  Cyprian,  aa 
exalting  tlie  "  censures  and  authority  of  tlie  church  above  the  observance 
of  the  moral  duties."  Felicissimus  had  been  condemned  by  a  synod  of 
bishops,  (non  tantum  mea,  scd  plui-imorum  coepiscorum,  sententia  condem- 
k.atum,)  on  the  charge  not  only  of  schism,  but  of  embezzlement  of  public 
loney,  the  debauching  of  virgins,  and  frequent  acts  of  adultei-j'.  His  vio- 
lent menaces  had  extorted  his  readmission  into  the  church,  against  which 
Cyprian  protests  with  much  vehemence:  ne  pecuniae  commissfe  sibi  frau- 
dator,  ne  stuprator  virgiuum,  ue  matrimoniorum  multorum  depopulator  et 
con'uptor,  ultra  adhuc  spousam  Christi  incorraptam  praesentiae  suae  dedcc- 
ore.  et  impudica  atque  incesta  contagione,  violaret.  See  Chelsum's  Re- 
marks, p.  134.  If  these  charges  against  Felicissimus  were  true,  they  were 
something  more  than  "  in-egularities,"  A  Roman  censor  would  have  been 
a  fairer  subject  of  comparison  than  a  consul.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  charge  of  adultery  deepens  very  rapidly  as  the  cun- 
croversy  becomes  more  violent.  It  is  first  represented  as  a  single  act.  re 
cently  detected,  and  which  men  of  character  were  prepared  to  substantiate : 
adulterii  ctiam  crimen  accedit.  quod  pati'es  nostri  graves  viri  deprehendissi 
«e  nuutiaverunt,  et  probaturos  se  asseverarunt.  Epist.  xxxviii.  The  liero 
tic  has  now  darkened  into  a  man  of  notorious  and  general  prcthgacy.  Nor 
can  it  be  denied  that  of  the  whole  long  epistle,  very  far  the  larger  and  the 
more  passionate  part  dwells  on  the  breach  of  ecclesiasticaJ  unity  Tithof 
llum  ou  \he  violation  of  Christian  holiness. — M 


A.  D  823.]        OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRR  57] 

it  13  probable  he  would  never  have  obtained  ;  *  b  it  the  acqui- 
sition of  such  absolute  command  over  the  conscit'uces  :uid 
undei-standing  of  a  congregation,  however  obscure  or  dcsjiised 
by  the  world,  is  more  truly  grateful  to  the  pride  of  the  human 
heart,  than  the  possession  of  the  most  despotic  power,  imposed 
^y  arms  and  conquest  on  a  reluctant  people. 

In  the  course  of  this  important,  though  perhaps  tedious  in- 
[uiry,  I  have  attempted  to  display  the  secondary  causes  which 
so  efficaciously  assisted  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion.  If 
among  these  causes  we  have  discovered  any  artificial  orna- 
ments, any  accidental  circumstances,  or  any  mixture  of  erro 
and  passion,  it  cannot  appear  surprising  that  mankind  should 
be  the  most  sensibly  atfected  by  such  motives  as  were  suited 
to  their  imperfect  nature.  iL^'^^s  by  the  aid  of  these  causes, 
exclusive  zeal,  the  immediate  expectation  of  another  world, 
the  claim  of  miracles,  the  practice  of  rigid  virtue,  and  the 
constitution  of  the  primitive  church,  that  Christianity  spread 
itself  with  so  much  success  in  the  Roman  empire.  To  the 
first  of  these  the  Christians  were  indebted  for  their  invincible 
valor,  which  disdained  to  capitulate  with  the  enemy  whom 
they  were  resolved  to  vanquish.  The  three  succeeding  causes 
supplied  their  valor  with  the  most  formidable  arms.  The  last 
of  these  causes  united  their  courage,  directed  their  arms,  and 
gave  their  efforts  that  irresistible  weight,  which  even  a  smal. 
band  of  well-trained  and  intrepid  volunteers  has  so  often  pos- 
sessed over  an  undisciplined  multitude,  ignorant  of  the  subject, 
and  careless  of  the  event  of  the  war.  In  the  various  religions 
D?  Polytheism,  some  wandering  fanatics  of  Egypt  and  Syria, 
who  addressed  themselves  to  the  credulous  superstition  of  the 
populace,  were  perhaps  the  only  order  of  priests ""  that 
derived  their  whole  support  and  credit  from  their  sacerdotal 
profession,  and  were  very  deeply  affected  by  a  personal  con- 

ito  rpj^g  ^j.jg^  ^Yie  manners,  and  the  vices  of  the  priests  of  the  Syrian 
goddess  are  very  humorously  described  by  Apuleius,  in  the  eighth 
book  of  his  Metamorphosis. 


*  This  supposition  appears  unfounded:  the  birth  and  the  talenta  of 
Cyprian  might  make  us  jjresume  tlie  contrary.  Thasciua  Ca'cilius  Cypri- 
anus,  Carthaginensis,  artis  oratorito  professione  clarus,  maL,'nani  sibi  glori- 
om,  opes,  honorcs  acquisivit,  epularibus  ca^nis  ot  larg-is  dapibus  assuctus, 
pretiosa  veste  couspicuus,  auro  atquc  purpuni  fiiiccns,  fascibus  oblcctatui 
et  honoribus,  stipatus  cliontium  cunois,  f'ro(|ucntiore  comilutu  olticii  ag- 
minis  honestatus,  nt  ipse  do  se  loquitur  in  Kpistold  ad  Donaluiu.  See  Df 
Cave,  Hist.  Liter,  b.  i.  p.  87.— G. 

Cavo  lias  rather  embellis-hed  Cyprian's  language.- -M. 


572  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.D.  323^ 

oern  for  tH  safety  or  prosperity  of  their  tutelar  deities.  The 
ministers  of  Polytheism,  both  in  Rome  and  in  the  proxinceSj 
were,  for  the  most  part,  men  of  a  noble  birth,  and  of  an  afflu- 
ent fortune,  who  received,  as  an  honorable  distinction,  the  care 
of  a  celebrated  temple,  or  of  a  public  sacrifice,  exhibited,  very 
frequently  at  their  own  expense,  the  sacred  games,'"  and  with 
cold  inditference  performed  the  ancient  rites,  according  to  the 
laws  and  fashion  of  their  country.  As  they  were  engaged  in 
the  ordinary  occupations  of  life,  their  zeal  and  devotion  were 
seldom  animated  by  a  sense  of  interest,  or  by  the  habits  of  an 
ecclesiastical  character.  Confined  to  their  respective  temples 
ind  cities,  they  remained  without  any  connection  of  discipline 
or  government ;  and  whilst  they  acknowledged  the  supreme 
jurisdiction  of  the  senate,  of  the  college  of  pontiffs,  and  of 
the  emperor,  those  civil  magistrates  contented  themselves  with 
the  easy  task  of  maintaining  in  peace  and  dignity  the  general 
worship  of  mankind.  We  have  already  seen  how  various, 
how  loose,  and  how  uncertain  were  the  religious  sentiments 
of  Polytheists.  They  Avere  abandoned,  almost  without  control, 
to  the  natural  workings  of  a  superstitious  fancy.  The  acci- 
dental circumstances  of  their  life  and  situation  determined  the 
object  as  well  as  the  degree  of  their  devotion ;  and  as  long  as 
their  adoration  was  successively  prostituted  to  a  thousand 
deities,  it  v,rts  scarcely  possible  that  their  hearts  could  be  sus- 
ceptible of  a  very  sincere  or  lively  passion  for  any  of  them. 

When  Christianity  appeared  in  the  world,  even  these  faint 
and  imperfect  impressions  had  lost  much  of  their  original 
power.  Human  reason,  which  by  its  unassisted  strength  ia 
incapable  of  perceiving  the  mysteries  of  faith,  had  already 
obtained  an  easy  triumph  over  the  folly  of  Paganism ;  and 
when  TertuUian  or  Lactantius  employ  their  labors  in  expos- 
ing its  falsehood  and  extravagance,  they  are  obliged  to  tran- 
scribe the  eloquence  of  Cicero  or  the  wit  of  Lucian.  The 
contagion  of  these  sceptical  writings  had  been  diffused  far 
beyond  the  number  of  their  readers.  The  fashion  of  incredu- 
lity was  communicated  from  the  philosopher  to  the  man  of 

**'  The  office  of  Asiarch  was  of  this  nature,  and  it  is  frequently 
mentioned  in  Aristides,  the  Inscriptions,  ±c.  It  was  annual  and 
elective.  None  but  the  vainest  citizens  could  deske  the  honor ;  nono 
but  the  most  wealthy  could  support  the  expense.  See,  in  the  Fatres 
Apostol.  torn.  ii.  p.  200,  witli  how  much  indifference  Philip  the 
Asiarch  conducted  himself  in  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp.  ThrT« 
were  likewise  Bithyniarchs,  Lyciarchs,  &c. 


A.  D.  323.]       OF  THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE.  671 

pleasure  or  business,  from  the  noble  to  the  plebeian,  and  from 
the  master  to  the  menial  slave  who  waited  at  his  table,  and 
who  eagerly  listened  to  the  freedom  of  his  convei-sation.  On 
public  occasions  the  philosophic  part  of  mankind  affected  to 
treat  with  respect  and  decency  the  rehgious  institutions  of 
their  country ;  but  their  secret  contempt  penetrated  through 
the  thin  and  awkward  disguise ;  and  even  the  peo))le,  when 
they  discovered  that  their  deities  were  rejected  and  derided  by 
those  whose  rank  or  understanding  they  were  accustomed  to 
reverence,  were  tilled  with  doubts  and  apprehensions  concern- 
ing the  truth  of  those  doctrines,  to  which  they  had  yielded  the 
most  implicit  belief.  The  decline  of  ancient  prejudice  exposed 
a  very  numerous  portion  of  human  kind  to  the  danger  of  a 
painful  and  comfortless  situation.  A  state  of  scepticism  and 
suspense  may  amuse  a  few  inquisitive  minds.  But  the  prac- 
tice of  super^iition  is  so  congenial  to  the  multitude,  that  if 
they  are  forcib  y  awakened,  they  still  regret  the  loss  of  their 
pleasing  vision.  Their  love  of  the  marvellous  and  supernat- 
ural, their  curiosity  with  regard  to  future  events,  and  their 
strong  propensili^  to  extend  their  hopes  and  fears  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  visible  world,  were  the  principal  causes  which 
favored  the  estallishment  of  Polytheism.  So  urgent  on  the 
vulgar  is  the  necessity  of  believing,  that  the  fall  of  any  sys- 
tem of  mythology  will  most  probably  be  succeeded  by  the 
introduction  of  some  other  mode  of  superstition.  Some  deities 
of  a  more  recent  and  fashionable  cast  might  soon  have  occu- 
pied the  deserted  temples  of  Jujjiter  and  Apollo,  if,  in  the 
decisive  moment,  the  wisdom  of  Providence  had  not  int(3r- 
posed  a  genuine  revelation,  fitted  to  inspire  the  most  rational 
esteem  and  conviction,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  adorned 
with  all  that  could  attract  the  curiosity,  the  wonder,  and  the 
veneration  of  the  people.  In  their  actual  disposition,  as  many 
were  almost  disengaged  from  their  artificial  prejudices,  but 
equally  susceptible  and  desirous  of  a  devout  attachment ;  an 
object  mu?h  less  deserving  would  have  been  sufficient  to  till 
the  vacant  place  in  their  hearts,  and  to  gi'atify  the  uncertain 
eagerness  of  their  passions.  Those  who  are  inclined  to  pursue 
this  reflection,  instead  of  viewing  with  astonishment  the  rapid 
progress  of  Christianity,  will  perhaps  be  surprised  that  its  suc- 
cess was  not  still  more  rapid  and  still  more  universal.  — . 
It  has  been  observed,  with  truth  as  well  as  propriety,  thai  I 
fJhe  conquests  of  Pionie  jirepared  and  facilitated  those  of  Chris-  | 
danity      In  the  second  chapter  of  this  wojk  we  have  aCeinpted 


5Y4  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL        [A,  D.  325 

to  explain  ia  what  manner  the  most  civilized  provinces  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  were  united  under  the  dominion  of 
one  sovereign,  and  gradually  connected  by  the  most  intimate 
ties  of  laws,  of  manners,  and  of  language.  The  Jews  of  Pal- 
estine, who  had  fondly  expected  a  temporal  deliverer,  gave  so 
cold  a  reception  to  the  miracles  of  the  divine  prophet,  that  it 
was  found  unnecessary  to  ])ublish,  or  at  least  to  preserve,  any 
llebrew  gospel.'"  The  authentic  histories  of  the  actions  of 
Christ  were  composed  in  the  Greek  language,  at  a  considera- 
ole  distance  from  Jerusalem,  and  after  the  Gentile  converts 
were  grown  extreniely  numerous."^  As  soon  as  those  histo- 
ries were  translated  into  the  Latin  tongue,  they  were  perfectly 
intelligible  to  all  the  subjects  of  Rome,  excepting  only  to  the 
peasants   of  Syria  and   Egypt,   for  whose    benefit   particular 


'^^  The  modern  critics  are  not  disposed  to  believe  what  tlie  fathers 
ahnost  unanimously  assert,  tliat  St.  Matthew  composed  a  Hebrew 
gospel,  of  which  only  the  Greek  translation  is  extant.  It  seems,  how 
evei',  dangerous  to  reject  their  testimony.* 

'^^  Under  the  reigns  of  Nero  and  Domitian,  and  in  the  cities  of 
Alexandria,  Antioch,  Rome,  and  Epliesus.  See  Mill.  Prolegomena 
ad  Nov.  Testament,  and  Dr.  Lardner's  fair  and  extensive  collection, 
vol.  XV.  f 

*  Strong  reasons  appear  to  confinn  this  testimony.  Papias,  contempo- 
rary of  the  Apostle  St.  .John,  says  positively  that  Matthew  had  wriUeii  tlie 
discourses  of  Jcs7is  Chrint  in  Hebrew,  and  that  each  inierprclcd  them  as  he 
coald.  This  Hebrew  was  the  Syro-Chaldaic  dialect,  then  in  use  at  Jerusa- 
lem :  Origen,  Irenaaus,  Eu.seblus,  Jerome,  Epiphauius,  confirm  this  state- 
ment. Jesus  Christ  preached  himself  in  Syro-Chaldaic,  as  is  proved  by 
many  words  which  he  used,  and  which  the  Evangelists  have  taken  the 
pains  to  translate.  St.  Paul,  addressing  the  Je\vs,  used  the  same  language : 
Acts  xxi.  40,  xxii.  2.  xxvi.  14.  The  opinions  of  some  critics  prove  nodiing 
against  such  undeniable  testimonies.  Moreover,  their  principal  objectiou 
is,  that  St.  Mattliew  quotes  the  Old  TestameiH  according  to  the  Greek 
version  of  the  LXX.,  which  is  inaccurate;  fo»  of  ten  quotations,  found  iu 
his  Gospel,  seven  are  evidently  taken  fi-om  the  Hebrew  text ;  the  three 
ctl>ers  offer  little  that  difler :  "moreover,  the  latter  are  not  literal  quota- 
lions.  St.  Jerome  says  positively,  that,  according  to  a  copy  which  he  had 
seen  in  the  library  of  Cajsarea,  the  quotations  were  made  in  Hebrew  (iu 
Catal.)  More  modern  critics,  among  others  Michaelis,  do  not  entertain  a 
doubt  on  die  subject.  The  Greek  version  appears  to  have  been  made  in 
the  time  of  the  aposdes,  as  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Augu.stus  affirm,  perhapa 
by  one  of  them. — G. 

Among  modern  critics,  Dr.  Hug  has  asserted  the  Greek  original  of 
St-  Matthew,  but  ihe  iC-ner;d  opinion  of  the  most  learned  biblical  wrileri 
supports  the  vicv  of  M.  Gnizot. — M. 

t  This  question  has,  it  is  well  known,  been  most  elaborately  discusset 
»ince  the  time  of  Gibbon.  The  Preface  to  die  Translation  of  Sclileier 
macher's  Version  cf  St.  Luke  contains  a  very  able  summary  of  the  varioui 
theories— M- 


A^D.  323.J  OF    THE    llOMAN    EMl'IRE.  57f 

versions  were  afterwards  made.  The  public  highways,  which 
had  been  constructed  for  tlie  use  of  the  legions,  opened  an 
easy  passage  for  the  Christian  missionaries  from  Damascus  to 
C<jrinth,  and  from  Italy  to  the  extremity  of  Spain  or  Britain ; 
cor  did  those  spiritual  con(|uerors  encounter  any  of  the  obsta 
cles  vliich  usually  retard  or  prevent  the  inti-oduction  of  a  for- 
eign religion  into  a  distant  country.  There  is  the  stn^ngest 
reason  to  believe,  that  before  the  reigns  of  Diocletian  and 
Constantine,  the  faith  of  Christ  had  been  preached  in  every 
province,  and  in  all  the  great  cities  of  the  empire;  but  the 
foundation  of  the  several  congregations,  the  numbers  of  the 
fiiithful  who  composed  them,  and  their  j)ropoition  to  the  unbe- 
lieving multitude,  are  now  buried  in  obscurity,  or  disguised  by 
fiction  and  declamation.  Such  imperfect  circumstances,  how- 
ever, as  have  reached  our  knowledge  concerning  the  increase 
of  the  Christian  name  in  Asia  and  Greece,  in  Egypt,  in  Italy, 
and  in  the  West,  we  shall  now  proceed  to  relate,  without  neg- 
lecting the  real  or  imaginary  acquisitions  which  lay  beyond  th«« 
frontiers  of  the  Roman  empire. 

The  rich  provinces  that  extend  from  the  Euphrates  to  the 
Ionian  Sea,  were  the  principal  theatre  on  which  the  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  displayed  his  zeal  and  piety.  Tlie  seeds  of  the 
gospel,  which  he  had  scattered  in  a  fertile  soil,  were  diligently 
cultivated  by  his  disciples ;  and  it  should  seem  that,  duriiig  the 
two  first  centuries,  the  most  considerable  body  of  Christians 
was  contained  within  those  Hmits.  Among  the  societies  which 
were  instituted  in  Syria,  none  were  more  ancient  or  more 
illustrious  than  those  of  Damascus,  of  Berea  or  Aleppo,  and 
of  Antioch.  The  prophetic  introduction  of  the  Apocal\'pse 
has  described  and  immortalized  the  seven  churches  of  Asia ; 
Ephesus,  Smyrna,  Pergnmus,  Thyatira,'"  Sardes,  Laodicejv 
and  Philadelphia ;  and  their  colonies  were  soon  diffused 
over  that  populous  country.  In  a  very  early  period,  the 
islands  of  Cyprus  and  Crete,  the  provinces  of  Thrace  and 
Macedonia,  gave  a  favorable  reception  to  the  new  religion; 
and   Christian   republics   were  soon  founded  in   the  cities  of 


'"  Tilt'  Alogians  (Epiphanius  de  Ha:!rc'f.  51)  die;putcJ  tlie  genuine 
■ess  of  the  Apocalypse,  because  tlie  church  of  Thyalira  was  not  yet 
founded.  Epiphanius,  who  allows  the  fact,  extricates  liiinself  irona 
the  difliculty  by  ingeniously  supposing  that  St.  John  wrote  ill  tha 
vpirit  oi  piopliecy.     See  Abauzit,  Discours  siir  rApoculypeo 


876  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D. 

(Jorixilh,  of  Sparta,  and  of  Athens.'^'*  The  antiquity  of  the 
Greek  and  Asiatic  clnircbes  allowed  a  sufficient  sjiace  of  tinie 
for  their  increase  and  nuiliiplication  ;  and  even  the  swarms  of 
Gnostics  and  other  heretics  serve  to  display  the  flourishing 
condition  of  the  orthodox  church,  since  the  appellation  of  here- 
tics has  always  been  applied  to  the  less  numerous  party.  To 
these  domestic  testimonies  we  may  add  the  confession,  the 
complaints,  and  the  apprehensions  of  the  Gentiles  themselves. 
From  the  writings  of  Lucian,  a  philosopher  who  had  studied 
mankind,  and  who  describes  their  manners  in  the  most  lively 
colors,  we  may  learn  that,  under  the  reign  of  Commodus,  his 
native  country  of  Pontus  was  filled  with  Epicureans  and 
Christians'^'  Within  fourscore  years  after  the  death  of 
Christ,'"  the  humane  Pliny  laments  the  magnitude  of  the  evil 
which  he  vainly  attempted  to  eradicate.  In  his  very  curious 
epistle  to  the  emperor  Trajan,  he  affirms,  that  the  temples 
were  almost  deserted,  that  the  sacred  victims  scarcely  found 
any  purchasers,  and  that  the  superstition  had  not  only  infected 
the  cities,  but  had  even  spread  itself  into  the  villages  and  the 
open  country  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia.'^* 

Without  descending  into  a  minute  scrutiny  of  the  expres- 
sions or  of  the  motives  of  those  writers  who  either  celebrate  or 
lament  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  East,  it  may  in  gen- 
eral be  observed,  that  none  of  them  have  left  us  any  grounds 
from  whence  a  just  estimate  might  be  formed  of  the  real 
numbers  of  the  faithful  in  those  provinces.  One  circumstance, 
however,  has  been  fortunately  preserved,  which  seems  to  cast 

"^  The  epistles  of  Ignatius  and  Dionysiiis  (ap.  Euscb.  iv.  23)  point 
out  many  churches  in  Asia  and  Greece.  Tliat  of  Athens  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  the  least  flourishing. 

"°  Lucian  in  Alexandre,  c.  25.  Christianity  however,  must  have 
been  very  unequally  diffused  over  Pontus ;  since,  in  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  there  was  no  more  than  seventeen  beh(!vers  in  the 
extensive  diocese  of  Neo-Csesarea.  See  M.  de  Tillemont,  Memoires 
Ecclesiast.  torn.  iv.  p.  6*75,  from  Basil  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  who 
were  themselves  natives  of  Cappadocia.* 

'"  According  to  tlie  ancients,  Jesus  Christ  suffered  under  the  consul- 
«Jiip  of  tlie  two  Gemini,  in  the  year  29  of  our  present  asra.  Pliny  was 
sent  into  Bithynia  (according  to  Pagi)  in  the  year  110. 

"'  Phil.  Epist.  X.  97. 

*  Gibbon  forii'ot  the  conclusion  of  this  ston,-,  that  Gregory  left  only  seveo 
ieeu  heathens  in  his  diocese.  The  antithesis  is  suspicious,  and  both  iiurn'^n 
may  have  been  chosen  to  magnify  the  spiritual  fame  of  the  wosAm- 
irorker. — M. 


A.  1>.  023.]        OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIKE.  677 

3  more  distinct  light  on  this  obscure  hut  interesting  sulyoct 
Under  the  reign  of  Theodosius,  after  Christianity  had  enjoyed, 
during  more  than  sixty  years,  tlie  sunshine  of  Imperial  favor, 
the  ancient  and  illustrious  church  of  Antioch  cotisisted  of  og« 
hundred  thousand  persons,  three  thousand  of  whom  were  sup- 
ported out  of  the  public  oblations."'  The  splendor  and  dignity 
of  the  queen  of  the  East,  the  acknowledged  populousness  of 
Cx'sarea.  Seleucia,  and  Alexandria,  and  the  destruction  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls  in  the  eartlupiako  which 
afllicted  Antioch  under  the  elder  Justin,""  arc  so  many  con- 
vincing proofs  that  the  whole  number  of  its  inhabitants  was 
not  less  than  half  a  million,  and  that  the  Christians,  howover 
multiplied  by  zeal  and  jiower,  did  not  exceed  a  fifth  part  of 
that  great  city.  IIow  different  a  pr<:)portion  must  we  adopt 
when  we  compare  the  persecuted  with  the  triumphant  church, 
the  West  with  the  East,  remote  villages  v.ith  populous  towns, 
and  countries  recently  converted  to  the  faith  with  the  place 
where  the  believers  first  received  the  appellation  of  Christians ! 
It  must  not,  however,  be  dissembled,  that,  in  another  pas- 
sage, Chrysostom,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  this  useful  in- 
formation, computes  the  multitude  of  the  faithful  as  even  su- 
perior to  that  of  the  Jews  and  Pagans."'  But  the  solution  of 
this  apparent  difficulty  is  easy  and  obvious.  The  eloquent 
preacher  draws  a  parallel  between  the  civil  and  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal constitution  of  Antioch  ;  between  the  list  of  Christians  who 
had  acquired  heaven  by  baptism,  and  the  list  of  citizens  who 
had  a  right  to  share  the  public  liberality.  Slaves,  strangers, 
and  infants  were  comprised  in  the  former ;  they  were  excluded 
from  the  latter. 

The  extensive  commerce  of  Alexandria,  and  its  proximity 

'*»  Obrvsostom.  Opera,  torn.  vii.  p.  658,  810,  [edit.  Savil.  ii.  422, 
829.1 

""'  John  Malala,  torn.  ii.  p.  144.  He  draws  the  same  conclusion  with 
reafard  to  the  populousncss  of  Antioch. 

^"  Chrysostom.  torn.  i.  p.  592.  I  am  indebted  for  these  passages, 
liough  not  for  my  inference,  to  the  learned  Dr.  Lardner.  CreiUbility 
of  the  Gospel  of  History,  vol  xii.  p.  370.* 


"  The  statements  of  Cbryso.stoin  wilh  regard  to  the  population  of  Antioch, 
whatever  may  be  their  accuracy,  are  perfectly  consi.stciit.  In  one  passage 
be  reckons  tli'e  population  at  200,000.  In  a  second  the  Christians  at  100,000. 
In  a  third  lie  states  tliat  the  Christians  fonned  more  than  half  the  popu'.a- 
aon.  Gibbon  has  noijlected  to  notice  the  iirst  passage,  and  has  draws  hi» 
-stimate  of  the  population  of  Antioch  from  other  .sources.  The  8000  maia 
bulled  by  alms  were  widows  and  virgins  alone  — M 
VOL.  I. — Bd 


578  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323^ 

K)  Palestine,  gave  an  efisy  entrance  to  the  new  religion.  It 
was  at  first  embraced  by  great  numbers  of  the  Theraputae, 
or  Essenians,  of  the  Lake  Mareotis,  a  Jewish  sect  which  liad 
abated  much  of  its  reverence  for  the  Mosaic  ceremonies.  The 
austere  life  of  the  Essenians,  their  fests  and  excommunications, 
the  community  of  goods,  the  love  of  celibacy,  their  zeal  for 
martyrdom,  and  the  warmth  though  not  the  purity  of  theii 
faith,  already  offered  a  very  lively  image  of  the  primitive  disv 
ci])Hne.'"  It  was  in  the  school  of  Alexandria  that  the  Chris- 
tian theology  appears  to  have  assumed  a  regular  and  scientifc 
form ;  and  when  Hadrian  visited  Egypt,  he  found  a  church 
composed  of  Jews  and  of  Greeks,  sufficiently  important  to 
attract  the  notice  of  that  inquisitive  prince.'"  But  the  prog- 
ress of  Christianity  was  for  a  long  time  confined  within  the  limits 
of  !i  single  city,  which  was  itself  a  foreign  colony,  and  till  the 
clowe  of  the  second  century  the  predecessors  of  Demetrius  were 
the  only  prelates  of  the  Egyptian  church.  Three  bishops 
were  consecrated  by  the  hands  of  Demetrius,  and  the  number 
was  increased  to  twenty  by  his  successor  Heraclas.'®*  The 
body  of  the  natives,  a  people  distinguished  by  a  sullen  inflexi- 
bility of  temper,'"'  entertained  the  new  doctrine  with  coldness 
and  reluctance ;  and  even  in  the  time  of  Origen,  it  was  rare  to 
meet  with  an  Egyptian  who  had  surmounted  his  early  preja- 
dices  in  favor  of  the  sacred  animals  of  his  country."'  As  soon, 
indeed,  as  Christianity  ascended  the  throne,  the  zeal  of  those 
barbarians  obeyed  the  prevailing  impulsion ;  the  cities  of 
Egypt  were  filled  with  bishops,  and  the  deserts  of  Th<.ba?5 
swarmed  with  hermits. 

'^^  Basnage,  Histoire  des  Juifs,  1.  2,  c.  20,  21,  22,  23,  has  examined 
with  the  most  critical  accuracy  the  curious  treatise  of  Philo,  which 
describes  the  Tlierapeutas.  By  proving  that  it  was  composed  as  early 
as  the  time  of  Augustus,  Basnage  has  demonstrated,  in  spite  of  Euse- 
bius  (1.  ii.  c.  17)  and  a  crowd  of  modern  Catholics,  that  the  Therapeuta 
were  neither  Christians  nor  monks.  It  still  remains  probable  thai 
they  changed  their  name,  preserved  their  manners,  adopted  some  new 
articles  of  faith,  and  gradually  became  the  fathers  of  the  Egyptiau 
Ascetics. 

"^  See  a  letter  of  Hadrian  in  the  Augustan  History,  p.  245. 

"^  For  the  succession  of  Alexandrian  bishops,  consult  Renaudot'« 
History,  p.  24,  <fec.  This  curious  fact  is  preserved  by  the  patriarch 
Eutychius,  AnnaL  torn.  L  p.  334,  Vers.  Pocock,)  and  its  internal  evi- 
dence would  alone  bj  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  the  objections  wliick 
Bishop  Pearson  has  urged  in  tlie  Vindiciae  Ignatianae. 

"^  Ammian.  Marcellin.  xxii.  16. 

•**  Origen  contra  Celsum,  1  '.  p,  40, 


A.  I).  323.]      OF  THE  roman  empire.  681 

Thoulousc,  Limoges,  Clormont,  Tours,  aiul  Paris,  somo  scat- 
tered churches  were  supported  by  the  devotion  of  a  smal! 
number  of  Cliristians.'"  Silence  is  indeed  very  consistent 
with  devotion  ;  but  as  it  is  seldom  compatible  with  zeal,  wo 
may  perceive  and  lament  the  languid  stiite  of  Christianity  in 
those  provinces  which  had  exchanged  the  Celtic  for  the  Latin 
tongue,  since  they  did  not,  during  the  three  first  centiiriei>, 
give  birth  to  a  single  ecclesi;\stical  writer.  From  Gaul,  which 
claimed  a  just  preeminence  of  learning  and  authority  over  all 
the  countries  on  this  side  of  the  Alps,  the  light  of  the  gospel 
was  more  faintly  reflected  on  the  remote  provinces  of  Spain 
and  Britain ;  and  if  we  may  credit  the  vehement  assertions  of 
Tertullian,  they  had  already  received  the  first  rays  of  the 
faith,  when  he  addressed  his  apology  to  the  magistrates  of  the 
emperor  Severus.'"  But  the  obscure  and  imperfect  origin 
of  the  western  churches  of  Europe  has  been  so  negligently 
recorded,  that  if  we  would  relate  the  time  and  manner  of  their 
foundation,  we  must  supply  the  silence  of  antiquity  by  those 
legends  which  avarice  or  superstition  long  afterwards  dictated 
to  the  monks  in  the  lazy  gloom  of  their  convents.'"  Of  these 
holy  romances,  that  of  the  apostle  St.  James  can  alone,  by  its 
singular  extravagance,  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  From  a 
peaceful  fisherman  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  he  was  trans- 
formed into  a  valorous  knight,  Avho  charged  at  the  head  of  the 
Spanish  chivalry  in  their  battles  against  the  Moors.  The 
gravest  liistorians  have  celebrated  his  exploits ;  the  miracu- 
lous shrine  of  Compostella  displayed  his  power ;  and  the 
•word  of  a  military  order,  assisted  by  the  terrors  of  the 
fnauisition,  was  sufficient  to  remove  every  objection  of  profiine 
criticism.'"* 


"'  Rarae  in  aliquibus  civitatibus  ecdesiae,  paucorum  Christianoriun 
devotione,  resurgercnt.  Acta  Sinccra,  p.  130.  Gregory  of  Tours,  1 
i.  c.  28.  Mosheim,  p.  207,  419.  There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  extensive  dioceses  of 
Liege,  of  Treves,  and  of  Cologne,  composed  a  .single  bishopric,  which 
had  been  very  recently  founded.  See  Memoires  de  Tillemont,  torn 
vi.  part  i.  p.  43,  411. 

"*  The  date  of  TertuUian's  Apology  is  fixed,  in  a  dissertation  of 
Mosheim,  to  the  year  198. 

"*  In  the  fifteenth  century,  there  were  few  who  had  either  incli 
nation  or  courage  to  question,  whether  Joseph  of  Ariinathea  f')un(led 
the  monastery  of  Glastonbury,  and  whether  Dionysius  the  Areopagita 
preferred  the  residence  of  Paris  to  that  of  Athens. 

"*  The   stupendous   metamorphosis  was  performed   in    the   nintk 


tt€2  THE    DECLINE    AND    FALl  [A.  D.  328. 

The  progress  of  Cliiistiaiiity  was  not  confined  to  the  Roman 
empire  ;  and  according  to  the  primitive  fathers,  wlio  interpret 
facts  by  prophecy,  the  new  religion,  within  a  century  aftei 
the  death  of  its  divine  Author,  had  ah'eady  visited  every  part 
of  the  globe.  "There  exists  not,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "a 
people,  whether  Greek  or  Barbarian,  or  any  other  race  of 
men,  by  whatsoever  appellation  or  manners  they  may  be  dis- 
tinguished, however  ignorant  of  arts  or  agriculture,  whether 
tliey  dwell  under  tents,  or  wander  about  in  covered  wagons, 
among  whom  prayers  are  not  offered  up  in  the  name  of  a 
crucified  Jesus  to  the  Father  and  Creator  of  all  things,'"" 
But  this  splendid  exaggeration,  which  even  at  present  it  would 
be  extremely  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  real  state  of  man- 
kind, can  be  considered  only  as  the  rash  sally  of  a  devout  but 
careless  writer,  the  measure  of  whose  belief  was  regulated  bj" 
that  of  his  wishes.  But  neither  the  belief  nor  the  wishes  of 
the  fathers  can  alter  the  truth  of  history.  It  will  still  remain 
an  undoubted  fact,  that  the  barbarians  of  Scythia  and  Ger- 
many, who  afterwards  subverted  the  Roman  monarchy,  were 
involved  in  the  dai'kness  of  paganism  ;  and  that  even  the  con- 
version of  Iberia,  of  Armenia,  or  of  Ethiopia,  was  not 
attempted  with  any  degree  of  success  till  the  sceptre  was  in 
the  hands  of  an  orthodox  emperor."*  Before  that  time,  the 
various  accidents  of  war  and  commerce  might  indeed  diflfiibe 
an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  gospel  among  the  tribes  of 
Caledonia,'"  and    among    the    borderers  of    the    Rhine,  the 

century.  See  Mariana,  (Hist.  Hispan.  1.  vii.  c.  13,  torn.  i.  p.  285,  edit. 
Hag.  Com.  1733,)  who,  in  every  sense,  imitates  Livy,  and  the  honest 
detection  of  tlie  legend  of  St.  James  by  Dr.  Geddes,  Miscellanies,  voL 
ii.  p.  221. 

'"  Justin  Martyr,  Dialog,  cum  Tryphon.  p.  341.  Irenreus  adv, 
Haeres.  1.  i.  c.  10.     TertuUian  adv.  Jud.  c.  7.     See  Mosheim,  p.  203. 

"^  See  the  fourth  century  of  Mosheim's  History  of  the  Church, 
Many,  though  very  confused  circumstances,  that  relate  to  the  conver- 
sion of  Iberia  and  Armenia,  may  be  found  in  Moses  of  Chorene,  1.  ii.  c, 
78—89.* 

"*  According  to  Tertullian,  the  Christian  faith  had  penetrated  iuto 
parts  of  Britain  inaccessible  to  the  Roman  arms.  About  a  century 
afterwards,  Ossian,  the  son  of  Fingal,  is  said  to  have  disputed,  in  hia 


*  Mons.  St.  Martin  has  shown  that  Armenia  was  the  first  nation  thtt 
Embraced  (Christianity.  Memoires  sur  I'Annenie,  vol.  i.  p.  30G,  and  notes 
to  Le  Beaa.  Gibbon,  indeed  had  expressed  his  intention  of  withdrawing 
the  words  "  of  Amienia"  from  the  text  of  future  editions.  (Vindication, 
Works,  W.  .ITT.)  He  was  bitterly  taunted  by  Person  for  neglecliug  o» 
declinuig  to  fulfil  his  promise.    Preface  to  I  etters  to  Travig. — M 


A    D.  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE.  68J 

Danube,  and  Lbe  Euphrates. ""  Beyond  the  la.st-nicntioned 
tiver,  Edessa  was  distinguished  by  a  iirni  and  early  adher- 
ence to  the  faith.'*'  From  Edessa  tlie  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity were  easily  introduced  into  the  Greek  and  Syrian  cities 
which  obeyed  the  successors  of  Artaxerxes ;  but  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  made  any  deep  impression  on  the  minds  of 
the  Persians,  whose  religious  system,  by  the  labors  of  a  well- 
disciplined  order  of  priests,  had  been  constructed  with  much 
more  art  and  solidity  than  the  uncertain  mythology  of  Greece 
and  Rome.'*^ 

From  this  impartial  though  imperfect  survey  of  the  progress 
of  Christianity,  it  may  perhaps  seem  probable,  that  the  num- 
ber of  its  proselytes  has  been  excessively  magnified  by  fear 
on  the  one  side,  and  by  devotion  on  the  other.  According  to 
the  irreproachable  testimony  of  Origen,'*'  the  proportion  of 
the  faithful  was  very  inconsiderable,  when  compared  with  the 
multitude  of  an  unbelieving  world  ;  but,  as  we  are  left  without 
any  distinct  information,  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  and  it 
IS  difficult  even  to  conjecture,  the  real  numbers  of  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  The  most  favorable  calculation,  however, 
that  can  be  deduced  from  the  examples  of  Antioch  and 
of  Kome,  will  not  permit  tis  to  imagine  that  more  than  a 
twentieth  part  of  the  subjects  of  the  empire  had  enlisted 
themselves  under  the  banner  of  the  cross  before  the  impor- 
tant convei-sion  of  Constantine.  But  their  habits  of  faith,  of 
zeal,  and  of  union,  seemed  to  multiply  their  numbers ;  and 
the  same  causes  which  contributed   to  their  future  increase, 

extreme  old  age,  with  one  of  the  foreign  missionaries,  and  the  dispute 
is  still  extant,  in  verse,  and  in  the  Erse  language.  See  Mr.  Macpher 
Bon's  Dissertation  on  the  Antiquity  of  Ossian's  Poems,  p.  10. 

'*"  The  Goths,  who  ravaged  Asia  in  the  reign  of  Gallienu:s  carried 
away  great  numbers  of  captives ;  some  of  whom  were  Christians,  and  be- 
came missionaries.     See  Tillemont,  Memoires  Ecclesiast.  tom.  iv.  j).  44. 

'*'  The  legends  of  Abgarus,  fabulous  as  it  is,  affords  a  decisive  proot 
tliat  many  years  before  Eusebius  wrote  liis  history,  the  greatest  part 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Edessa  had  embraced  Cliristianity.  Their  rivals, 
the  citizens  of  Carrliaj,  adhered,  on  tlie  contrary,  to  the  cause  of  Pa- 
ganism, as  late  as  tlie  sixth  century. 

"'^  According  to  Bardesanes  (ap.  Euseb.  Praepar.  Evangel)  there 
were  some  Christians  in  Persia  before  tlie  end  of  the  second  century. 
In  the  time  of  Constantine  (see  his  epistle  to  Sapor,  Vit.  1.  iv.  c.  ISj 
they  composed  a  flouri.^liing  church.  Consult  Beausobre,  Hist.  Cri- 
tique du  Manicheisme,  tom.  i.  p.  180,  and  the  BibUotlieca  Orientalia  ol 
Aasemani. 

'••  Origen  contra  (/clsum,  1.  viii.  p.  424. 


584  THE    UECLXNK    AND    FALL  [A- L  .  323l 

served  to  render  their  actual  strength  more  apparent  and  more 
formidable. 

Such  is  the  constitution  of  civil  society,  that  whilst  a  few 
persons  are  distiiiguished  by  riches,  by  honors,  and  by  knowl- 
edge, the  body  of  the  people  is  condemned  to  obscurity,  igno- 
rance and  poverty.  The  Christian  religion,  which  addressed 
itself  to  the  whole  human  race,  must  consequently  collect  a 
fer  greater  number  of  proselytes  from  the  lower  than  from 
the  superior  ranks  of  life.  This  innocent  and  natural  circum- 
stance has  been  improved  into  a  very  odious  imputation,  which 
seems  to  be  less  strenuously  denied  by  the  apologists,  than  it 
is  urged  by  the  adversaries,  of  the  faith ;  that  the  new  sect  of 
Christians  was  almost  entirely  composed  of  the  dregs  of  the 
populace,  of  peasants  and  mechanics,  of  boys  and  women,  of 
beggars  and  slaves,  the  last  of  whom  might  sometimes  intro* 
duce  the  missionaries  into  the  rich  and  noble  families  to  which 
they  belonged.  These  obscure  teachers  (such  was  the  charge 
of  malice  and  infidelity)  are  as  mute  in  public  as  they  are  lo- 
quacious and  dogmatical  in  private.  Whilst  they  cautiously 
avoid  the  dangerous  encounter  of  philosophers,  they  mingle 
with  the  rude  and  illiterate  crowd,  and  insinuate  themselves 
into  those  minds,  whom  their  age,  their  sex,  or  their  education, 
has  the  best  disposed  to  receive  the  impression  of  superstitious 
terrors."* 

This  unfavorable  picture,  though  not  devoid  of  a  faint 
resemblance,  betrays,  by  its  dark  coloring  and  distorted  fea- 
tures, the  pencil  of  an  enemy.  As  the  humble  faith  of  Christ 
diffused  itself  through  the  world,  it  was  embraced  by  several 
persons  who  derived  some  consequence  from  the  advantages 
of  nature  or  fortune.  Aristides,  who  presented  an  eloquent 
apology  to  the  emperor  Hadrian,  was  an  Athenian  philoso- 
pher.'" Justin  Martyr  had  sought  divine  knowledge  in  the 
schools  of  Zeno,  of  Aristotle,  of  Pythagoras,  and  of  Plato, 
before  he  fortunately  was  accosted  by  the  old  man,  or  rather 
the  angel,  who  turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of  the  Jewish 
prophets."'  Clemens  of  Alexandri.i  had  acquired  much 
various    reading  in  the  Greek,    and  TertuUian  in  the  Latin, 


'**  Minucius  Felix,  c.  8,  with  Wowerus's  notes.  Celsus  ap.  (>riger\ 
h  iu.  p.  138,  142.     Julian  ap.  Cyril.  1.  vi.  p.  206,  edit.  Spanheim. 

'*»  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  iv.  ?.     Hieronym.  Epist.  83. 

"•  Tho  story  is  prettily  told  in  Justin's  Dialogues.  Tillemont,  (Meta 
Ecclesiast.  torn.  ii.  p.  384,)  who  relates  it  after  him  is  sure  that  the  oil 
laaQ  was  a  disg'iised  angel. 


A.D.  323.]  OF    THE    ROMAN    KMriKE.  ffU 

anguage.  Julius  Africanus  and  Oiigon  jiossesscd  a  very 
considerable  share  of  tlio  learning  of  their  times;  and  although 
vhe  style  of  Cyprian  is  very  different  from  that  of  Lactantius, 
we  might  almost  discover  that  both  those  writers  had  been  public 
teachers  of  rhetoric.  Even  the  study  of  phiKjsophy  was  at 
length  introduced  among  the  Christians,  but  it  w;us  not  always 
productive  of  the  most  salutary  effects ;  knowledge  was  an 
often  the  parent  of  heresy  as  of  devotion,  and  the  description 
which  was  designed  for  the  followers  of  Artemon,  may,  with 
equal  propriety,  be  applied  to  the  various  sects  that  resisted 
the  successors  of  the  apostles.  "  They  jiresume  to  alter  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  to  abandon  the  ancient  rule  of  faith,  and  to 
form  their  opinions  according  to  the  subtile  j)recei»ts  of  logic. 
The  science  of  the  church  is  neglected  for  the  study  of  geom- 
etry, and  they  lose  sight  of  heaven  while  they  are  em]>loyed 
in  measuring  the  earth.  Euclid  is  perpetually  in  their  hands. 
Aristotle  and  Tlieophrastus  are  the  objects  of  their  admiration  ; 
and  they  express  an  uncommon  reverence  for  the  works  of 
Galen.  Their  errors  are  derived  from  the  abuse  of  the  art: 
and  sciences  of  the  infidels,  and  they  corrupt  the  simplicity  of 
the  gospel  by  the  refinements  of  human  reason." '" 

Nor  can  it  be  affirmed  with  truth,  that  the  advantjiges  of 
birth  and  fortune  w^ere  always  separated  from  the  profession 
of  Christianity.  Several  Roman  citizens  were  brought  before 
the  tribunal  of  Phny,  and  he  soon  discovered,  that  a  great 
number  of  persons  of  evay  order  of  men  in  Bithynia  had 
•deserted  the  religion  of  their  ancestors.  "*  Ilis  unsuspected 
testimony  may,  in  this  instance,  obtain  more  credit  than  the 
bold  challenge  of  TertuUian,  when  he  addresses  himself  to 
the  fears  as  well  as  the  humanity  of  the  proconsul  of  Africa, 
by  assuring  him,  that  if  he  persists  in  his  cruel  intentions,  ho 
must  decimate  Carthage,  and  that  he  w  ill  find  among  the  guilty 
many  persons  of  his  own  rank,  senators  and  matrons  of  nobles' 

"'  Eusebius,  v.  28.  It  may  be  hoped,  that  none,  except  thr 
heretics,  gave  occasion  to  the  complaint  of  Celsus,  (o.p.  Origen,  1.  ii.  u, 
11,)  t)iat  the  Christians  were  perpetually  correcting  and  altering  then 
flospels.* 

"*  Plin.  Epist.  X.  97.  Fuerunt  alii  similis  amentias,  cives  Romoni 
-  -  -  Multi  cnini  oinnis  ajtatis,  omnis  ordinis,  utriusquc  Eexii;-,  ctiam 
Vocantm'  in  ptriculum  ct  vocabuntur. 

*  Origen  states  in  replj',  that  he  knows  of  none  who  had  altered  the  Gk» 
pels  except  the  Marcioniles,  the  Valciitiiiians,  auJ  perhaps  some  tbiloviren 
«f  Lucanua.— M. 


5t6  THE    DECLINE     WD    FAU  I  A.  I).  323, 

extraction,  and  llie  friends  or  relations  of  his  most  intimate 
friervds.'*'  It  appears,  however,  that  about  forty  years  after- 
wards the  emperor  Valerian  was  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  this 
assertion,  since  in  one  of  his  rescripts  he  evidently  supposes, 
that  senators,  Roman  knights,  and  ladies  of  quality,  were 
engaged  in  the  Christian  sect""  The  church  still  continued 
to  increase  its  outward  splendor  as  it  lost  its  mternal  purity ; 
and,  in  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  the  palace,  the  courts  of  justice, 
and  even  the  array,  concealed  a  multitude  of  Christians,  who 
endeavored  to  reconcile  the  interests  of  the  present  with  those 
o''  a  future  life. 

And  yet  these  exceptions  are  either  too  few  in  number,  or 
too  recent  in  time,  entirely  to  remove  the  imputation  of  igno- 
rance and  obscurity  which  has  been  so  arrogantly  cast  on  the 
fii-st  proselytes  of  Christianity.*  Instead  of  employing  in  our 
defence  the  fictions  of  later  ages,  it  will  be  more  prudent  to 
-convert  the  occasion  of  scandal  into  a  subject  of  edification. 
Our  serious  thoughts  will  suggest  to  us,  that  the  apostles  them- 
selves were  chosen  by  Providence  among  the  fishermen  of 
Galilee,  and  that  the  lower  we  depress  the  temporal  condition 
of  the  first  Chi'istians,  the  more  reason  we  shall  find  to  admire 
their  merit  and  success.  It  is  incumbent  on  us  diligently  to 
remember,  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  promised  to  the 
poor  in  spirit,  and  that  minds  afflicted  by  calamity  and  the 
contempt  of  mankind,  cheerfully  listen  to  the  divine  promise 
of  future  happiness ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  fortunate  are 
satisfied  with  the  possession  of  this  world ;  and  the  wise 
abuse  in  doubt  and  dispute  their  vain  superiority  of  reason 
and  knowledge. 

We  stand  in  need  of  such  reflections  to  comfort  us  for  the 


*'  Tertullian  ad  Scapulum.     Yet  even  his  rhetoric  rises  no  nigher 
Uaan  to  claim  a  tonth  part  of  Carthage. 
'»'  Cyprian.  Epist.  70. 


•  This  incomplete  enumeration  ought  to  be  increased  by  the  names  of 
several  Pagans  converted  at  the  dawn  of  Christianity,  and  who.se  conver. 
rlon  weakens  tlie  reproach  v/hicli  the  historian  appears  to  support.  Such 
«re,  the  Proconsul  Sergius  Paulus,  converted  at  Piiphos,  (Acts  xiii.  7 — I'J  ,) 
Dionysius.  member  of  the  Areopagus,  converted  with  several  others,  at 
Athens,  ( .\cts  xvii.  34 ;)  several  pei'.sons  at  the  court  of  Nero,  (Philip,  iv 
M  ;)  Erastus,  receiver  at  Corinth,  (Rom.  xvi.  23  ;)  some  A.siarchs,  (AcU 
xix.  31  )  As  to  the  philosophers,  we  may  i»ld  Tatian,  Athenagora.'?,  The- 
ophilns  of  Antioch,  Hegesippus,  Melito,  Miltiades,  Pantsenus,  AramcniuB 
to    all  distiL-i^^'tihcd  for  their  genius  and  learmng. — Q. 


A.  D.  323.J  OF    THE    KO.IAN    EMPIRE.  687 

loss  of  some  iilustrioas  characters,  wliicli  in  our  eyes  tnijrlit 
have  seemed  the  most  worthy  of  the  heavenly  piesent.  The 
names  of  Seneca,  of  the" elder  and  the  younger  I'liny,  of  Tacitus, 
of  Phitarch,  of  Galen,  of  the  slave  Ei)ictetus,  and  of  tlu^  em- 
peror Marcus  Antoninus,  adorn  the  ag(!  in  which  they  riourishcd, 
and  exalt  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  They  rilli'd  with 
glory  their  respective  stations,  cither  in  active  or  contempla 
tive  life ;  their  excellent  understandings  were  improved  by 
etudy ;  Philosophy  had  purified  their  minds  from  the  preju 
dices  of  the  popular  superstition ;  and  their  days  were  sjwnt 
in  the  pursuit  of  tiuth  and  the  practice  of  virtue.  Yet  all 
these  sages  (it  is  no  less  an  object  of  suri)rise  than  of  concern) 
overlooked  or  rejected  the  perfection  of  the  Christian  system. 
Their  language  or  their  silence  equallv  discover  their  con- 
tempt for  the  growing  sect,  which  in  their  time  had  diffused 
itself  over  the  Roman  empire.  Those  among  them  who  con- 
descended to  mention  the  Christians,  consider  them  only  as 
obstinate  and  perverse  enthusiasts,  who  exacted  an  implicit 
submission  to  their  mysterious  doctrines,  without  being  able 
to  produce  a  single  argument  that  could  engage  the  attention 
of  men  of  sense  and  learning."" 

It  is  at  least  doubtful  whether  any  of  these  philosophers 
perused  the  apologies  *  which  the  primitive  Christians  repeat- 
edly published  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  of  their  religion  ; 
but  it  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  such  a  cause  was  not  de- 
fended by  abler  advocates.  They  expose  with  sujterHuous 
wit  and   eloquence   the   extravagance  of  Polytheism.     They 


"*  Dr.  Lardncr,  in  his  first  and  second  volumes  of  Jewish  an(! 
Christian  testimonies,  collects  and  illustrates  those  of  Pliny  the 
younger,  of  Tacitus,  of  Galen,  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  and  perhaps  of 
Epictetus,  (for  if,  is  doubtful  wluither  that  philosopher  means  to  speak 
of  the  Christians.)  The  new  sect  is  totally  unnoticed  by  Seneca,  the 
elder  Pliny,  and  Plutarch. 


•  The  emperors  Hadrian,  Antonirus,  &c..  road  with  astonishinout  the 
apologies  of  Justin  Martjr,  of  Aristidcs,  of  MoUto,  &c.  (Soc  St.  Hieron. 
ad  niag.  oral.  Orosius,  Iviii.  c.  13.)  JCuscbius  says  expressly,  lliat  tlie 
cause  of  Christianity  was  defended  before  the  senate,  in  a  very  elegajil 
discourse,  by  ApoUonius  the  Martyr.  ri,<AXti  XiTupwj  htrcvaaiTui  mv  ''ivnirruS, 
rat  X6yov  iir't  rfj;  avyKXi'iroti  /?)vX/J5  atTncriivTos,  ^oyiotriTnf  i^ip  »;>  iiiaprvplt 
»icr£(of  ini  vai>T<,>v  Trapucxij"'  dToXuyian. — G. 

Gibbon,  in  bis  severer  spirit  of  criticism,  may  have  questioned  ttM 
tathority  of  Jerome  and  Euscbins.  Tliero  arc  some  difticuhies  aboai 
Apollouins,  which  Hoiniclion  (note  in  loc.  Ensobii)  would  solve,  by  sappo» 
lag  him  tc  have  been,  as  Jerome  states,  a  senator. — M. 


688  TtiM    DECLINE    AND    FALL  [A.  D.  323, 

interest  our  compassion  by  displaying  the  innocence  nxA  suf 
ferings  of  their  injured  brethren.  But  when  they  would  de- 
monstrate the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  they  insist  much 
more  strongly  on  the  predictions  which  announced,  than  on  the 
miracles  wliicli  accompanied,  the  appearance  of  the  Mes- 
siah. Their  favorite  argument  might  serve  to  edify  a  Chris- 
tian or  to  convert  a  Jew,  since  both  the  one  and  the  other  ac- 
knowledge the  authority  of  those  prophecies,  and  both  are 
obliged,  with  devout  reverence,  to  search  for  their  sense  and 
their  accomplishment.  But  this  mode  of  persuasion  loses 
much  of  its  weight  and  influence,  when  it  is  addressed  to 
those  who  neither  understand  nor  respect  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation and  the  prophetic  style.'**  In  the  unskilful  hands  of 
Justin  and  of  the  succeeding  apologists,  the  sublime  meaning 
of  the  Hebrew  oracles  evaporates  in  distant  types,  affected 
conceits,  and  cold  allegories ;  and  even  their  authenticity  was 
rendered  suspicious  to  an  unenlightened  Gentile,  by  the  mix- 
ture of  pious  forgeries,  which,  under  the  names  of  Orpheus, 
Hermes,  and  the  Sibyls,""  were  obtruded  on  him  as  of  equal 
value  with  the  genuine  inspirations  of  Heaven.  The  adop 
tion  of  fraud  and  sophistry  in  the  defence  of  revelation  too 
often  reminds  us  of  the  injudicious  conduct  of  those  poets  who 
load  their  invulnerable  heroes  with  a  useless  weight  of  cum- 
bersome and  brittle  armor. 

But  how  shall  we  excuse  the  supine  inattention  of  the  Pagan 
and  philosophic  world,  to  those  evidences  which  were  repre- 
sented by  the  hand  of  Omnii)otence,  not  to  their  reason,  but 
to  their  senses  ?  Dnring  the  age  of  Christ,  of  his  apostle^, 
and  of  their  first  disciples,  the  doctrine  which  they  preached 
was  confirmed  by  innumerable   pi-odigies.     The   lame  walked, 

"'■'  If  the  famous  prophecy  of  the  Seventy  Weeks  had  been  alleged 
to  a  Roman  philosopher,  would  he  not  have  replied  in  the  words  of 
Cicero,  "  Qua3  tandem  ista  auguratio  est,  annorum  potius  quam  aut 
mensium  aut  dierum?"  De  Divinatione,  ii.  30.  Observe  with  what 
irreverence  Lucian,  (in  Alexandro,  c.  13,)  and  his  friend  Celsus  up. 
Origen,  (1.  vii.  p.  327,)  express  themselves  concerning  the  Hebrew 
prophets 

''•''  The  philosophers  who  derided  the  more  ancient  predictions  of 
the  Sibyls,  would  easily  have  detected  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
forgeries,  which  have  been  so  triumjihantly  quoted  by  the  fathers, 
from  Justin  Martyr  to  Lactantius.  When  the  Sibylline  verses  had 
performed  their  appointed  task,  they,  like  the  system  "f  the  millenni 
um,  were  quietly  laid  aside.  The  Christian  Sybil  had  unluckily  fixed 
the  luin  of  Rome  for  the  year  195,  A.  U.  C.  948. 


A.D.  323.]  OK   'lUE    KOMAN    EMPIRE.  58* 

the  blind  snw,  the  sick  were  healod,  tho  de.ul  wore  raised, 
daemons  were  expelled,  and  the  laws  of  Nature  were  froqiiontly 
suspended  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  But  the  sages  of 
Greece  and  Rome  turned  aside  from  the  awful  spectacle,  and, 
pursuing  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  and  study,  a[)peared 
unconscious  of  any  alterations  in  the  moral  or  j>hysical  gov- 
Hi'iiment  of  tha  world.  Under  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  the 
whole  earth,"*  or  at  least  a  celebrated  province  of  the  lloman 
duipire,""  w;is  involved  in  a  preternatural  darkness  of  three 
hours.  Even  this  miraculous  event,  which  ought  to  have 
excited  the  wonder,  the  curiosity,  and  the  devotion  of  mankind, 
passed  without  notice  in  an  age  of  science  and  history.'"     It 

"*  The  fathers,  as  they  are  drawn  out  in  battle  array  by  Dom 
Oahnet,  (Dissertations  sur  la  Bible,  torn.  iii.  p.  295 — 308, )  seem  tr 
cover  the  whole  earth  with  darkness,  in  wliich  they  aie  followed  by 
most  of  the  moderns. 

■"^  Origen  ad  Matth.  c.  27,  and  a  few  modern  critics,  Beza,  L«» 
Clerc,  Lardner,  ifec,  are  desirous  of  confining  it  to  the  land  of  Judea. 

198  Yhe  celebrated  passage  of  Phlegon  is  now  wisely  abandoned. 
When  Tertullian  assures  the  Pagans  that  the  mention  of  the  prodigy 
is  found  in  Arcanis  (not  Archivis)  vestris,  (see  his  Apology,  c.  21,)  ho 
probably  appeals  to  the  Sibylline  verses,  which  relate  it  exactly  in  the 
words  of  the  Gospel.* 

*  According  to  some  learned  theologians  a  misunderstanding  of  ihc  lexl 
in  the  Gospel  has  given  rise  to  this  mistake,  which  has  employed  and 
wearied  so  many  laborious  commentators,  though  Origen  iiad  already  taken 
the  pains  to  preinform  them.  The  expression  okotos  iycvcTo  does  not  mean, 
.ney  assert,  an  eclipse,  but  any  kind  of  ob.scurity  occasioned  in  tlie  atmos 
phere,  whether  by  clouds  or  any  other  cause.  As  this  obscuration  of  the  sun 
rarely  took  place  in  Palestine,  where  in  the  middle  of  April  the  sky  wai 
usually  clear,  it  assumed,  in  the  eyes  of  tlie  .Jews  and  Christians,  an  import- 
ance conformable  to  the  received  notion,  that  llic  sun  (concealed  at  midday 
was  a  sinister  presage.  See  Amos  viii.  9,  10.  The  word  <TKdTos  is  often 
taken  in  this  sense  by  contemporary  writers  ;  tlie  Apocalypse  says,  eaKorli'dn 
0  Ijhui,  the  sun  was  concealed,  when  speaking  of  an  obscuration  caused  by 
smoke  and  dust.  (Revel,  ix.  2.)  Moreover,  the  Hebrew  word  opbal,  which 
in  the  LXX.  answers  to  the  Greek  ckotos,  signiiies  any  darkness;  and  ihe 
Evangelists,  who  have  modelled  the  sense  of  their  expressions  by  thirsc  of 
the  LXX.,  must  have  taken  it  in  the  same  latitude.  This  darkening  of  the 
sky  usually  precedes  earthquakes.  (Matt,  xxvii.  .'Jl.)  The  Heathen  authors 
furtish  us  a  number  of  examples,  of  n-liich  a  miraculous  explanation  was 
given  at  the  time.  See  Ovid.  ii.  v.  33,  1.  xv.  v.  785.  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  1.  ii.c 
30.  Wetstein  has  collected  all  these  examples  in  his  edition  of  the  New 
Testament. 

We  need  not,  then,  be  astonislied  at  the  silence  of  the  Pagan  authors  coc- 
^ming  a  plicuomenon  which  diil  not  extend  beyond  Jerusalem,  and  which 
tn^glit  have  nothing  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  ;  although  the  Christiani 
and  the  Jews  may  have  regarded  it  as  a  sinister  presai:c'.  See  Michaelia 
Notes  0.1  New  Testament,  v.  1.  p.  290.  Paulas,  Coiumentaty  on  New  Tent* 
meat,  iii.  p.  ""H). — G 


S90    DB\M.INE    AND    FALL    OP    THK    ROMAN    EMFIIiE.    [A.D.  823 

happened  during  the  lifetime  of  Seneca  and  the  elder  ±*liny, 
who  must  have  experienced  the  immediate  effects,  or  received 
the  earliest  intelligence,  of  the  prodigy.  Each  of  these 
philosophers,  in  a  laborious  woit<,  has  recorded  all  the  great 
phenomena  of  Nature,  earthquakes,  meteors,  comets,  and 
Sclipses,  which  his  indefatigable  curiosity  could  collect.^"  Both 
Ihe  one  and  the  other  have  omitted  to  mention  the  greatest 
j)henomenon  to  which  the  mortal  eye  has  been  witness  since 
the  creation  of  the  globe.  A.  distinct  chapter  of  Pliny  "*i3 
designed  for  eclipses  of  an  extraordinary  nature  and  unusuaJ 
duration ;  but  he  contents  himself  with  describing  the  singular 
defect  of  light  which  followed  the  murder  of  Caesar,  when, 
during  the  greatest  part  of  a  year,  the  orb  of  the  sun  appeared 
pale  and  without  splendor.  The  season  of  obscurity,  which 
Npannot  surely  be  compared  with  the  preternatural  darkness  of 
the  Passion,  had  been  already  celebrated  by  most  of  the  poets  '" 
and  historians  of  that  memorable  age.""" 

"^  Seneca,  Quiest.  Natur.  L  L  15,  vi.  1.  vii.  17.     Plin.  Hist  N"atur. 

''•"»  Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  ii.  ,30. 

i»3  Virgil.  Georgic.  L  466.  TibuUus,  1.  i.  Eleg.  v.  ver.  75.  Ovid 
Metamorph.  xv.  782.  Lucan.  Pharsal.  i.  540.  The  last  of  these  pocte 
places  this  prodigy  before  the  civil  war. 

*'"'  See  a  public  epistle  of  M.  Antony  in  Joseph.  Antiquit.  xiv.  12. 
Piutarch  in  Caesar,  p.  471.  Appian.  Bell.  Civil.  1.  iv.  Dion  Caise'\» 
L  xlv.  p.  431.  Julius  Obsequens,  c.  128.  H>s  little  treatise  p»  ut 
Abetfftct  of  Livy'H  prodigies. 


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